Last week I told you about Chez Geek from Steve Jackson Games so it only seems appropriate to let the madness run its course. How do we do that? Why with Chez Cthulhu of course!
Mechanically Chez Cthulhu is virtually the same as the other Chez Geek games except for some re-theming to a more Cthulhu feel (meaning cultists, sacrifices, and of course tentacles) and adding in a madness mechanic. After all, what's Cthulhu without a little bit of insanity?
There are various cards that you can play that make you gain Madness tokens (such as Evil Ritual Nookie and the Disturbing Plush Toy) or loose Madness (like Bird Watching and Sleep, With Sweet Dreams). Of course going mad has got to be a bad thing, right?
Well sure... up to a point.
As you start gaining Madness token you initially get a slack penalty which increases with up to a -3 to your total slack. Of course this only lasts to a point because Madness brings clarity of a sort. One you get over six tokens, the penalty actually starts to decrease until you reach a total of nine tokens. At that point you are Stark Raving Mad and all of your Madness tokens go away. What's more, once you go mad you actually gain more slack points for instead of Madness tokens for the rest of the game.
Overall I really like this twist to the regular game as it adds another layer to the game. Do you try to make yourself go Mad so you can go for the "free" slack points or just try to make your opponent go just crazy enough to get the -3 Slack penalty? And of course the flavor text on the cards is as hilarious as always.
While this set can be combined with the original Chez Geek set, it is also a stand alone game complete with counters and a die. From a quality point of view this game is pretty much the norm you'd expect from SJ Games though my set was slightly miscut which makes shuffling a little tricky. Even so I'd still recommend checking this game out if you're interested in a lighter look at the all comsuming darkness of the mythos. Until next time...
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