Chez Geek
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". 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 Job card which lists free time, income, a special ability and a Slack goal. Players are also dealt five Life cards. 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. Expansions. In addition to the original  112 card set, the following are available: 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 Games' 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: , "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 been re-released in "large box" format.