Chez Dork
Review by Brutilus

The Basics:
Publisher: Steve Jackson Games
Players: 2-6
Age: 10 and up
Playing Time: 5-20 minutes
Price: $24.95
Rating: 8 of 10

The Real Scoop:
If you've come to MillionairePlayboy.com voluntarily, this game is about you. Chez Dork is a game about all kinds of geek collections. It covers everything from comic books and video games to Star Trek and Warhammer.

In Chez Dork, you take on the role of one of 6 characters from the popular Dork Tower comic strip. Your choices are: Matt, the RPG fanatic and boyfriend of Gilly; Gilly, the frighteningly cute Goth; Bill, the Warhamster and miniatures fan; Ken, who holds down a real job and plays video games; Igor, the obsessive anime fan boy; and Carson, the muskrat.

Every character except Carson and Bill has a permanent obsession. Carson has none and Bill has two. Every character except Bill and Carson can have a temporary obsession. Carson can have three and Bill can't have any. (If you hadn't noticed, those two are the weird ones.) Temporary obsessions come in the form of Temporary Obsession cards.

The goal of the game is to collect more stuff than anyone else. The total number of stuff points required to win is 25. If, at any instant during your turn, you reach or pass 25 points, you win. To get points, you must buy stuff. Duh. Stuff comes in the form of cards. Each stuff card has the name of the item you are buying, its point value, a picture of the item, a humorous description or anecdote, and the obsession(s) that it satisfies. You may buy stuff that does not fit your character's obsession(s), but anything you own that fits one or more of your obsessions is worth double the point value.

OK, So we know what stuff is. How do we buy stuff?

You buy stuff with money. Again, Duh. Money is given to you in the form of $30 salary per turn and various other cards that can be drawn. My two favorite special cards that give you free money are Income Tax Refund and Ebay Your Soul. Ken has a special ability that allows him to sell cards from hiS hand for more money. He practically prints the stuff.

Okay. So far we have Temporary Obsession and Stuff cards. Are there any other kinds of cards? Has Demi Moore had plastic surgery?

The last type of card is the catch-all category. They are called Specials. Here is where the really neat stuff and the really rotten stuff come into play. Specials include the aforementioned money cards, stuff modifiers, deal cards, counters, and generally rotten tricks you can play on your friends.

Stuff modifiers are fairly limited in number. They are Limited Edition and Autographed, each of which doubles the point value of a card.

Deal cards have various effects including, but not limited to, allowing extra deals per turn, selling your stuff, and getting discounts on new stuff.

The counters are pretty basic. They allow you to prevent bad stuff from happening to you. The most common form of a counter in this game is what I like to call the geek whine. Cards like But I Bought the Pizza really add to the D&D night feel to this game.

The rotten stuff is the most fun. They include such things as Counterfeit (But I thought it was so awesome!), It's My Birthday (Gimme your stuff), and Rent is Due. Every chance to mess with your buddies is offered to you and some of them requiring role-playing. It's My Birthday requires the card donor to give a speech as to why you're their bestest buddy and how much you deserve the present. It's nice to make them grovel every once in a while.

Chez Dork is very well made. My copy is now almost 2 years old and very well used, yet the coating on the cards is still in good shape and none of the cardboard character stand-ups have worn out. The rules are extremely well written (a huge plus in my book) and are printed on tough stock that has withstood the test of time.

John Kovalic, the creator of Dork Tower, does all the artwork in Chez Dork. His unique comic style adds to the humor of the cards. The added quotes at the bottom of each picture are sure to get a good laugh out of any new player. On the bottom of 56mm Pewter Chainmail Babe on Unicorn, a miniatures/unicorns obsession card, has the following quote on the bottom, And get a load of the artistic value on her. John's got us geeks pegged.

All in all, Chez Dork is a very satisfying gaming experience. I've been very happy with its durability and, more importantly, its replayability. John Kovalic and Steve Jackson did a great job on this awesome collaborative effort.

Chez Dork is available from Steve Jackson Games and from FunAgain Games.

Article and all images are copyrighted 2003 MillionairePlayboy.com.