Review of Chez Geek

Chez Geek was one of the games that I ordered before I got appendicitis. Imagine me, the first day released from a Japanese hospital, and a big box of games comes in. I tore it open and went straight for this game- I had been looking forward to playing it for a while.

The cards had me laughing so much that I started crying from the abdominal pain (the staples and stitches came out that morning). The beautifully thought out, hilariously illustrated cards almost had me back gin stitchesh. In this game there is a big pile of cards, and every single one is individually illustrated. Each card has a quote on the bottom which makes each card funnier. There are different classes of cards; Jobs, People, Things (Booze, Weed, Food, Books, etc), Activities and Whatever cards that can be played- yep, you guessed it. Here are some examples of cards that you might play:

Moron With Chainsaw- Interrupts a sleep action Hitler Science Theater Y2K (TV show) Gaming Nookie (yeah, there'fs even sex in the game) – "Hey, baby, wanna see my miniatures?"

The idea of the game is simple. You start with a job (chosen randomly)- each job card lists your Income, Free Time, and Slack Requirement. If you get enough Slack Points from doing things, buying stuff or calling people you win the game. Some of these cards include jobs like Temp, Professional Research Subject, Corporate Drone and Drummer. Generally the cards with a higher salary have less free time and a higher slack requirement (since they can easily buy the higher slack items like gShroomsh and gGamestationh).

Each turn everyone first collects income, calls people and then does things. In the meantime you can play gwheneverh cards that benefit you or hinder other people. When you reach your slack goal, you win the game. Easy, right?

I Thought So Too.

In essence, the game is a great idea and Ifm sure that most of the cards were thought out for their gfunnyh value first, and play value second. Anyway, the following problems crept up in play:

• At the beginning of every turn you collect income. This part is easy- unfortunately, half the job cards have gsplith values, like 1/4. It means that you roll your income every turn- if you get 1-3, you take the lower number that turn, 4-6 gets the higher income that turn. Rolling dice each and every round takes a little away from the game, especially since not everyone has to roll dice- Itfs very easy to forget to roll for income until youfre well into buying stuff.

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• Youfll end up having so many cards worth points towards your slack goal that itfs hard to keep track of them all. Ifve played over 4 games where someone said, gSorry, but I just realized that I won two rounds agoh. gReally, Ic waitc I had this card out this whole time? That means I really won four rounds agoh. Sometimes the slack thatfs written on the cards can go up or down depending on interactions of other cards, and keeping track of cards, dice and tokens add up to a headache- especially when youfre dealing with the Corporate Dronefs 20+ slack.

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• There are several cards in the game that affect other cards, but those affected cards are so few that they make no difference. For example- The Keg. The Keg is a 0 slack card that you play which makes all booze bought that round cost 0 income. Thatfs a great card, especially if you have a lot of booze cards in your hand that you want to play. Unfortunately, out of a huge pile of cards, therefs only 3 or 4 booze cards. Youfll be lucky to be able to play a single booze card with The Keg. The Keg is a prime example of a card that was a funny idea but doesnft work gamewise (Narcolepsy is another similar card- Sleep cards get cancelled so often as to make Narcolepsy practically worthless). A simple way to fix The Keg card is to make it effective for the rest of the game, but still, the creator should have thought of that.

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• Most cards that affect income say that theyfll affect it on the next round. I found this idea to be meaningless- Therefs no good reason why they shouldnft affect the current income. Plus, therefs an added problem for the x/x income jobs- Say, for example, that you have a 1/4 income, and you want to buy a Gamestation (cost is 5), so you play the gFind Change in Couchh card to raise your income on the next turn. But on the nest turn, you roll the lower income. Youfve wasted the gFind Changeh card and you still canft buy the Gamestation. These sorts of problems are easily fixable by saying that they can increase your income Right Now, but enough of my ghouse rulesh- this is something that the rules designer should have thought of.

There were also a lot of problems that could have been solved by clearing up the instructions on the card or on the rules a little bit.

For example, for the people cards, there are some annoying people who you can kick out of your room, and there are some you canft (without a special card). That information isnft written on the cards themselves- you have to read the instructions and memorize which people you can kick out of your room and which people you canft (well, therefs only 3 such cards so itfs not a big deal, but stillc).

Another example is the TV cards- you can play them to get slack or you can play them as an interrupt for other peoplefs actions. But do they get the slack from the TV card? The rules remain silentc

Now, I must say I just harshed a lot on this game, but I think that it deserves it. It is a very fun game to play, but for the theme of the game I think that the game itself should be easier to play. I was very surprised by this game, though- after I figured out all the rules and started playing with friends, I thought that this might be one of those games that you play once or twice and then forget about. Far from it- Despite its flaws, it has some serious replay value.

The Bottom Line

The Good

Hilarious cards and the jokes donft gget oldh. Non-collectible (but there will maybe be an expansion pack later). Great replay value. Games are generally quick so you can play many in a row without tiring. Funny supplemental rules (Ex: If you get a certain amount of slack from numerous gNookieh cards, the roommates on either side of you lose one sleep card). Good mix of strategy and luck. Will remind you of your own slacker days of college or sharing an apartment.

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The Bad

Die rolling for jobs, calling people, sending people away, game effects etc detracts from game. Hard to keep track of slack points. Rules unclear in some areas, apparently misguided (see gaffect next incomeh cards) in others. A few (2-3) seemingly useless cards. Rules are just a teensy weensy too complex for the subject matter.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 3 (Average)