The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Well, it would appear they have done it again. Cheapass Games has released a new packet of well… cheap ass games. Little did I know (the newcomer to Cheap Ass Gaming that I am!) that I was not opening a single game when I opened "Chief Herman's Holiday Fun Pack," but 30 games! Wondering what I had gotten myself into, and thanking the powers that be for a snow-filled day to try and rectify the situation, I pulled out an old box of chess pieces, a deck of cards and some dice and started gaming.

WHAT DO YOU GET?
One of the things a person quickly discovers upon opening the envelope is that no game pieces are included. But fear not, the most expensive pieces of gaming equipment required are some castaway chess pieces. And where else can you find rules for games requiring nothing more than a handful of rocks? Basically, the envelope includes the following:

· A booklet of rules and game descriptions.
· A three-piece paper "board" for a game called Tishai.
· A postcard sized game board for the game Galaxy.
· And a four-piece paper "board" for Stumpy The Cave Boy.

The player provides all game pieces, rocks, coins, cards, markers, legos and dice.

GAME PLAY

According to Chief Herman "After several days adrift aboard the HMS Beatific, I was elated to discover that survivors among my faction were familiar with one of my favorite gambling games, Crash. Due to limited supplies of food and ammunition, this diversion became the primary agent of my survival. It was this experience which prompted me to create Chief Herman's Holiday Fun Pack." Whether this is true or not, these games are definitely simple enough to be played just about anywhere. My favorite games happen to be among the simplest in the package. Since I've only able to play a few of the games so far, I've listed a brief review of some of my favorites.

Dogfight:
This is a dice game that can be played with 2 or 3 players and lasts about 5 minutes per game. Each player takes 3 eight sided dice (each player uses dice of a different color) and players take turns throwing one die at a time onto the table. Depending on the number that comes up, which way the top of the die is pointing, and proximity to competitors dice, you "capture" other players dice. Each die captured is worth its number in points and the winner is the player with the most points at the end of the round.

This was a fun game to play primarily because of its simplicity and the fact that it only takes 5 minutes. To raise the stakes, players can opt to change the rules so that the player capturing opponents dice gets to keep those dice.

Pennywise:
This is a strategic change-making game. 2 to 5 players can play it. Each player starts out with a quarter, two dimes, three nickels, and four pennies. Each turn a player plays a coin into the middle of the table. Then they take change from the table up to one cent less than the value of the coin they played. The goal of the game is to be the last player with any coins left. The strategy is simple, save your pennies and spend as little as possible each turn. Try to take your opponents pennies so they have to make bad change.

The best thing about this game is that you probably have everything required to play in your pocket already. I played this game with a friend while waiting for our food at a restaurant. The rules were so simple I had memorized them after only playing once, and the game pieces were right in our wallets.

Galaxy:
This is a quick little board game for 2 players. Using counters, each player tries to "build colonies." Players start out with 10 counters and use a 20 sided die to place each players first counter in a randomized space. On each turn, users cover an unoccupied star with a counter. A point is scored for every enemy star that's connected to the star where you placed your counter. When the galaxy is full, the game ends, and the player with the highest score wins.

This game reminded me of the game Othello (or reversi) except you don't flip your opponent's counters. This game is easy to learn but requires a lot of strategy to master.

The Celebrated Jumping Frog Game:
This game is very simple, and very fun (if you can appreciate it's simplicity and have a good sense of humor). First the players are going to have to follow the instructions to build their "frogs" and "frog rakes" out of legos and make a suitable lily pad. This being done, 2-6 players try to help their frogs onto the lily pad. Each number on a six sided die represents a frog (it's helpful to use different colored frogs so they are distinguishable) the gray frog (worth 3 points as opposed to the 1 point the colored frogs are worth) is selected when a player rolls a number for a frog that has already been taken. Each player rolls the dice on their turn and uses their frog rake to flip the frogs (just like the frog flipping game at the carnival!) If your frog lands on the lily pad upright, you get to keep it, and score a point. (or three if it's the gray frog) If the frog lands right side up anywhere else, you get to flip it again. If the frog lands on its back, you have to right it by rolling it backwards away from the lily pad until it is right side up. (you also don't get to try and flip it again unless you roll that color again on your next turn) If the frog is sitting straight up, or straight down (endwise) you don't get to flip it, but you do get another whole turn. If the frog lands on it's eyes (you really have to see the frogs to understand this) you get to keep it and score a point even if its not on the lily pad (lets face it, getting a frog to balance on its eyes is a pretty tricky feat worthy of pointage!) If the gray frog is gone, each time you roll a frog that has been taken, you have to flip the frog furthest from the lily pad, keep playing until all frogs are gone. The player with the most frogs at the end of the game wins!

I like this game because it gives you an excuse to pull out legos and play with them (as if you really need ANY excuse to play with legos). Its also a great game for kids, so long as mom and dad don't mind frogs flying across the room.

SUMMARY
Along with these there are several other games in the package including a chess-like game, a couple of board games and several variations of poker. Overall this is a great value, and a great stocking stuffer.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Chief Herman's Holiday Fun Pack
Author: James Ernest Category: Package of previously published board/dice/coin/card games. Company/Publisher: Cheapass Games Line: Cheapass Games Cost: $6 Page count: 29 SKU: CAG 030 Playtest Review by Warlock138 on 12/22/00. Genre tags: Comedy Diceless Generic	Well, it would appear they have done it again. Cheapass Games has released a new packet of well… cheap ass games. Little did I know (the newcomer to Cheap Ass Gaming that I am!) that I was not opening a single game when I opened "Chief Herman's Holiday Fun Pack," but 30 games! Wondering what I had gotten myself into, and thanking the powers that be for a snow-filled day to try and rectify the situation, I pulled out an old box of chess pieces, a deck of cards and some dice and started gaming. WHAT DO YOU GET? One of the things a person quickly discovers upon opening the envelope is that no game pieces are included. But fear not, the most expensive pieces of gaming equipment required are some castaway chess pieces. And where else can you find rules for games requiring nothing more than a handful of rocks? Basically, the envelope includes the following: · A booklet of rules and game descriptions. · A three-piece paper "board" for a game called Tishai. · A postcard sized game board for the game Galaxy. · And a four-piece paper "board" for Stumpy The Cave Boy. The player provides all game pieces, rocks, coins, cards, markers, legos and dice. GAME PLAY According to Chief Herman "After several days adrift aboard the HMS Beatific, I was elated to discover that survivors among my faction were familiar with one of my favorite gambling games, Crash. Due to limited supplies of food and ammunition, this diversion became the primary agent of my survival. It was this experience which prompted me to create Chief Herman's Holiday Fun Pack." Whether this is true or not, these games are definitely simple enough to be played just about anywhere. My favorite games happen to be among the simplest in the package. Since I've only able to play a few of the games so far, I've listed a brief review of some of my favorites. Dogfight: This is a dice game that can be played with 2 or 3 players and lasts about 5 minutes per game. Each player takes 3 eight sided dice (each player uses dice of a different color) and players take turns throwing one die at a time onto the table. Depending on the number that comes up, which way the top of the die is pointing, and proximity to competitors dice, you "capture" other players dice. Each die captured is worth its number in points and the winner is the player with the most points at the end of the round. This was a fun game to play primarily because of its simplicity and the fact that it only takes 5 minutes. To raise the stakes, players can opt to change the rules so that the player capturing opponents dice gets to keep those dice. Pennywise: This is a strategic change-making game. 2 to 5 players can play it. Each player starts out with a quarter, two dimes, three nickels, and four pennies. Each turn a player plays a coin into the middle of the table. Then they take change from the table up to one cent less than the value of the coin they played. The goal of the game is to be the last player with any coins left. The strategy is simple, save your pennies and spend as little as possible each turn. Try to take your opponents pennies so they have to make bad change. The best thing about this game is that you probably have everything required to play in your pocket already. I played this game with a friend while waiting for our food at a restaurant. The rules were so simple I had memorized them after only playing once, and the game pieces were right in our wallets. Galaxy: This is a quick little board game for 2 players. Using counters, each player tries to "build colonies." Players start out with 10 counters and use a 20 sided die to place each players first counter in a randomized space. On each turn, users cover an unoccupied star with a counter. A point is scored for every enemy star that's connected to the star where you placed your counter. When the galaxy is full, the game ends, and the player with the highest score wins. This game reminded me of the game Othello (or reversi) except you don't flip your opponent's counters. This game is easy to learn but requires a lot of strategy to master. The Celebrated Jumping Frog Game: This game is very simple, and very fun (if you can appreciate it's simplicity and have a good sense of humor). First the players are going to have to follow the instructions to build their "frogs" and "frog rakes" out of legos and make a suitable lily pad. This being done, 2-6 players try to help their frogs onto the lily pad. Each number on a six sided die represents a frog (it's helpful to use different colored frogs so they are distinguishable) the gray frog (worth 3 points as opposed to the 1 point the colored frogs are worth) is selected when a player rolls a number for a frog that has already been taken. Each player rolls the dice on their turn and uses their frog rake to flip the frogs (just like the frog flipping game at the carnival!) If your frog lands on the lily pad upright, you get to keep it, and score a point. (or three if it's the gray frog) If the frog lands right side up anywhere else, you get to flip it again. If the frog lands on its back, you have to right it by rolling it backwards away from the lily pad until it is right side up. (you also don't get to try and flip it again unless you roll that color again on your next turn) If the frog is sitting straight up, or straight down (endwise) you don't get to flip it, but you do get another whole turn. If the frog lands on it's eyes (you really have to see the frogs to understand this) you get to keep it and score a point even if its not on the lily pad (lets face it, getting a frog to balance on its eyes is a pretty tricky feat worthy of pointage!) If the gray frog is gone, each time you roll a frog that has been taken, you have to flip the frog furthest from the lily pad, keep playing until all frogs are gone. The player with the most frogs at the end of the game wins! I like this game because it gives you an excuse to pull out legos and play with them (as if you really need ANY excuse to play with legos). Its also a great game for kids, so long as mom and dad don't mind frogs flying across the room. SUMMARY Along with these there are several other games in the package including a chess-like game, a couple of board games and several variations of poker. Overall this is a great value, and a great stocking stuffer. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)