Special Guest James Ernest

James Ernest biography

James Ernest is a prolific game designer and publisher, with more than 150 published games. He is the president of Cheapass Games, founder and Chief Design Associate at Lone Shark Games, and Senior Game Designer for The Amazing Society.

James got his start in the games industry doing technical writing and editing for Wizards of the Coast. He soon began designing original games, and created game designs for several publishers including Wizards of the Coast, Studio Foglio, and GAMES Magazine.

In 1996 James Ernest launched Cheapass Games. Kill Doctor Lucky, one of the most successful Cheapass titles, won an Origins Award for best abstract board game the following year. Last year, a new full-color edition of Kill Doctor Lucky became available from Paizo Publishing.

From 1996 to 2006, Cheapass Games published more than 100 original games, including Origins Award winners Give Me the Brain, Button Men, BRAWL, and Diceland. During the same period he also designed several games for other publishers, including Wizards of the Coast, Hasbro, Fleer, Microsoft, and Steve Jackson Games.

In 2004, James Ernest and design partner Mike Selinker founded Lone Shark Games, a gaming and entertainment studio responsible for several board and card games, including Pirates of the Spanish Main (Wizkids) and Gloria Mundi (Rio Grande). James and Mike are also the authors of two poker books, Dealer’s Choice (with Phil Foglio) and The Art of Texas Hold ‘Em.

From 2006 to 2009, James worked as Game Design Manager for Carbonated Games, a division of Microsoft Game Studios. While there he worked on several casual Web and Xbox games, including Hexic II, Fable II, and Uno Rush. He now works as Senior Game Designer at The Amazing Society, a division of Gazillion Entertainment, on Marvel Super Hero Squad Online.

James’ most recent new board game is coming soon from Mayfair Games. It’s called Casino: Vegas, a strategy game about building casinos on the Las Vegas Strip. Among his other hobbies are juggling and poker, and he also writes of the Brian and John Web comic, at www.brianandjohn.com.


		James Ernest biography James Ernest is a prolific game designer and publisher, with more than 150 published games. He is the president of Cheapass Games, founder and Chief Design Associate at Lone Shark Games, and Senior Game Designer for The Amazing Society. James got his start in the games industry doing technical writing and editing for Wizards of the Coast. He soon began designing original games, and created game designs for several publishers including Wizards of the Coast, Studio Foglio, and GAMES Magazine. In 1996 James Ernest launched Cheapass Games. Kill Doctor Lucky, one of the most successful Cheapass titles, won an Origins Award for best abstract board game the following year. Last year, a new full-color edition of Kill Doctor Lucky became available from Paizo Publishing. From 1996 to 2006, Cheapass Games published more than 100 original games, including Origins Award winners Give Me the Brain, Button Men, BRAWL, and Diceland. During the same period he also designed several games for other publishers, including Wizards of the Coast, Hasbro, Fleer, Microsoft, and Steve Jackson Games. In 2004, James Ernest and design partner Mike Selinker founded Lone Shark Games, a gaming and entertainment studio responsible for several board and card games, including Pirates of the Spanish Main (Wizkids) and Gloria Mundi (Rio Grande). James and Mike are also the authors of two poker books, Dealer’s Choice (with Phil Foglio) and The Art of Texas Hold ‘Em. From 2006 to 2009, James worked as Game Design Manager for Carbonated Games, a division of Microsoft Game Studios. While there he worked on several casual Web and Xbox games, including Hexic II, Fable II, and Uno Rush. He now works as Senior Game Designer at The Amazing Society, a division of Gazillion Entertainment, on Marvel Super Hero Squad Online. James’ most recent new board game is coming soon from Mayfair Games. It’s called Casino: Vegas, a strategy game about building casinos on the Las Vegas Strip. Among his other hobbies are juggling and poker, and he also writes of the Brian and John Web comic, at www.brianandjohn.com.