A retrospective of 22 years of Cheapass Games, more than 100 titles in a handsome hardcover book.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Hello, again, from Greater Than Games and more production updates!
over 6 years ago
– Tue, Sep 10, 2019 at 10:59:29 PM
Hey folks! Maggie here! I’m the Marketing Director at Greater Than Games and I’m here to discuss book updates! This update is going to contain progress on the book, the new Kickstarter update schedule, and more!
Progress on the book
We are currently running behind schedule due to some unexpected issues with the printer, Sheridan Books, but we are making decent progress and expect to fulfill the campaign well before the end of this year. In our next update (October 1) , we will be able to provide more information about our expected fulfillment timeline.
We have wrapped up all pre-press revisions with the printer and are expecting to receive digital proofs of the book for review internally within the next couple of weeks!
Once the digital proofs are approved, we will receive a set of digital print out copies to review. They will first come to the Greater Than Games office and then James and Carol for final approval. After that, production can begin and since Sheridan Books is a US based company we will receive the books much faster! And, we have already received the bookplates and James will soon begin the process of signing each of them!
Signed Bookplate
Update Schedule
Now that the book is moving along and in the production process Greater Than Games will be handling the majority of the updates, specifically me (Maggie). James will chime in here and there, but you can expect monthly updates from the Greater Than Games team on the first Tuesday of every month going forward!
Speaking of Greater Than Games, if you have any questions, or need to update your order, please email Katie, our Customer Service Manager at [email protected]!
And More!
Check out the live playthrough of The Big Idea with James, Carol, Nora and me!
See ya'll next month!
Maggie
Production Updates, BackerKit Updates, and "Hi" from GTG!
almost 7 years ago
– Tue, Jul 02, 2019 at 11:35:44 PM
Greetings backers!
I'm Paul Bender, CEO of Greater Than Games! I have a couple of progress updates for all of you, but before I get to that, I want to let you know how excited I am to be working with James and Carol on this project and with the Cheapass Games product line in general. I first got introduced to Cheapass Games by my business partner Christopher Badell, who really hit it off with James a number of years ago at Origins and really connected through a bunch of in depth game design conversations. Christopher introduced me to James and Carol, and through a series of conversations I learned that they moved to Seattle from St. Louis back in the 80s, and that I'm good friends with Carol's former St. Louis landlady. What a weird small world.
Anyhow! When James and Carol expressed an interest in selling Cheapass Games and semi-sort-of-retiring, I was extremely interested. Not only are James and Carol awesome people, but the Cheapass Games catalog is incredibly impressive in both the breadth and quality of games. We all think that there are a ton of awesome games there just waiting to be shown to a new generation of gamers. At the same time, we are really excited about the passion of the Cheapass Games fan base, and want to know how we can make a financially responsible number of your dreams come true!
Here are a few FAQs we've gotten since the announcement of the acquisition of Cheapass Games' publishing rights by Greater Than Games:
Q: Are you going to retire the Cheapass Games Brand?
A: We are going to retire the brand for full-color, not-especially-cheap products, and instead use the James Ernest branding (as well as the Greater Than Games branding). This is a process that James and Carol already started (Tak doesn't say "Cheapass Games", for example), and there are several reasons for it, notably that it avoids the complaint "But [insert price here] isn't very cheap", and that certain mass retailers get grumpy about carrying products with the word "ass" on the box. That said, we plan to keep the brand around for products like this, the free digital black & white downloads (which we plan to keep around indefinitely!), and any other black & white, "classic Cheapass" type products we decide to release going forward.
Q: Why are you forcing me to answer stupid marketing questions in the BackerKit survey?
A: We apologize for forcing you to answer those! BackerKit dropped them before the address and made them mandatory, and we didn't realize that was going to happen. We've used BackerKit before, but not for free-form questions like that. We wanted to ask about your favorite games from the black & white Cheapass catalog in order to help with our "make a financially responsible number of your dreams come true" goal. However, we definitely don't want to force anyone to do anything they don't want, and that field will accept literally anything as a response. A number of people have just typed a punctuation mark, or "n/a", or "butts butts butts" - if that's your preference, go for it :)
Q: Will you still be working with James on game publication?
A: Absolutely! We are excited to publish new games that James designs as well as refreshing previously published titles. We've got a list of games we want to revisit, and already have James working on a somewhat larger than traditional Cheapass scale game that he is really excited about! We were initially planning on giving James the summer off between finishing the book files and making a ton of game design requests, but he's eager to get moving, so we're working on an accelerated timeline. We'll know more about what that timeline looks like after Gen Con!
Actual Book Update
I realize that you all deserve an actual book update as well as a greeting! We have good news on that front - Carol sent us the final files for the book two weeks ago, and we've been putting them through our own editing process since then. This is a massive book, so it took a while, but we are cautiously optimistic that we have found most of the typos that remained! We have also setttled on a printer and paper stock; unless something wildly unexpected happens at the last minute, the book will be printed in the US by Sheridan on their 70# House White paper stock. Carol took a good look at a bunch of samples and was the happiest with the weight and opacity of that stock, so that's what we're going with! We should have the book sent to the printer by the end of the month.
BackerKit Update
We are going to be locking orders and charging credit cards for preorder backers / anyone who upgraded their pledge this Friday, 5 July 2019. You will still be able to edit your address if you move before the book is delivered. In addition, if you wind up wanting to change anything about your order after it is locked down, just send an email to [email protected] and we'll take care of it for you. BackerKit is a bit frustrating in this regard (in that it doesn't let you just edit your own pledge), but we're actually in talks with their dev team to make some changes. We shall see if that happens!
That's it for this month! We traditionally post Kickstarter updates on the first Tuesday of every month, so we'll keep up that tradition for this project! Our next update will likely be very brief, and might even be a bit late, since it is scheduled for the Tuesday after Gen Con, but we'll see you then!
-Paul
Cheapass Games in Black & White Progressing Nicely!
almost 7 years ago
– Tue, Jun 18, 2019 at 10:10:36 PM
Greetings, book backers!
We’re happy to bring you some news and updates about Cheapass Games in Black and White.
BackerKit opening soon!
Greater Than Games are doing final preparations on BackerKit, and expect to have it ready this week. Keep your eyes open for a notification.
Book Report
The text of Cheapass Games in Black and White is in final “phase-one” editing this week, as James Ernest readies the files for transfer to Greater than Games. The final page count looks to be 656 pages, with the complete rules for more than 100 games. What a monster!
We are still gathering final quotes, choosing paper, and so on. We expect that process to take another month or so, before we have a firm estimate on delivery dates.
Bookplate Preview
James has created a lovely piece of artwork for the bookplates. This will be a self-adhesive bookplate that you can affix to the inside of your freshly minted Cheapass Games in Black and White, or any other book that seems to need a plate.
Preview of the Bookplate - to be adorned with James Ernest's value-diminishing signature!
Farewell, Cassidy!
As the transition from Cheapass to Greater than Games proceeds, the Seattle office is undergoing changes. James Ernest is trying (if only for a month) to live in “retirement mode,” Carol Monahan is slowly passing the reins of logistics to our partners in St. Louis, and Cassidy Werner has taken a new position with Ravensburger North America.
Cassidy has officially been with Cheapass Games since the Tak Kickstarter Campaign, over three years ago, and we wish her all the very best in her new job!
Cassidy, in an awesome flower crown. Best wishes, Cassidy! :)
Thank you for backing, and keep playing those Cheapass Games!
Another book preview!
about 7 years ago
– Sat, May 04, 2019 at 01:29:43 PM
Cheapasses:
Previously, we brought you the chapter on Huzzah!, a game based on James's colorful history as a Ren Faire entertainer. Now, we're pleased to offer the preview section for Kill Doctor Lucky, the first and arguably most beloved Cheapass Games title of all time. Learn about the origins of Doctor Lucky’s character and take a peek at old Kill Doctor Lucky components as well as a page from its production diary.
Free Stuff
While going through our archives in preparation for writing Cheapass Games in Black and White, James Ernest came across a box of spare old games. More importantly, we're giving most of them away! Look for daily challenges on Twitter and Facebook to enter. In addition to older games, you could unlock preview book content and other fun surprises.
Today's surprise is this book preview. Check back tomorrow for a chance to win an envelope copy of Lord of the Fries!
And if you joined us recently, don't miss the free print-and-plays we're releasing each day of the campaign! Today's free game is Save Doctor Lucky, just in case you're feeling charitable towards the old man. For instructional videos on making bespoke print-and-plays, check out James Ernest's YouTube channel.
As always, please let us know if you have any general questions via the comments section. Questions specific to your pledge should be sent via Kickstarter messenger or email at [email protected].
Have a great weekend, and be sure to tell your friends about the campaign!
Team Cheapass
Did someone say Chief Herman's?
about 7 years ago
– Sat, May 04, 2019 at 01:28:40 PM
Cheapasses:
Only five more days to go! Thanks so much for your support!
Chief Herman's Next Big Thing and Chief Herman's Holiday Fun Pack, collections of over two dozen games each, weren't originally on the list of games to be released. However, we could be convinced to post them! Share this post (on Facebook) and retweet this tweet (on Twitter). If we get 250 combined shares and retweets, we'll post both Chief Herman packs free for all to play!
Ask James Ernest Anything
We'll be streaming our campaign conclusion party from Mox Boarding House in Bellevue, WA on Tuesday evening! During this time, we'll be playing games, eating food, and fielding questions from backers! More information will be posted soon. In the meantime, think about what you'd like to ask James!
As always, please let us know if you have any general questions via the comments section. Questions specific to your pledge should be sent via Kickstarter messenger or email at [email protected].
Have a great week, and be sure to share the campaign with your friends for the sake of Chief Herman!
