The basic idea behind Cheapass Games is simply
cheap games. This is accomplished by
drastically minimizing the 'extras' that come with a game (such as
pawns,
dice, play money) and also making the games with less fancy 'stuff' (a strong paper rather than a hard board,
xeroxed cards rather than printed cards). These games come with just the essential stuff to play the game - the
board, the
cards, and the
rules.
Its true, some of the games are a bit on the 'cheap' side (such as the Devil Bunny ones) but then, what do you expect for $2? Other games such as the Kill Doctor Lucky series have won several awards and is due out in Fall of 2002 as a high quality game in a $30 box (this doesn't mean you can't buy the cheap version for $750 - oops, forgot the decimal point, thats $7.50). Likewise, the zombie series of Give me the Brain and Lord of the Fries is also due out with higher quality card stock and color printing.
A more 'recent' development in the card games is that of the 'collectable' games to be played against another person. These games are Button Men, BRAWL, and most recently Diceland and Fightball. By no means does this mean that one has to shell out the money to play games such as Magic to play this - a pair of buttons costs only $4.50 and a BRAWL deck costs $6.95 - you don't need any more (unless you really want to buy more, still you don't have to chase 'rare' cards to play).
The games:
(please /msg me with additions and write substantial reviews in other nodes)
The price for a game typically is from $4 to $8 with a few cheaper or more expensive than this.
There are also numerous games or expansions published with other publishers such as Wizards of the Coast, Dragon Magazine, and GAMES Magazine.
http://www.cheapass.com/