House Rules
for
"Chez Geek"

House Rules and Clarifications:

• The Doug Rule: You may take back an action if, since then, no other player has taken an action, and no random events (such as die rolls or cards drawn) have occurred. (But be reasonable.)
• Six people may play. Expect a long game.
• Turn phases are not strictly enforced. You may roll to get rid of an uninvited guest, or call a person, even if you have already played an activity or gone shopping.
• We track our slack backward, with a die (usually a d20) showing how many more slack points are needed to win. (It's much easier for other players to read your die than to total all of your slack and compare it to your slack goal, to see how close you are to winning.)
• Whenever cards may not be played if there is no legal way to carry out their instructions. (e.g., you don't get to play a card that cancels Sleep unless someone really is trying to Sleep. Psycho Kitty and Allergies escape this rule; they can have zero effect (with no animals) and still remain true to their wording.)
• Income and Free Time are determined during your roll phase, even if you do not have to roll for them. (This relieves a contradiction in the official rules.) (However, the FAQ allows cards that raise "your next income" to affect your current or next turn, as you prefer.) Lasting bonuses (from Raise and The Motivator) may be applied immediately.
• If a player acts too quickly to allow another player reasonable time to cancel a card or similarly react (e.g., rolling for Nookie immediately upon playing the card), the cancellation or reaction is still allowed.
• Canceling a TV card (that was played to cancel an activity) restores the original activity unless the new canceling card is another TV (or a Sleep disrupting card, in the case of Sloths: Nature's Sedatives).
• Income, as considered by Tattoo and Piercing, is your average permanent income (including Raise if you have it). (Thus, having Harold the Hoopty Car does not change whether you can get a Tattoo.)
• Sucks to be You! applies to cards in play that are not in your room. (e.g., it can discard Find a Couch.)
• Taking the automatic 3 slack for Nookie with a Live-in SO is not a "Nookie roll". (So bonuses to "Nookie rolls" don't add to it.)
• An action canceled by TV does not magically shift into the extra Free Time reserved for TV with Envelope Stuffer or Insomnia. It takes place during the same Free Time used for the original action. (This also implies that canceling a Shopping trip that uses no free time (which is silly because they can just go shopping again) uses up no extra Free Time.)
• Include Guy on Couch when counting People. Roll only once for each tie.
• Not on the Bed makes Mischief and Trouble worth -2 slack.
• Chinese Fire Drill, like most cards, takes effect immediately: You have no time to play cards from your former hand (except to cancel Chinese Fire Drill).
• If a Person who consumes things enters a room during the Draw or Roll phase, that Person immediately consumes an item, but does not do so again at the end of that Roll phase. If sent to another room during that Roll phase, they will consume again. (This can be inferred from the official rules.)
• You're Fired! may not effectively cost a player two turns when played before or during the roll phase: The target player still gets their old Income and Free Time for that turn. (If the "Unemployment" optional rule is in effect, they get 0 Income and 4 Free Time instead.)
• Visit from Parents applies to one target player, not to the whole apartment.

Card Corrections (from FAQ):

• Professional Research Subject may keep Weed, Booze, or Shrooms cards acquired during a previous job.
• Tattoo may be removed by Sucks To Be You!
• TV can cancel Actions (Shopping and Activities).

Optional Rules:

• Borrowing: Borrow income that you can expect to pay back from another player, for one turn.
• Apartment Incest: Both gain slack from Nookie, each rolling or taking 3, and a breakup causes loss of the highest-slack item each has.
  (See http://www.sjgames.com/chezgeek/rules.html for complete rules for these two rules.)
• Unemployment: When You're Fired!, the turn that is lost to seeking new employment may be deferred. Until you choose to lose an entire turn, you are unemployed: You have four free time and no income, and cannot win the game. Card play restrictions regarding Slacker and Drummer apply to unemployed players as well. (e.g., no Bad Boss.)

Reminders (things we have misplayed):

• Sloths: Nature's Sedatives may be canceled as sleep no matter how it was played. (From FAQ)
• Shopping is not an Activity (thus immune to Brain Fart) but may be canceled by TV. If canceled, it may be performed again that turn if more free time remains. A canceled shopping trip causes the loss of the free time used for it, but not the income. (From FAQ)
• You must describe your Tattoo.
• A win happens immediately upon reaching one's slack goal, unless the card that brought about the win is canceled. Other actions that may reduce slack (such as taking or discarding that card or others) are too late.
• Keg on Porch cannot summon animals or Psycho Ex.

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