The Inside Scoop on Gaming

The folks at Cheapass Games have done some interesting things with the premises for their games. In some games, the premise alone is enough to make the game fun. Playing a ranting villain in Before I Kill You, Mr. Bond is a wonderful idea, and any flaws in the mechanics seem almost irrelevant (especially considering how inexpensive Cheapass's products are.) In other games, Cheapass creators slyly acknowledge just how arbitrary a game premise can be. The background to Devil Bunny Needs a Ham could have been generated by randomly pulling words from a hat; the game itself makes sense, but the supposed conflict between wall-climbing sous-chefs and a delusional bunny is amusingly absurd.

Following in this tradition, Renfield is a card game representing the kind of thing a bunch of grave robbers might do for a card game. Billed as a "thematic sequel" to Parts Unknown, Renfield has little to do with its predecessor beyond some humorously gross illustrations. Cheapass seems to understand that ultimately, games don't have to simulate anything; we play them simply because we love playing games.

Renfield is a trick-taking game akin to Hearts or Spades. Players play cards of a given suit onto the table, with the highest card taking each set. Taking tricks is frequently not a good thing; most cards have one or more bugs printed on them, and whoever takes the trick "eats the bugs." The ultimate goal is to win the most money from the pot by eating the fewest bugs. But you have to eat at least one bug in order to win the pot, which makes things a little gross and a lot more complicated.

The mechanics of this game are clever, and subtly different from similar games played with a traditional 52 card deck. There are three suits of 17 cards, plus 3 "0" cards which the highest bidder uses each hand to rank the value of the suits. The quality of the cards is quite good considering the generally inexpensive nature of Cheapass Games. Unfortunately, there's a rather severe misprint on one card of each suit; one hopes this will be fixed in later printings.

Renfield seems to have considerable replay value - a strength not all Cheapass Games share. It's also quite easy to learn, and might make a good transitional game for game-players more acquainted with Kings, Queens, and Jacks than with polyhedral dice and hex maps. The rules advise that Renfield works best with four, five, or six players, though it's possible to play with as few as three or as many as eight. And for a little extra value, the rules include numerous variants and even a poker variant to be used with a standard poker deck.

The cover text of Renfield begins "Mmm. Bugs. You can't eat just one." Players may find this gross little game equally addictive.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Renfield
Author: James Ernest and E. Jordan Category: Card Game Company/Publisher: Cheapass Games Line: "Thematic sequel" to Parts Unknown Cost: 6.00 Page count: 55 Cards SKU: CAG019 Capsule Review by Bill Svitavsky on 08/09/99. Genre tags: Horror Comedy	The folks at Cheapass Games have done some interesting things with the premises for their games. In some games, the premise alone is enough to make the game fun. Playing a ranting villain in Before I Kill You, Mr. Bond is a wonderful idea, and any flaws in the mechanics seem almost irrelevant (especially considering how inexpensive Cheapass's products are.) In other games, Cheapass creators slyly acknowledge just how arbitrary a game premise can be. The background to Devil Bunny Needs a Ham could have been generated by randomly pulling words from a hat; the game itself makes sense, but the supposed conflict between wall-climbing sous-chefs and a delusional bunny is amusingly absurd. Following in this tradition, Renfield is a card game representing the kind of thing a bunch of grave robbers might do for a card game. Billed as a "thematic sequel" to Parts Unknown, Renfield has little to do with its predecessor beyond some humorously gross illustrations. Cheapass seems to understand that ultimately, games don't have to simulate anything; we play them simply because we love playing games. Renfield is a trick-taking game akin to Hearts or Spades. Players play cards of a given suit onto the table, with the highest card taking each set. Taking tricks is frequently not a good thing; most cards have one or more bugs printed on them, and whoever takes the trick "eats the bugs." The ultimate goal is to win the most money from the pot by eating the fewest bugs. But you have to eat at least one bug in order to win the pot, which makes things a little gross and a lot more complicated. The mechanics of this game are clever, and subtly different from similar games played with a traditional 52 card deck. There are three suits of 17 cards, plus 3 "0" cards which the highest bidder uses each hand to rank the value of the suits. The quality of the cards is quite good considering the generally inexpensive nature of Cheapass Games. Unfortunately, there's a rather severe misprint on one card of each suit; one hopes this will be fixed in later printings. Renfield seems to have considerable replay value - a strength not all Cheapass Games share. It's also quite easy to learn, and might make a good transitional game for game-players more acquainted with Kings, Queens, and Jacks than with polyhedral dice and hex maps. The rules advise that Renfield works best with four, five, or six players, though it's possible to play with as few as three or as many as eight. And for a little extra value, the rules include numerous variants and even a poker variant to be used with a standard poker deck. The cover text of Renfield begins "Mmm. Bugs. You can't eat just one." Players may find this gross little game equally addictive. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)