Chez Cthulhu

A few of us like to get a game of Chez Geek (and it's variants) going during our lunch break, so when we saw the Chez Cthulhu game we figured we'd give it a shot.The first thing we noticed is that the box is gigantic compared to the past games. After opening it up, we realized it was because it came with little cardboard tokens to use to mark your cards with extra slack or in this game you also end up with madness points (more on that later).Most of the game is how you'd expect it to be if you've played other Chez games. There's one main difference, however, and that's those madness points. We found that while this aspect of the game did make for an interesting little twist to the usual game play, it also slowed us down considerably. It's just one more thing to keep track of. Depending on how much madness you have, you either gain or lose slack points. So you're constantly trying to remember who has how much madness and how it's affecting their score... and if you want to make them go more mad or not... it's really kind of a pain.Overall, it's still a really fun game. It's harder to get through it in our lunch hour than the others, so we tend not to play it as often. If you like the other games in the series, it's a decent purchase. The cards are funny as usual and it's worth a few laughs for sure. (Tentacle Nookie, anyone?)If you find it for the right price and you're bored with the other Chez games... might as well get this one too.

Surprised to see no reviews of this game. I played Chez Geek donkey's years ago and had great fun with it; bought this title on impulse (nostalgia trip), to see how it might shake out. Played it recently with a couple of non gamers, non-cthulhu fans (I am both) on holiday, and we all had great fun.It's not the most taxing strategic game (although there is some strategy), but it is full of character, and is ultimately an easy good time for gamers and non gamers alike. The Cthulhu theme is cleverly handled; fans of the mythos will find plenty to chuckle about, but people who know nothing will enjoy the loopy themes. A number of the cards acquire great significance after you realize how they interact with various mechanics... I won't say much, but beware Hastur! What's fun is some cards effectively become well-loved/hated characters - and it's fun to see them pop up again.If you liked Chez Geek, and want to go back to it with a fresh twist, I can recommend this. If you didn't like Chez Geek, this has a couple of differences but doesn't change things that much. If you never played Chez Geek, but like games in general, it's certainly worth a try. A typical game lasts an hour or so, goes well with beer, and while the rules may seem mildly intimidating to non-gamares at first, they are pretty simple and quickly picked up. Enjoy!

Pros: Woks great as a standalone gameWorks great with the originalCombines terrifically with Chez GothThis game is really fun once you learn how to playIt isn't too complicated as far as games of this type go.Cons: Rules are very confusing, had to find a video of other people playing to fully figure them out.

Great addition to our Chez family. I can never get enough of these games. They are so much fun in a large group or just two people.

Item as expected thank you

So we got this game for an event, which was postponed several months. Upon opening it, we discovered that half the cards are a different size than the other half. We'd already surpassed the return for Amazon, so we contacted the manufacturer, who said "Oh apparently all of our last run of this game is like that. Good luck!" I am extremely dissatisfied with the response and will be re-considering my faith in Steve Jackson games from this point on.

a nice version to the chez geek series

Chez Geek, with a beautiful twist for nerds.I wish they made blank cards for this that I could mix in.

Personally, I prefer Chez Goth because, you know, for most of us we've actually lived with the Goth room mate but we haven't lived with an elder tentacle from beyond the veil and most of the humour from the game is derived from it poking fun at stereotypes that we can look at and say "I used to know someone who did that!". Just my opinion. Other than that, it's a great game, plays well and is modular so you can use it with the other Chez products.

Excellent game. Probably less amusing than Chez Geek for non Lovecraftian fans, but even so it's good fun.

I really like this version but my wife prefers Chex Geek so we don't get to play this one as much. I still really enjoy this one, I love the Cthulhu mythos and humour devoted to it and I believe this game does a good job at delivering the punchlines.