Pyramid Review
Cube Farm
Published by Cheapass Games
Designed by James Ernest
$4.00
James Ernest can probably take any situation and make a game out of it. Take, for example, the fact that Cheapass Games has recently moved to a larger set of offices, and you might have an explanation for Cube Farm. This is the fourth release from that " . . . tiny little division of Cheapass Games" known as Hip Pocket Games. Their games come packaged in ziplock bags, and -- if it can be believed -- are actually less expensive than the Cheapass range!
As well as the recent change in offices, the inspiration for Cube Farm is also the unexpected prosperity of an Internet start-up company and its need for more office space. Offices these days are really just open spaces with light partition walls to organize the employees/workers/serfs (depending upon your office politics and/or your position within the office hierarchy) into a little work space/station/cube shaped kingdom (ditto) of their own. Of course, there is a pecking order to everything, and in the office your status is determined by how close you are to the "good stuff."
Designed for two to five players, the objective in Cube Farm is to get your people as near as possible to this good stuff, such as the photocopier, coffee machine, and water cooler. Since this is a Cheapass game, some extra components are required besides the deck of roughly fifty cards already provided. Thankfully, these requirements amount to no more than a set of about ten counters . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: July 5, 2002
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