Game: Chez Geek 3: Block Party

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swuyau — 2008-05-26T06:00:00+00:00

Cover

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Typse2Fsat — 2007-10-30T08:21:20+00:00

Hi-res Box Front

Thread: Back to back Block Parties!

KJToo — 2007-03-22T06:21:15+00:00

The International House of Johnson was full of gamers last night! Miscellaneous G™, Chris Miller, Gus and Jeff (another new addition to the crew) assembled for Game Night. We didn't get started as early as planned, so we ditched Arkham Horror in favor of something a little lighter: Chez Geek 3: Block Party from Steve Jackson Games.

Chez Geek is an absolute riot. The players are all roommates in a single apartment, seeking to goof off as much as possible in order to win the game. The prime commodity in Chez Geek is Slack, which can be accumulated through such activities as surfing the Net, sleeping, watching television and the even-popular nookie. There's also Slack to be had through conspicuous consumption — buying books, booze, food, weed and other stuff — and just hanging out with friends.

Each player has a Job that defines his or her Free Time, Income and Slack Goal. Some Jobs, such as the Slacker, have loads of Free Time but very little Income while Jobs like Corporate Drone offer a high Income but not much Free Time. Cards granting Slack or inhibiting a roommates' ability to acquire Slack are played from the hand, which is replenished at the beginning of each turn.

We played Chez Geek twice; once with four players and the second time with six. The first game was over fairly quickly, but the second went quite a bit longer.

Game One

* Security Guard (me) - This guy doesn't have to spend Free Time when he plays Sleep cards. That's a nice perk; unfortunately I didn't draw a single Sleep card the entire game.
* Slacker (Jeff) - Truly shiftless, the Slacker sacrifices Income for Free Time. He can play a lot of Activity cards each turn, but his low Income makes for some pretty pathetic shopping trips. He's kind of like the brother-in-law who crashes on your couch for six weeks after Spring semester, playing Xbox instead of getting a damn job.
* Tech Support (Chris) - This poor sap is the polar opposite of the Slacker; the tech support rep has an above-average Income but almost no Free Time. On the bright side, he can play Computer Games or Surf the Net without using Free Time.
* Web Designer (Miscellaneous G™) - Not a bad gig, if you can get it. The Web Designer gets a Slack bonus whenever one of his roommates plays a Surf the Net card.

The game had a promising start for me. I made a call to my buddy, Mr. Enthusiastic, and he was more than happy to come over. Then I went shopping for some booze, in the form of a White Russian (I do love the Kahlua).

Alas, Mr. Enthusiastic is a fickle fellow; he bounced from one room to another throughout the game, taking his 2 Slack with him. Any time a roommate managed to acquire 3 or more Slack in a turn, they had a good chance of wooing Mr. Enthusiastic away from another player. Before the first turn was over, Mr. Enthusiastic was long gone from my room. To add insult to injury, he was replaced by Can't Handle It Guy, a pantywaist who rendered my delicious liquor completely useless.

Thanks to a couple of lousy die rolls, I didn't get rid of the booze-inhibiting Can't Handle It Guy until late in the game, and I never really recovered from the initial one-two punch I got in the first turn.

Meanwhile, Jeff the Slacker was feeling the pain of having almost no Income. He discarded a couple of high-price items, including the Wide-Screen TV, but managed to Surf the Net (giving Miscellaneous G™'s Web Designer bonus Slack) and score some Cast Party Nookie.

Chris managed to hold his own, playing a couple of Surf the Net cards, using his Free Time to shop for Used CDs and then coaxed Mr. Enthusiastic out of my room.

Unfortunately, all the net surfing proved to be our undoing; every click of the mouse added Slack to Miscellaneous G™'s total. A couple of turns, some Power Outage Nookie and a bottle of Old Ragnarok later, the Web Designer was only one point away from victory… and then Mr. Enthusiastic showed up with two more Slack points. Game Over.

Game Two

* Corporate Drone (Jeff) - This all too familiar lackey makes a lot of dough, but has very little Free Time. He's also got the highest Slack Goal of any Job in the game.
* Waitstaff (Chris) - Ah, food services. You work your butt off trying to make a buck, but in the end your fortune falls to the whim of the diner. Income for this Job is variable, like your tips. On the bright side, the Waitstaffer gets one bonus Slack for every Sleep card he plays.
* Envelope Stuffer (Laura) - It's not the most exciting Job in the world (nor the best paying by far), but it has its benefits: the Envelope Stuffer doesn't use free time to play TV cards.
* Bike Messenger (Miscellaneous G™) - The nice thing about being a Bike Messenger is that Free Time and Income are perfectly balanced. The not so nice thing is that they're both pretty low. The Bike Messenger also gets a bonus for playing Weed cards.
* Graphic Artist (me) - The money is decent, but Free Time is almost nonexistent. Why does the Graphic Artist get a bonus for playing Weed and Cigarette cards? Who knows, man? Who knows?
* Pizza Delivery Driver (Gus) - Like the Waitstaffer, the Pizza Delivery Driver's Income is variable. He also gets a discount when purchasing Food. Yum!

This game had more of a Screw Your Neighbor feel than the first round. We had two additional players and everyone was more than happy to stick it to their fellow apartment-dwellers.

Chris managed to make himself a target early in the game by amassing a lot of Slack very quickly. Victory was well within his reach, so we all started ganging up on him. Laura hit him with cards that blocked his attempts to Sleep and anyone with a TV card in their hand was quick to cancel most of his other activities.

Laura and Gus were also formidable opponents, and both had victory within arm's length multiple times. Gus was taking full advantage of the Pizza Delivery Driver's discount on Food cards; he was able to play several of them for free, but his feeding frenzy was cut short when Hungry Girl invaded his room and raided the fridge. Laura, in the meantime, was proving to be quite the lush, downing both a White Russian and a bottle of Old Ragnarok. She combined her love of libations with an affinity for NT Server Doccos, certainly an odd combination. Even so, she didn't quite manage to drink her way to a win.

I suppose I should blame myself for the outcome of the game. In my final turn (how could I have known), I played Chinese Fire Drill, forcing all players to pass their hands to the player on their left. This left Gus with a couple of my cards that he quickly put to use, but we were all still keeping an eye on Chris, who looked to be on the cusp of snatching the golden ring.

We should have been watching Jeff, whose turn feel between Gus and Chris. Sure, he had an impossibly high Slack Goal and almost no Free Time at all… until he got Gus' hand. Jeff played Get a Life, giving him three Free Time but preventing him from playing Sleep or TV cards. He also played Jonesing and stole some of Gus' yet-unscarfed Food. The rest of us had been so intent on stopping Chris that we had little left in reserve to stop Jeff. He stole, shopped, and sexed his way to a seven-point, game-winning Slackathon and all we could do was watch.

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terp8in — 2006-09-20T06:07:29+00:00

New Jobs for the Block Party expansion

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terp8in — 2006-09-20T06:07:23+00:00

Nookie cards for Block Party expansion

Thread: Session Report

Zirak — 2006-07-22T23:55:58+00:00

Players – Andy, Jacob, Jason, Lynsey

I decided to bring out Chez Geek - plus Slack Attack & Block Party - for our second game of the night. This is a game which I have not played for a couple of months now, so was quite glad to bring it out once more. I decided on this game as Lynsey brought over Munchkin as a gaming option for the night, so I thought she might be interested in a different Steve Jackson title.

All of the others were new to the game so I briefly went over the rules, explaining the different types of cards. I do find that from the different sessions with new players that I have had with Chez Geek, I have had mixed replied as to how easy the rules are to grasp after explanation - earlier on in my gaming past this may have been due to my lack of ability to teach new games, but these days I’m marginally better at it. It is definitely a game where you need to learn as you go, mainly because of the various actions on each card, and the fact that you want to read all the quotes, as they are mostly all quote humorous.

The game stared quite well, with Andy & Jacob taking any early lead, then Lynsey and I were able to play some nice unwanted guests and income reducing cards, but Jacob stole the game by inviting “She who Cooks” and already having around 5 food card in his room.

The game went down a treat with Lynsey, but not so enthusiastic were the others, although I think I could persuade them to play again at a later stage.

I find that Chez Geek is a game you really need to bring out with the right crowd as its either hit or miss with most people.

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gideonn — 2006-06-03T19:25:54+00:00

JJ and LHA Grads Geek Out

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talrich — 2006-05-18T21:56:57+00:00

Surprising that Chez Geek 1, 2, & 3 only fill about two thirds of the box, but that leaves room for dice.

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talrich — 2006-05-18T21:46:22+00:00

The box itself is clearly part of the attraction of this gratuitous expansion. The inside and outside of the house makes for a cool design.

Thread: Chez Geek + Slack Attack + Block Party

gideonn — 2006-02-02T16:05:56+00:00

Chez Geek + Slack Attack + Block Party

What I Learned in College

The Players: Me, aka Mr. H., the 50+ history teacher who runs the Games Club here at LaurenHill Academy. Starting Job: Campus Job

Linda, Brandon and Derek: 17 year old high school seniors who will be starting college in the Fall. Starting Jobs: Linda - Slacker; Brandon - TA; Derek - Waitstaff

Amedeo: 19, LHA grad and college freshman. Starting Job: Pizza Delivery Driver

Amedeo went first, his first time playing. He kept rolling low on his variable income and had only expensive things in his hand, and no activities, so he had a very slow start. Linda overcame her low income by luckily drawing many activity cards, such as 'The Why Files, Talk Show,' and 'Dying for Dollars,' though an early attempt at sleep was thwarted by my timely play of 'Snoring Roomate.' Brandon went a variety of ways by shopping for some food and attempting to hang out at the café. Again, I put a crimp in those plans by sending him on 'Laundry Day,' as I use to pass that task off to my roommate. Derek got some cigarettes and used Cds. On my first turn, after successfully inviting the 'Life of the Party' over, I invested in 'Caesar's Gallic Wars' something, as I explained, I actually read in Latin in high school. They wondered what Latin was, the language of Latin America no doubt? On my second, I bought 'Beowulf,' again something I read I high school. On my third 'On the Origin of Species' - not a book I've ever read, but I did read a biography of Darwin which explained how he came to write his famous work. No, they were not impressed, nor did they notice that I had amassed 9 slack points in three rounds.

Amedeo was still getting nowhere on his limited income, so he threw in most of his cards and continued to roll ones. Finally lost his job and drew, [sigh] the Drummer. This pretty much sealed his fate for the rest of the game. Linda continued to draw activities adding 'The Animal Bothering Show,' Mitzi the Demon Hunter,' and a backrub, at which point Brandon pointed out that she always gets one. Did he mean in the game or . . . ?, oh well. Derek moved happily along by playing computer games and attending a toga party. Since I had studied so hard to this point I needed some fun time. Joined by 'The Motivator,' I scored some 'Hash Brownies.'

Linda tried for some 'RPGs,' failed, and then wondered what they were. Later she tried for some 'Phone Nookie,' failed and Amedeo wondered what that was. Derek used some secret arm motions to explain it to him. I sent the 'Choad Warrior' after Brandon's food, and the 'Ubergeek' to Derek's. In my next turn I took a nap and Brandon woke me by driving the 'Fire Truck' past my place. As the turns went round, I began to count my slack. I was at 16, and then I remembered the rules, yeah the rules, which I'd read back in December when I first purchased the sets. Technically, when I played the sleep card I had 17 slack and I had won! I broke the news to them and they agreed, but with not enough time in our lunch break to start another, we decided to play for highest Slacker instead.

While they now fought among themselves, I relived my college days with a bottle of 'Old Ragnarok,' which makes you sound drunk trying to pronounce it, went for some 'Cast Party Nookie.' I even 'Caught Some Rays.'

When the bell rang to end lunch, I had 23 slack points, the clear winner. As I explained to them, "Now we know which one of us went through too many years of college." I think they can’t wait for their own real experiences to begin.

Thread: A no-brainer purchase for fans of Chez Geek!

pdclose — 2006-01-24T20:07:29+00:00

Chez Geek is a card game featuring a group of roommates living together, each trying to amass an amount of "Slack" in order to win the game.

At the beginning of the game, you draw one character card and that sets the amount of freetime and money you’ll have to “spend” each turn, plus gives you your Slack Goal needed to win the game. From then on, it’s a matter of drawing and playing cards, either on yourself or your opponent, to raise and lower the Slack count. The rules are well detailed under the entry for the main game.

Chez Geek 3: Block Party adds 56 more cards, including additional character cards, activities, items to buy, various guests to inflict on your opponents, AND a very handy, sturdy, extra large box big enough to store the original game plus both expansions! In fact, the box that comes with this expansion has enough room not only for the original game plus both expansions, but also one of the other games in the Chez ... genre too, OR some small, cheap dice for slack and tiddly-wink style counters for slack points. It’s definitely a great deal!

And now you can inflict a “Bad Boss” on your opponents, or buy some “Cigars”, or some “Cheez-in-a-Can”, plus you can get some “Elevator Nookie” or just complain about the “Stupid Card Game”. This expansion adds a “Psycho Kitty” and a “Visit From The Parents”. You can even aspire to be a “Bike Messenger” or a “Security Guard”.

This set definitely adds to the enjoyment of the original and mixes well with both the original and the first expansion set with no noticeable unbalancing of the game! You can add this expansion in any order – Chez Geek 2 is not required in order to use this expansion with the original game. I highly recommend it to fans of the game, and the included large storage box really makes it a no-brainer purchase!

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thomcat — 2006-01-17T14:57:25+00:00

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flainez — 2004-11-14T14:40:54+00:00

Thread: Session Report

mevans — 2003-01-13T20:53:52+00:00

After our third go-round of Pass The Bomb we came into the home stretch of the evening's last game. With my games for many players reaching an end, we finished with Chez Geek plus the two expansions, which Sanjay had asked me to bring.

The basics of Chez Geek I covered in my last session for the game.

The Players: Katie H, Jason S, Brian A, Rachelle C, Sanjay M, Vicki P, Corey R, and myself (Mark E.).

The Play:

As usual, Chez Geek was confusing, obtuse, and got some laughs. It's hard for me to be rah-rah about this game at all, and if Sanjay hadn't requested it, I wouldn't have brought it.

Chez Geek lacks something for me. And that's a shame, as I think the humor is just a riot, and the depiction of dorm life is spot on. But the rules are overly complex for such a basic card game, and the strategy is minimal, especially when all three expansion packs are thrown into the mix.

It also didn't help that we were all approaching the burn-out point due to the late hour, but we plowed on through to the end. Brian won on his turn, but did so by playing two activities despite having only one free time. We were so off the game by this point that we let him win anyway.

Rating:

Chez Geek gets by on its humor value only. If the game wasn't funny (and believe me, it is) it would have very little by way of excitement or redeeming value to me.

Katie wanted to give it another chance as she didn't feel she grasped it even at the end (But honestly, if we played Citadels which is 3x as easy to learn and about 30x more fun, why would you want to?), though Vicki even admitted that the game wasn't much but the cards were fun to read.

That's why I have the game, but I would never, ever use this to introduce people to new games or even suggest playing it period. Despite my extremely generous 6.5 in my first session report, I've got to say that Chez Geek is now probably in a permanent 4-5 rating zone for me, depending on my mood.

Thread: Session Report

mevans — 2002-11-10T18:55:20+00:00

I tried to steer us towards Citadels for our last game, but as soon as my university-oriented friends heard that this game simulated res life and had nookie, it was all over...

The Players: Me (Mark Evans), Sanjay M., Rachelle C., Vicki P., Mike H.

The Game:

Chez Geek is a quirky little card game where players basically attempt to reach a certain level of slack by working menial jobs and spending their free time and having people come visit their apartment.

It's not exactly what I'd call cerebral in the least, and more played for filler or the humor value. If you've lived in a university residence or apartment though, this game probably reflects at least one aspect of your life, if not more.

We played with all three expansions, which was an ungodly number of cards to try and shuffle and even then there were huge blocks of cards of one type, just because it was so hard to shuffle them.

It's hard to describe the flow of play of this game, but Vicki eventually won the game. Really the journey's more fun than the destination on this one (which makes it not as likely to come out all that often, since most games offer both).

The most fun of the evening though was when I played the Chinese Fire Drill card that requires everybody to pass their hand to the person on their left. This was even more funny when Sanjay played a Dumpster Diving card to fish the Chines Fire Drill out of the discard pile and then play it again.

Rating:

Everybody had a good laugh, which is what matters when you're in a friendly gaming atmosphere like this. I'd give the game a 9 for humor, but maybe a 6.5 tops for actual gameplay. Perhaps with better shuffling it'd go up, and admittedly this was all our first time trying to play so it was a bit shaky.

It just seemed slightly dragged out though, and ultimately it did end up being completely chaotic. Not that chaos is terrible, but a little control of one's destiny is nice at times.

Definitely my least favorite game of the night, though I got the impression everybody else thought it was more fun than I did (whether this is because of the humor or not, I'm not sure).

At that point we called it a day, since I had to work in the morning. A great evening though, and I introduced a boatload of games to some friends, so hopefully there'll be more of these lengthy session reports in the future!

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2001-12-18T09:27:49+00:00