The Games of James Ernest

Recent News

November 7, 2025: New review, Bread Basket: Our hottest sandwich-making game, Bread Basket, continues to make waves. We have two new decks (Beard Basket and Dread Basket), and more secret sauce in the works. Read PuzzCulture’s latest review.

November 1, 2025: Welcome Get Lucky! The card game adaptation of our #1 game, Kill Doctor Lucky, is now available at DriveThruCards. Join fifteen unsavory scoundrels as they race to murder a loveable old man in his home. You’ll need the rules from our product page, and a pawn to represent Doctor Lucky.

October 23, 2025: Casino Games Lecture. James Ernest gave a talk about the basics of casino games at RinCon (see also recap video below). The audio is a little noisy, because it was a big busy room, but the learnings are good! Check it out.

October 13, 2025: RinCon Recap. James Ernest had a lovely time playing games (lots of them) and seeing friends at RinCon in Tucson on his nearly-birthday weekend. Watch the video here.

October 10, 2025: Tak Things at the Workshop. We’re pleased to announce a few more physical items in our Shop: Tak piece sets, Tak souvenir tokens, and a fresh batch of lovely leopardwood game boards. These handsome boards are suitable for many games including Tak and Prudh.

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 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.