I usually will not do reviews for Steve Jackson Games, as I am kind of biased towards them (I am a demo person for them). But this game deserves to be recognized, so I am doing a review.
Chez Dork, one of the new card games from Steve Jackson Games. Based on the Dork Tower comic written by John Kovalic, you become one of the six trademark Dork Tower characters (Ken, Gilly, Bill, Carson, Igor, or Matt). Each of the characters has a cardboard standup with an illustration of the person on one side, and a bit of information on the other side. The information tells you what advantages, disadvantages, and what Obsessions your character has (more on Obsessions shortly). The game begins with each person getting a character, drawing five cards from the 112-card deck, and taking $30 in tokens.
When your turn rolls around, you use the money you have (usually measured in $10 tokens) to purchase Stuff from your hand. Stuff is anything from Naughty Tentacles (Anime) to Scratch & Sniff (LARP & Furries). The cards have the name of the card, how much money it will cost to buy, how many points the card it worth, an illustration of what it is, a character quote (Like from Chez Geek), and what Obsessions that card falls under. And there are Special cards, which allow you to earn extra money to but more expensive Stuff (as opposed to just saving your money and letting it accumulate). Other special cards allow you to reduce other players money pile, or gain new, temporary Obsessions (Soon, I will explain these, honestly).
Obsessions, at last. Obsessions are what your character thinks are cool at any time. Gilly for example, thinks that Goth is cool to start with. So if Gilly purchases the Black Onyx Skull Dice with Ruby Eyes (Dice, Goth), she would gain double the normal point value for the card. In order to win the game, you must accumulate 25 points. Temporary Obsessions are added in addition to your permanent Obsessions to allow you to gain even more points. So if Gilly gains the Temporary Obsession of Dice, and she still has the Dice she bought earlier, she will now gain four times the point value for the Dice, as they are Dice and Goth obsessions, and she has both. Make sense?
Now, if you have something you want to buy, but lack the money to do so, you can Auction Stuff off you have in play to other players. You can specify any starting amount and go from there. Or you can trade Stuff for other Stuff, as long as it is in play. And as the rules state, you can even trade real life stuff for game Stuff (snacks, beer, sex, ect).
Chez Dork is a lot of fun, and the price won’t kill you ($25). It is a pleasant diversion from normal, run of the mill Magic and other card games. And if you are a John Kovalic fan, you shouldn’t pass this set up.
For more information about Chez Dork, you should visit Steve Jackson Games homepage and go to the Chez dork section (http://www.sjgames.com/Chezdork/).
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