Very glad to see Agora/Camden on the list. It's fantastic!! A few more games from them that I've enjoyed that didn't make Tom's list: Girl Genius: The Works (which is a non-R Rated self contained version of the XXXenophile CCG) Give Me The Brain Lord of the Fries and U.S. Patent #1, where you race to be the first to invent a time machine, go back in time, and register it as the first patent
I kinda agree with the philosophy of not putting everything in every game. I was thinking about this the other day with the Massive Darkness demo, I already have a hundred minis from other games, already have hundreds of tiles of terrain from other games, I have a wizard, warrior, orc, etc. mini from Descent is it really worth me getting another set of fantasy miniatures? The games could be modular, have generic sets of miniatures and terrain tiles and the games provide the rules, cards, etc. This probably wouldn't work out but it is an interesting idea.
I have a soft spot for the first game of theirs that I played, waaay back in the day, Ben Hvrt. A cool roman chariot racing game with power ups, traps, drivers with different skills and more crazy nonsense from the mind of James Earnest.
I used to be a huuuuuge fan of theirs. In a recent cross-country move I got rid of half of my games, and most of my old envelope or white box Cheapass stuff as well. But I kept a few things, and my favorites of those are: Brawl, Lord of the Fries, Fish Cook. I think I probably still have Light Speed, Diceland and Agora around somewhere too. I didn't know they'd done a fancier, rethemed version of Agora! I will have to look that up...
These 'Best of' videos are a real treasure ... it is so interesting to learn about the history and gaming philosophies of the highlighted companies. What a great and fresh idea for videos about gaming. I'm looking forward to more!
Pairs! So easy to teach, and very very simple push your luck game - it's almost like Blackjack without betting. Lots of different themed decks so you can pick your favourite.
Discovered Fish Cook from this list, ordered it through a seller on bgg, and finally played it today. (I like to collect interesting looking games with a theme of Japanese food. On the lookout for more!) We were both quite impressed with the game, thanks for another great recommendation Tom! :)
Light Speed is my favorite Cheapass Game, and they gave it to me for free. ^^ I got it just for taking the time to play some of their games at a convention.
I really liked One False Step For Man which was like a monopoly/press your luck style game. You would bid on locations which gave you resources and then use those resources to build rocket ships, which you could fire at any time, but the more you built the rocket, the more likely you were to fire it off successfully. Also did I mention it takes place in the 1800s. Kooky theme but also a fun game.
I'm surprised you didn't mention Give Me the Brain, probably our favorite from this publisher. Warning to people who want to play Deadwood -- make sure you play with the revised rules. The original rules from the b&w set have a flaw that make it basically never a good idea to bother advancing your status.
Thanks for covering this publisher. I too like Kill Dr Lucky. I have an early version circa 1999. Some of the others (none on your list) were funny but the gameplay was mundane. I did think it was a bit simple so I am interested that they added some game elements. Thanks.
More than a little surprised to not see Stuff and Nonsense in there somewhere. Better than some on the list. I only personally own 2 of the retail games but I've printed and tried a ton of what they have available that way. Button Men Which is PnP and on Kickstarter right now is actually a great time killer while you are waiting in a restaurant, at the doc or dentist, whatever. A couple games mentioned here though that I haven't checked out I will now.
Unexploded Cow is my 66th favorite game. I only played it once though but loved it! I hope to buy it some day. Enemy Chocolatier: was a decent game I played, it is not on my top 100 but enjoyed it enough I would play it again. Kill Dr Lucky: is fairly high on my to play list.
Very glad to see Agora/Camden on the list. It's fantastic!!
A few more games from them that I've enjoyed that didn't make Tom's list:
Girl Genius: The Works (which is a non-R Rated self contained version of the XXXenophile CCG)
Give Me The Brain
Lord of the Fries
and U.S. Patent #1, where you race to be the first to invent a time machine, go back in time, and register it as the first patent
I'm glad Agora and Light Speed made the top end of the list. My favorite of the Hip Pocket line.
I kinda agree with the philosophy of not putting everything in every game. I was thinking about this the other day with the Massive Darkness demo, I already have a hundred minis from other games, already have hundreds of tiles of terrain from other games, I have a wizard, warrior, orc, etc. mini from Descent is it really worth me getting another set of fantasy miniatures? The games could be modular, have generic sets of miniatures and terrain tiles and the games provide the rules, cards, etc. This probably wouldn't work out but it is an interesting idea.
Unspeakable Words, Brawl, and Button Men
I have a soft spot for the first game of theirs that I played, waaay back in the day, Ben Hvrt. A cool roman chariot racing game with power ups, traps, drivers with different skills and more crazy nonsense from the mind of James Earnest.
I used to be a huuuuuge fan of theirs. In a recent cross-country move I got rid of half of my games, and most of my old envelope or white box Cheapass stuff as well. But I kept a few things, and my favorites of those are:
Brawl, Lord of the Fries, Fish Cook. I think I probably still have Light Speed, Diceland and Agora around somewhere too. I didn't know they'd done a fancier, rethemed version of Agora! I will have to look that up...
Just came to hear tom say "ass" 😂
Grason White Visibly uncomfortable. Touches mouth then nose. 😂
Me too hahaha
These 'Best of' videos are a real treasure ... it is so interesting to learn about the history and gaming philosophies of the highlighted companies. What a great and fresh idea for videos about gaming. I'm looking forward to more!
Pairs! So easy to teach, and very very simple push your luck game - it's almost like Blackjack without betting. Lots of different themed decks so you can pick your favourite.
Discovered Fish Cook from this list, ordered it through a seller on bgg, and finally played it today. (I like to collect interesting looking games with a theme of Japanese food. On the lookout for more!) We were both quite impressed with the game, thanks for another great recommendation Tom! :)
Light Speed is my favorite Cheapass Game, and they gave it to me for free. ^^ I got it just for taking the time to play some of their games at a convention.
Chee-Pass?
Haha! Nice attempt to keep it family friendly Tom. Thanks for making me smile. :)
Oh, Tak is a Cheapass game? Good on them.
I really liked One False Step For Man which was like a monopoly/press your luck style game. You would bid on locations which gave you resources and then use those resources to build rocket ships, which you could fire at any time, but the more you built the rocket, the more likely you were to fire it off successfully. Also did I mention it takes place in the 1800s. Kooky theme but also a fun game.
I'm surprised you didn't mention Give Me the Brain, probably our favorite from this publisher.
Warning to people who want to play Deadwood -- make sure you play with the revised rules. The original rules from the b&w set have a flaw that make it basically never a good idea to bother advancing your status.
Thanks for covering this publisher. I too like Kill Dr Lucky. I have an early version circa 1999. Some of the others (none on your list) were funny but the gameplay was mundane. I did think it was a bit simple so I am interested that they added some game elements. Thanks.
More than a little surprised to not see Stuff and Nonsense in there somewhere. Better than some on the list. I only personally own 2 of the retail games but I've printed and tried a ton of what they have available that way. Button Men Which is PnP and on Kickstarter right now is actually a great time killer while you are waiting in a restaurant, at the doc or dentist, whatever. A couple games mentioned here though that I haven't checked out I will now.
Unexploded Cow is my 66th favorite game. I only played it once though but loved it! I hope to buy it some day.
Enemy Chocolatier: was a decent game I played, it is not on my top 100 but enjoyed it enough I would play it again.
Kill Dr Lucky: is fairly high on my to play list.
Light Speed = Neuroshima Dexterity?
The only reason Camden ever saw print was because its Kickstarter backers kept hounding Bo Radakovich until he actually produced it.
I wish Witch Trial would be redone. Perhaps incorporated as a mechanism within a larger game.
Hand me the brain, my pants are on fire!
Surprised Tom didn't go with his usual "Chia-pass" pronunciation . :-P
Regarding their philosophy, there are enough $60+ games out there that I'm glad to see there's a company making cheaper and riskier games.
No Button Men => not a good Cheapass Games list.
I guess Pairs is far too light-weight to get on the list... :)
Camden - Greece 😂😂🇬🇧🇬🇧