You can learn a lot about a guy when you shoot him into space. A guy like Starbase Jeff.

Back home Jeff Tuttle was a humble shareware programmer, content to while away the hours writing code and drawing cute little goblins. But put him in charge of a deep space construction firm, and look out.

Jeff took to his new job like a lungfish to mud, and pretty soon he was raking in the cash, making shady back-door deals, and swearing like the crew of the Bounty. All in the name of money, sweet money.

What drives a decent human being to such desperate acts of greed? What transforms him from a sweet-natured pussycat into the larcenous, whining, squinting, bewhiskered old coot we knew as Starbase Jeff?

The world may never know.

Starbase Jeff is a space building game: one part puzzle game, one part gambling game. Players have their own decks of 20 starbase elements. On each round, each player picks one card (in secret) to add to the station. Connectors cost money to build, and end caps pay money back, but if you try to build the same piece as another player, both pieces are delayed.

Money flows in and out of the pot throughout the game, and the player who caps off the last open end will take that pot.

There are alternate advanced rules that let you gain bonus powers by assembling specific piece combinations. But you’ll learn all about them in the rulebook!

How to Make Your Free Copy: There are several options. You can print the black & white files on colored cardstock, which is how the original Cheapass version was made. Or, you can print the color files and make them into cards by your favorite card-making method. (See links to how-to videos below.)

We have also divided the color files into two sets, in case you only need to print enough for 2 or 3 players. The first block is red, yellow, and blue; the second block is purple, green, and gray.

The rulebook is a PDF of the original Cheapass Games rules, with just one paragraph changed. You’ll want to print it on a full page, front and back, so you can fold it into a proper booklet.

Here are the files you will need:

• Starbase Jeff Rules
• Starbase Jeff B&W Cards
• Starbase Jeff B&W Card Backs
• Starbase Jeff Color Cards 1 (Red / Yellow / Blue)
• Starbase Jeff Color Backs 1 (Red / Yellow / Blue)
• Starbase Jeff Color Cards 2 (Purple / Green / Gray)
• Starbase Jeff Color Backs 2 (Purple / Green / Gray)
• Starbase Jeff Envelope

You will also need some kind of money, preferably paper money or poker chips.