The World of James Ernest
Cheapass Games has been bringing light and joy into the World since 1996, through the games and imagination of prolific designer James Ernest.
While Cheapass lay dormant in the early 2020’s, James started a design studio called Crab Fragment Labs. These two enterprises are now one and the same, reunited by fate in a single chilly basement.
Journey with us into an imaginary tropical paradise of more than two hundred original games, as well as countless ancillary works from the boundless creative wellspring of James Ernest.
Welcome
You have stumbled into Crab Fragment Labs, an imaginary tropical paradise filled with the works of James Ernest. Read our latest newsletter here, and subscribe with the link below.
Crab Fragment Labs is the home to a vast catalog of original tabletop games, most of which you can print and play for free. We are also the home of Cheapass Games, an even older and larger catalog of games.
We also have design and travel blogs, instructional articles and videos, short fiction, and much more. Start your adventure at the Games Page, or visit the Map Room for links to everywhere.
If you’d like to know where James Ernest is headed next, please check the Schedule page. And for the most recent news, check below.
Recent News
October 2, 2025: Spy Game is Here! The first of many Cheapass Games that we are rebuilding at DriveThruCards, Before I Kill You, Mister Spy… seems a strange first choice, because there are still a few copies on fire sale at Greater Than Games. That could end at any moment, and we have big plans for these characters, so it’s one baby step at a time as we reclaim our catalog.
September 29, 2025: Two New Bread Basket Decks! Introducing Dread Basket (Halloween theme) and Beard Basket (Pirate theme), two new decks for Bread Basket, for no other reason than we like the game and we wanted to make something cool. You have just barely enough time to order these decks before Halloween!
September 24, 2025: New Video: Traditional and Abstract Game Design. This is the first of three talks that James Ernest gave at Gen Con this summer, which will make a nice new chunk of new content for our Lecture Hall. Grab a drink and a snack.
September 22, 2025: Sophisticuffs, Back from the Dead. To celebrate the rivival of Cheapass Games, we have created a new Sophisticuffs deck just in time for Halloween. This 60-card deck features Zombies from The Great Brain Robbery, art by Brian Snoddy.
September 17, 2025: New Video, Powderkeg. This strange little game from the Island Deck has been shuffling around the back burners for nearly five years. James got a chance to shoot a live “how to play” video with friends at KublaCon - check it out!
September 14, 2025: New Video, Pacificon Recap. James Ernest spent solid days in the game lab at Pacificon, working on new games you’ve never heard of. Take a sneak peek as he ploys them with friends, mostly Greg, in Santa Clara.
September 12, 2025: Step into the Workshop! Crab Fragment Labs is now offering handmade wooden game stuff, starting with handsome new boards for Tablero and Prudh. These boards are selling fast, so that means we’ll add new ones soon.
September 7, 2025: New build of Cold Comfort. We’ve been working pretty hard on this game, and we think the newest build is ready to take another run at publishers. The best news is that nothing has changed recently except the rules. If you haven’t made your own copy, it’s a great time to get into this unique city-building game.
September 5, 2025: Coconut Crabs have shipped! The first game in the Coconut Crab rewards, Before I Kill You, Mister Spy, has shipped to our beloved patrons. Everyone else will be able to buy it from DriveThruCards in October, but psst, it’s still super cheap at Greater Than Games.
August 19, 2025: Gen Con Video. James Ernest was a busy boy at Gen Con, giving three game design lectures (to be posted soon at the Lecture Hall) and then walking the show floor with friends and colleagues. View this travel video and imerse yourself in the FOMO.
August 14, 2025: Coconut Crabs. If you’re nostalgic for the Cheapass Games subscription program, you can get a taste of it with the new Coconut Crab backer level on Patreon. Patrons at this tier will get the updated Cheapass Games, roughly one per month, as we add them to DriveThruCards. Read more about it on the Cheapass Games home page.
August 13, 2025: New Video! James Ernest has posted a “Who are we?” video, extolling the newness of old things. Specifically, a return to a game company whose products are mostly free. Cheapass Games is back at Crab Fragment Labs, and we have so much more to do!
July 26, 2025: Old Video Resurfaces. Back in 2019, when James Ernest had just “sold” Cheapass Games, he gave a retrospective talk at GenCon that was captured by our friends at Greater Than Games. We just stumbled across this link, so we’re pleased to share this video and its interesting slice of history.
July 15, 2025: Play The Fractured Flat! Our newest abstract game is now in the Shop, and available from DriveThruCards, and for once we’ve even timed this precisely with posting the How to Play video.
July 3, 2025: Welcome Back, Jeff! As we rummage around in the old Cheapass dustbins, we sometimes find games we really ought to re-post. The 2014 PDF version of Starbase Jeff is now added to our web store; what will we rethink of next?
July 3, 2025: The Story from RageCon. James Ernest delivers the rare written report from RageCon, the first event in some time where he did not shoot a video. Learn about all the games in development and the fun of a small con in Reno, in this latest blog post.
June 23, 2025: New Video, Tabletop Oahu! James Ernest will never pass up a chance to go to Hawaii, and this gaming convention was a perfect chance to visit the islands. Join James and friends for a weekend of gaming in Oahu.
Please Support Us on Patreon
We have a Patreon page, as you might expect, and you can help us immeasurably by joining our cadre of Hermit Crabs. If you love what we do, and you want to support our huge catalog of free content, please become a Hermit Crab today!
