Happily, many of the games in the book are available as completely free print-and-play PDFs. Several of those require only a board, which is simple enough to print. In other cases, you might have to print cards, boards, etc. (James has created handy reference videos to help you make bespoke print-and-plays.) In true Cheapass Games fashion, you will need to dig up generic parts like dice, pawns, play money, etc.
Below is a preliminary list of titles covered in Cheapass Games in Black and White, with notes on whether they’re available as a print-and-play or shiny new deluxe edition, or whether they’re lost for good. (Or until James makes a new edition.) Both Chief Herman packs include over twenty individual games, pushing the total number of games in Cheapass Games in Black and White to over 100! Please note this list is subject to change.
Don’t see something you’re curious about? Feel free to send us an email, but please note the early black-and-white games are completely out of stock. Visit our web store to see our current catalog and order new games, and don’t forget to check out our print-and-play library.
1996
CAG 001: Kill Doctor Lucky
Enjoy this print-and-play of the original Kill Doctor Lucky, or take a look at the fancy 19.5th Anniversary Edition of Kill Doctor Lucky featuring updated rules, color printing, and fancy components. Two expansion boards—the The Secret Lair of Doctor Lucky and Doctor Lucky’s Mansion that is Haunted—are also available.
We’d be remiss not to mention The Island of Doctor Lucky, one of our newest games. You’re still trying to kill Doctor Lucky, but you’re on his private island, which is trying to kill you!
CAG 002: Before I Kill You, Mister Spy
Order the new edition, or make the free print-and-play!
CAG 003: Ben Hvrt
CAG 004: Bleeding Sherwood
CAG 005: Spree!
CAG 006: Get Out!
1997
CAG 007: Huzzah!
CAG 008: Bitin’ Off Hedz
The digital files for Bitin’ Off Hedz are lost, so we can’t currently provide a print-and-play. Maybe one day!
CAG 009: The Very Clever Pipe Game
CAG 010: Tishai
You can play this using just a chess set and the rules! Better boards are available as free print-and-plays.
CAG 011: Give Me the Brain!
Order the new edition or make the free print-and-play!
1998
CAG 013: Lord of the Fries
Order the new edition or make the free print-and-play!
CAG 501: FALLING
Order the new edition, buy the original edition from DriveThruCards, or make the free print-and-play. We don’t really recommend the latter, because the cards need to be durable!
CAG 015: Safari Jack
Safari Jack is currently unavailable.
CAG 016: Parts Unknown
CAG 017: Starbase Jeff
CAG 018: Devil Bunny Needs a Ham
CAG 019: Renfield
Order the updated version from DriveThruCards, make the new colorized edition, or enjoy the original via print-and-play!
1999
CAG 020: Deadwood
Order the new edition! We do not have the cards from the original edition, but there is an intermediate print-and-play of Deadwood that is strictly better than the original. The expansions for the original edition are also available.
CAG 021: The Big Cheese
Order the Brian and John edition via DriveThruCards, or make the free print-and-play!
CAG 301-306: Button Men
Enjoy Button Men in its newest incarnation, Button Men: Beat People Up. Older Button Men sets are also available reformatted as cards via Button Men Originals.
Character recipes and special rules for most official Button Men sets are available online; you’ll just need the dice!
CAG 022-23: Fight City
Make the free print-and-play, coming April 16th!
CAG 502-507: BRAWL (Original Set)
Order the new edition or find the original decks (and new Senior class) at DriveThruCards!
CAG 024: Escape From Elba
Make the free print-and-play, available April 17th!
CAG 025: Change!
Change! is currently unavailable.
2000
CAG 026: The Big Idea
The Big Idea is currently unavailable.
CAG 027: Save Doctor Lucky
Make the free print-and-play, available April 18th!
CAG 028: The Great Brain Robbery
Make the free print-and-play, available April 19th!
CAG 029: James Ernest Writes Off Another Trip to VEGAS
You should not play this game. It is terrible. And also unavailable.
CAG 030: Chief Herman’s Holiday Fun Pack
Chief Herman’s Holiday Fun Pack is currently unavailable. However, many of the games included require only the rules included in the booklet, with the exception of a few games that require a board. Chief Herman’s Holiday Fun Pack will be in Cheapass Games in Black and White.
2001
CAG 031: Witch Trial
Make the free print-and-play! We have a slightly updated version of this game that has been free online since 2014. A PDF of the original version will be available on April 22nd.
CAG 032: Unexploded Cow
Order the new edition, or make a free print-and-play of either the intermediate edition or original version, available April 23rd!
CAG 516: Girl Genius: The Works
CAG 033: Devil Bunny Hates the Earth
CAG 959: Nexus
CAG 034: U.S. Patent No. 1
Make the free print-and-play, available April 24th!
2002
CAG 961: Agora
Look for a print-and-play of the original on April 20th! Meanwhile, an updated print-and-play with much prettier card art is already available.
CAG 962: Cube Farm
Cube Farm is currently unavailable.
CAG 035: Captain Park’s Imaginary Polar Expedition
Make the free print-and-play, available April 25th! Check out its deluxe sister game, Stuff and Nonsense, which has the same story (and many of the same cards) in a prettier wrapper and features Professor Elemental as the villain!
CAG 520 Diceland: Deep White Sea
Diceland is currently unavailable. Is uses custom-cut paper 8-sided dice, which are hard to find and even harder to duplicate.
CAG 036: Freeloader
Make the free print-and-play, available April 26th!
CAG 521-523: Fightball
Fightball is currently unavailable. It’s difficult to make print-and-plays durable enough to stand up to real-time games.
2003
CAG 963: Steam Tunnel
Steam Tunnel is currently unavailable.
CAG 964: Light Speed
Make the free print-and-play! This is about the only real-time card game that can survive being a print-and-play. It takes a lot less abuse than Falling or BRAWL.
CAG 037: One False Step for Mankind
Make the free print-and-play, available with its expansion (One False Step Home) April 27th!
CAG 968: TimeLine
Make the free print-and-play or order a deck via DriveThruCards. Both versions have been updated with color art, making TimeLine much easier to play!
CAG 038: Chief Herman’s Next Big Thing
As with the previous Chief Herman collection, this assortment of 20 games is mostly playable with the rules found in Cheapass Games in Black and White and basic components.
2004
CAG 039: Jacob Marley, Esquire
Make the free print-and-play, available April 28th! You should also check out the updated version of this same idea, Young Jacob Marley!
2005
CAG 041: Secret Tijuana Deathmatch
Make the free print-and-play, available April 29th! However, even with those files, you will have to be creative to duplicate the die-cut counters that came in the original game.
CAG 042: Captain Treasure Boots
Order Captain Treasure Boots via the Cheapass Games web store!
2006
CAG 043: Enemy Chocolatier
Make the free print-and-play, available April 30th!
CAG 533: Dead Money
To be honest, this game was hard to sell for most of its lifetime, and we don’t have much incentive to try again. Dead Money is currently unavailable.
2013
CAG 202: Fish Cook
Order Fish Cook from the Cheapass Games web store or make the free print-and-play!
CAG 203: Veritas
Order Veritas from the Cheapass Games web store!
2014
CAG 206: Get Lucky
Order Get Lucky from the Cheapass Games web store!
CAG 207: Pairs
Order a Pairs deck from the Cheapass Games web store, or make one using cards stolen from three identical poker decks. A huge catalog of Pairs games is available online.
2015
CAG 220: Stuff and Nonsense
Order Stuff and Nonsense from the Cheapass Games web store!
2016
CAG 239 Tak: A Beautiful Game
Order Tak from the Cheapass Games web store, or make your own set! You can play this game online, with stones at the beach, or with parts you craft in your workshop. The rules for Tak are available for free in multiple languages.