Button Men
| Designer(s) | James Ernest |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | Cheapass Games |
| Players | 2 |
| Setup time | 2 minutes |
| Playing time | 10–180 minutes |
| Random chance | Medium |
| Skill(s) required |
Probabilistic analysis |
Probabilistic analysis
Button Men is a dice game for two players invented by James Ernest of Cheapass Games and first released in 1999.
Games are short, typically taking less than ten minutes to play. Each player is represented by a pin-back button or playing card of their choice. The buttons are metal or plastic discs, about 2–2.5 inches (5–6.5 cm) in diameter, with a pin on back that can be used to fasten them to clothing. A button bears the name and illustration of the combatant ("Button Man" or "fighter") assumed by the player. Each button indicates the quantity and maximum value (and abilities if any) of the player's dice.
Button Men is a game designed for fan conventions and other public venues. It can be played almost anywhere on short notice (provided the dice are at hand), and games are quick to complete. Buttons are meant to be worn on clothing, bags, or other accessories, advertising that the wearer has a button to play with and is open to challenges. Buttons also frequently advertise something else, such as a company, a webcomic, or another game. The Sluggy Freelance set of buttons, for example, features characters from that comic, and the Brawl set features characters from another Cheapass game. In 2000, Button Men won the Origins Awards for Best Abstract Board Game of 1999 and Best Graphic Presentation of a Board Game 1999.
Button Men can easily be extended simply by creating more buttons. It has continued to be so extended since its inception; as of 2004[update], over 200 buttons have been printed. Many are by now out of print, though many others are still available, primarily via purchase from the Cheapass Games web site. Companies other than Cheapass must pay a licensing fee to use the Button Men artwork in distributing their own buttons.
In 1999 Pyramid magazine named Button Men as one of the Millennium's Best Games. Editor Scott Haring said "This game just gets more and more impressive every time I look at it. ... the idea is so simple, and the strategy so subtle . . . I've never figured out exactly how to master this game, and I suspect that's because there is no good way to do so."
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