 Players invite people, buy things and do activities in order to be the roommate with the most Slack. |
|
| Players | 2-5 (more with expansions) |
|---|---|
| Age range | 18+ |
| Setup time | 5 minutes |
| Playing time | 45 minutes |
| Random chance | High |
| Skill(s) required | Dice rolling, Communication |
| Earlier editions required you supply a six-sided die and a way of recording Slack totals, as they were not included. Later "Large Box" editions include a die and cardboard "Slack Counters". | |
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[1] and in 2003 the spinoff Chez Greek won Best Graphic Representation of a Card Game Product 2002.[2]
Contents |
Gameplay [link]
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 Job 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:
- 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 Person 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 Cats (which don't require a roll to enter a room) and Dogs (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 Thing 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 [link]
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 [link]
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.)
- Chez Greek: Chez Geek set in a Fraternity 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 Army; 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 Goths; 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 revolutionaries; 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 Lovecraft Mythos, 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 strip Dork Tower.
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.
References [link]
- ^ "Origins Award Winners (1999)". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on 2007-12-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20071209185322/https://www.originsgamefair.com/awards/1999/list-of-winners. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
- ^ "Origins Award Winners (2002)". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on 2007-11-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20071114163353/https://www.originsgamefair.com/awards/2002/list-of-winners. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
External links [link]
https://wn.com/Chez_Geek
Trousers
Trousers (pants in North America) are an item of clothing worn from the waist to the ankles, covering both legs separately (rather than with cloth extending across both legs as in robes, skirts, and dresses).
In the UK the word "pants" generally means underwear and not trousers.Shorts are similar to trousers, but with legs that come down only to around the area of the knee, higher or lower depending on the style of the garment. To distinguish them from shorts, trousers may be called "long trousers" in certain contexts such as school uniform, where tailored shorts may be called "short trousers", especially in the UK.
In most of the Western world, trousers have been worn since ancient times and throughout the Medieval period, becoming the most common form of lower-body clothing for adult males in the modern world, although shorts are also widely worn, and kilts and other garments may be worn in various regions and cultures. Breeches were worn instead of trousers in early modern Europe by some men in higher classes of society. Since the mid-20th century, trousers have increasingly been worn by women as well. Jeans, made of denim, are a form of trousers for casual wear, now widely worn all over the world by both sexes. Shorts are often preferred in hot weather or for some sports and also often by children and teenagers. Trousers are worn on the hips or waist and may be held up by their own fastenings, a belt or suspenders (braces). Leggings are form-fitting trousers, of a clingy material, often knitted cotton and spandex (elastane).
Goth (novel)
GOTH (ゴス Gosu) is a Japanese novel written by Otsuichi about two high school students fascinated by murder. The novel won the Honkaku Mystery Award in 2003. It was adapted into a manga by Kendi Oiwa. Both were published in Japan by Kadokawa, and were published in English by Tokyopop in October and September, 2008. In 2008, the novel was adapted into a live action movie directed by Gen Takahashi. Also, Fox Atomic has announced that the novel will be made into a feature film directed by J.T. Petty. The manga and novel will be rereleased by VIZ Media August 2015.
Plot
The novel contains a series of six short stories about two high school students: a boy who remains unnamed until late in the story, and a girl named Yoru Morino. Both share a similar interest in gruesome murders. While the stories were originally published in a single hardcover edition, they were later published in two bunko volumes. Tokyopop's release follows the original one volume format. The manga adaptation, by Kendi Oiwa, eliminates the Dog storyline, and combines Voice and Twins, with Morino taking Natsumi's role in the final story.
Gothic rock
Gothic rock (also referred to as goth rock or simply goth) is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes. According to both Pitchfork and NME, proto-gothic bands include Joy Division,Siouxsie and the Banshees,Bauhaus, and the Cure.
The genre itself was defined as a separate movement from post-punk due to its darker music accompanied by introspective and romantic lyrics. Gothic rock then gave rise to a broader subculture that included clubs, fashion and publications in the 1980s.
Style, roots, and influences
According to music journalist Simon Reynolds, standard musical fixtures of gothic rock include "scything guitar patterns, high-pitched basslines that often usurped the melodic role [and] beats that were either hypnotically dirgelike or "tribal" [African polyrhythmic]". Reynolds described the vocal style as consisting of "deep, droning alloys of Jim Morrison and Leonard Cohen". Siouxsie and the Banshees tended to use flanging guitar effects, producing a brittle, cold and harsh sound that contrasted with their psychedelic rock predecessors. Several acts used drum machines downplaying the rhythm's backbeat.
Chez
Chez may refer to:
Échez
The Échez, is a left tributary of the Adour, in the Hautes-Pyrénées, in the Southwest of France.
Geography
The Échez rises in Sère-Lanso (east of Lourdes) and flows north along the Adour, which it joins in Maubourguet. It flows through Tarbes and Vic-en-Bigorre.
Main tributaries
References
CHEZ-FM
Coordinates: 45°22′42.3″N 75°37′32.8″W / 45.378417°N 75.625778°W
CHEZ-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts World Class Rock at 106.1 FM in Ottawa. The station uses the brand name CHEZ 106 ("chez" is pronounced "shay", like the French word). CHEZ's studios are located at Thurston Drive and Conroy Road in Ottawa, while its transmitter is located in Camp Fortune, Quebec.
History
CHEZ was launched at 6 PM on March 25, 1977 by CHEZ-FM Inc., a company owned and operated by Harvey Glatt. Glatt owned Treble Clef music stores, a chain of retail record stores, and was also a major local concert promoter.
The initial signal strength was 100,000 watts, and the first song was "Isn't She Lovely" by Stevie Wonder. The original morning show host was Mike O'Reilly, better known at the time as frontman in the rock group Bolt Upright and the Erections.
The station focused on the 18- 34-year-old demographic by playing English progressive rock music. CHEZ also ran children's programming, talk programming and even some French programming when it first launched on air. Shows like CHEZ Ottawa, The Source, Jazz 106, Medium Rare and In the City distinguished the station from others in the Ottawa market. Radio personalities developed at the station included Ken Rockburn, Brian Murphy and Darren Stevens.
