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Off the Grid interviews Cheapass Games' James Ernest
Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column on gaming away from the television screen or monitor.We've been paying a lot of attention to James Ernest over the past few weeks. As the founder, president, and lead game designer at Cheapass Games, he's responsible for a slew of analog games, including Diceland, Enemy Chocolatier, Kill Doctor Lucky, and many others. Despite his busy schedule, Ernest was able to answer a few questions for Off the Grid, and allow us to pick his brain on a variety of topics.Let's talk a bit about your history. How did you start doing game design? What brought you into the field?There's probably a fine line between "designing" and "making up" games. I've been making them up forever. In high school I actually designed a chess variant as a key plot element in a fantasy novel. It's not so much a chess variant as a "game you can play with chess pieces," since all the pieces have different moves and different names. I was so interested in making sure the game worked that I spent most of my time testing the game, and not much time working on the novel. I eventually published the game as "Tishai" through Cheapass Games, first as a stand-alone title and later as part of a Chief Herman collection. The novel is, well, pretty much nowhere.From what I understand, you left Magic: The Gathering publisher Wizards of the Coast to start Cheapass Games. What sort of work were you doing at Wizards, and what prompted the change? I did work for Wizards of the Coast in various jobs from 1993-1995, but it was never the job I wanted. There was a round of layoffs in 1995 and I volunteered to be among them. At that point I'd designed one CCG that Wizards had optioned (they never published it), and I was building up a collection of original games that I was pretty sure I'd never sell, either to Wizards or anyone else. So I took some of those games and a couple of new ones, and started Cheapass Games in 1996.
Off the Grid reviews Diceland
Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column on gaming away from the television screen or monitor. Continuing our love-fest with the games of James Ernest (we'll be moving on to other designers soon, I promise), we've come to Diceland, a unique two-player tabletop title that's been the opening game of every PAX Omegathon thus far. So, you know, it must be doing something right.What makes Diceland so unique is its game pieces: large, eight-sided paper dice that the players assemble themselves. In the standard game, players select a team of five dice, each representing a different character. Rather than play cards or position miniatures, the placement of characters is accomplished by literally rolling them onto the table; where they land is where they are. From there, players take turns repositioning dice, rolling new ones, or aiming to take out their opponent's. Points are scored for each defeated enemy die, and first to 50 points wins.
Off the Grid reviews Enemy Chocolatier
Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column on gaming away from the television screen or monitor.I never wanted to be a candyman. Gene Wilder's take on the role of confectionaire extraordinaire gave me the shakes, and Johnny Depp's recent attempt at the part just gave me a migraine. After playing Cheapass Games' Enemy Chocolatier, however, I feel a new sense of respect for the sweetest industry in the world. Just no Oompa-Loompas for me, thanks.Enemy Chocolatier is a strategic board game of urban planning and secret recipes. Two-to-eight players act as rivals to the world's most beloved candy-maker, and take turns buying up property around the boss-man's factory in order to accrue the favor of the town's population, as well as the ingredients necessary to make the next big thing in sweets.The game succeeds in being easy-to-learn, and pretty fun to play, but ultimately falls short due to an extensive list of required materials, and a runaway game mechanic that upends the level playing field in no time.
Off the Grid reviews some Cheapass Games
Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column on gaming away from the television screen or monitor.As a consumer, my biggest gripe with games like RoboRally and Carcassonne is the price of admission. Non-digital games often depend on the "shiny" factor to get them off of retail shelves, and we the buyers end up paying more for the boards, bits, and boxes than we do for the rules themselves.Thankfully, game designer James Ernest perceived this problem in 1996 when he founded Cheapass Games, a tiny little non-digital developer which emphasizes design over dazzle, and encourages players to root through their old games for pieces, rather than paying time and again for identical dice, tokens, etc.In the spirit of minimalism, I'm going to review three of Cheapass's "Hip Pocket Games" -- The Very Clever Pipe Game, The Big Cheese, and Light Speed -- which range in price from $3 USD all the way up to five.
