Chez Geek
Encyclopedia
Chez Geek is a card game
that parodies geek
culture and cohabitation
. It was created by Jon Darbro and developed by Alain H. Dawson, with additional development by Steve Jackson and Russell Godwin. The cards and rules were illustrated by John Kovalic
.
In 2000 Chez Geek won the Origins Award
for Best Traditional Card Game of 1999 and in 2003 the spinoff Chez Greek won Best Graphic Representation of a Card Game Product 2002.
card which lists free time, income, a special ability and a Slack goal. Players are also dealt five yellow-backed Life
cards. (Note: In the first edition, the job cards were also yellow-backed.) The space in front of a player is their Room, where various cards are played during the game. Slack can be represented using any available chit
or counter, but each player begins with a Slack total of zero.
Players take turns as follows:
Additionally, some Life cards are orange Whenever cards which can be played at any time.
Activity cards and Thing cards typically list a Slack value which is added to the player's Slack total, though some have random Slack totals and some have Slack totals which vary during the game. TV Activity cards and some Whenever cards can be used to cancel cards as they are being played, and some cause previously-played cards to be discarded. Some cards add or subtract Slack from every player's total, while others cause a player to change their Job card (and hence Slack goal). Many cards alter the effects of other cards.
The first player whose Slack total equals or exceeds their Slack goal is the winner.
Each set includes a small number of blank-faced Life and Job cards, allowing players to create their own cards to add to the game.
In 2010, all three sets were combined into the re-released Chez Geek--House Party Edition, which featured a larger box, cards with reworked art backgrounds, a six-sided die and cardboard "Slack Tokens" for use in the game. As before, a small number of blank-faced cards are included. The set also includes four "Guest Cards"--two each from Chez Goth and Chez Cthulhu--with Chez Geek backs.
' words) "compatible with the original game" to some degree. (Usually, the game rules for each set have suggestions on how to combine its gameplay with the other sets.)
Note: As of 2011, Chez Greek, Chez Grunt and Chez Dork are out of print (not available directly from SJGames). Chez Guevara is still available, but only in its original "tuck box" format, and has not be re-released in "large box" format.
Card game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games...
that parodies geek
Geek
The word geek is a slang term, with different meanings ranging from "a computer expert or enthusiast" to "a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts", with a general pejorative meaning of "a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp[ecially] one who is perceived to...
culture and cohabitation
Cohabitation
Cohabitation usually refers to an arrangement whereby two people decide to live together on a long-term or permanent basis in an emotionally and/or sexually intimate relationship. The term is most frequently applied to couples who are not married...
. It was created by Jon Darbro and developed by Alain H. Dawson, with additional development by Steve Jackson and Russell Godwin. The cards and rules were illustrated by John Kovalic
John Kovalic
John Kovalic is a cartoonist, illustrator, and writer.Kovalic is best known for his Dork Tower comic book, comic strip and webcomic, and other humorous work set in and about the fantasy role-playing game genre, such as The Unspeakable Oaf...
.
In 2000 Chez Geek won the Origins Award
Origins Award
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...
for Best Traditional Card Game of 1999 and in 2003 the spinoff Chez Greek won Best Graphic Representation of a Card Game Product 2002.
Gameplay
Players play the role of roommates living together in a single multi-room apartment or other dwelling. At the start of the game, each player is dealt a special purple-backed JobEmployment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
card which lists free time, income, a special ability and a Slack goal. Players are also dealt five yellow-backed Life
Life
Life is a characteristic that distinguishes objects that have signaling and self-sustaining processes from those that do not, either because such functions have ceased , or else because they lack such functions and are classified as inanimate...
cards. (Note: In the first edition, the job cards were also yellow-backed.) The space in front of a player is their Room, where various cards are played during the game. Slack can be represented using any available chit
Chit (board wargames)
Chits are a type of wargame counter that are generally not directly representational but used for the following purposes:* Tracking, being placed on a numeric runner to indicate turn status, as in some rule variants for Squad Leader...
or counter, but each player begins with a Slack total of zero.
Players take turns as follows:
- Draw Life cards until they have six in hand. (NOTE: Some Jobs vary this to five or seven cards.)
- Make "variable" rolls. Some Job cards have variable free time or income; their values for this turn are decided in this phase (rolling a 1-3 gives them the first amount; rolling a 4-6 gives them the second). If there are any "uninvited" people in a player's room, he or she may also roll to "get rid of" them (by rolling a 4, 5 or 6) and either send each such person to another room or discard them (if they cannot be played to any other room).
- If any of the player's in-hand Life cards are green PersonPersonA person is a human being, or an entity that has certain capacities or attributes strongly associated with being human , for example in a particular moral or legal context...
cards, they may roll to "call" the person to their room. A successful roll (3-6) gets them invited in; otherwise, they are discarded. Some people are "uninvited" (causing bad things to happen), and may be placed without a roll in any player's room. (See above for "getting rid of" these people.) Pet cards, such as CatCatThe cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
s (which don't require a roll to enter a room) and DogDogThe domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
s (which may or may not need to be "called") can also be played in this round. - For each unit of free time the player's Job card gives them, they may perform one action (play a red Activity card) or go shopping (play any number of blue ThingObject (philosophy)An object in philosophy is a technical term often used in contrast to the term subject. Consciousness is a state of cognition that includes the subject, which can never be doubted as only it can be the one who doubts, and some object or objects that may or may not have real existence without...
cards). Some of these cards may have a cost; the total cost for all cards played in a round cannot exceed the income given to them by their Job card. (NOTE: Free Time and Income may be modified by certain Whenever cards played on the player by themselves or other players.) - At the end of a turn, if a player has more than five cards in hand, the player must discard cards until they have five or fewer. If desired, players can discard all the way down to one card. (NOTE: It is also legal for a player to play ALL the cards in their hand and have NO cards at the end of a turn.)
Additionally, some Life cards are orange Whenever cards which can be played at any time.
Activity cards and Thing cards typically list a Slack value which is added to the player's Slack total, though some have random Slack totals and some have Slack totals which vary during the game. TV Activity cards and some Whenever cards can be used to cancel cards as they are being played, and some cause previously-played cards to be discarded. Some cards add or subtract Slack from every player's total, while others cause a player to change their Job card (and hence Slack goal). Many cards alter the effects of other cards.
The first player whose Slack total equals or exceeds their Slack goal is the winner.
Expansions
In addition to the original 112 card set, the following are available:- Chez Geek 2 - Slack Attack: Adds 56 new cards and provides some clarifications of the rules.
- Chez Geek 3 - Block Party: Adds 56 new cards and a large box to house the combined 224-card set.
Each set includes a small number of blank-faced Life and Job cards, allowing players to create their own cards to add to the game.
In 2010, all three sets were combined into the re-released Chez Geek--House Party Edition, which featured a larger box, cards with reworked art backgrounds, a six-sided die and cardboard "Slack Tokens" for use in the game. As before, a small number of blank-faced cards are included. The set also includes four "Guest Cards"--two each from Chez Goth and Chez Cthulhu--with Chez Geek backs.
Spinoffs
The game has also seen several stand-alone spinoffs. While these each add some new rules to the Chez Geek core, they are still (in Steve Jackson GamesSteve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and the gaming magazine Pyramid.-History:...
' words) "compatible with the original game" to some degree. (Usually, the game rules for each set have suggestions on how to combine its gameplay with the other sets.)
- Chez Greek: Chez Geek set in a FraternityFraternities and sororitiesFraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
house/College atmosphere; uses Majors instead of Jobs, and Campus cards instead of Life cards. Also adds special "Week" Whenever cards which affect all players when played (Homecoming, Spring Break, Finals Week, etc.). - Chez Grunt: Chez Geek set in the ArmyArmyAn army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
; uses MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) cards instead of Jobs, and Service cards instead of Life cards. (Notable in that cards that can ONLY be used in a straight Chez Grunt game are marked with white stars.) Grunt was developed by Alain H. Dawson and includes 112 cards. - Chez Goth: Chez Geek with GothGoth subcultureThe goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
s; adds Gloom points, which are earned via tragic events, but can be lost if no one is in your Room (via the "Misery Loves Company" rule) or from special card plays. Gloom points count toward your Slack Goal. (Since re-released in same "large box" format as Chez Geek--House Party Edition and Chez Cthulhu, with reworked art cards, die and Slack & Gloom counters.) - Chez Guevara: Chez Geek with revolutionariesChe GuevaraErnesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
; uses Ranks instead of Jobs. Also includes rules for Raids, Wounds/Healing, Pulling Rank and Promotion/Demotion. Due to these Rules additions, this is the LEAST compatible of the "Chez" games (rules suggest only using the Thing cards in/from other "Chez" games). This is also the only Chez game that does NOT have artwork by John Kovalic; the artist for this game is Greg Hyland. - Chez Cthulhu: Chez Geek dips into the LovecraftH. P. LovecraftHoward Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
MythosCthulhu MythosThe Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
, with elements of the horror genre, and adds Madness points, which hinder you in small amounts, but help you in larger amounts. (First "Chez" game to be released in "large box" format, with six-sided die and Slack & Madness counters included.) - Chez Dork: While it has a similar name and play mechanic to Chez Geek, this is a completely different game set in the world of the comic stripComic stripA comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
Dork TowerDork TowerDork Tower is an online comic created, written and drawn by John Kovalic. It chronicles the lives of a group of geeks living in the fictional town of Mud Bay, Wisconsin. Mud Bay's design is strongly influenced by the author's home town of Madison, Wisconsin. Topics have included role-playing...
.
Note: As of 2011, Chez Greek, Chez Grunt and Chez Dork are out of print (not available directly from SJGames). Chez Guevara is still available, but only in its original "tuck box" format, and has not be re-released in "large box" format.