Fluxx

11th July 2021

Sunday night is here again and I'm logged into Board Game Arena.

"The only constant is change." - Heraclitus' review of Fluxx from about 500 BC!
He knew what he was talking about when it comes to the first game of the evening.

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What's in a game?
​Fluxx comes with a deck of just over 80 cards. which is about 50% bigger than a pack of regular playing cards, there 4 types of card in Fluxx along with the basic rules card:

• Basic rules card: Fluxx begins with this card face-up in the playing area, it displays the game's basic starting rules which are; draw 1, play 1.
• New rule: as the name suggests, when a new rule card is played it will change a rule in some way, this may increase or decrease the draw, play or hand limits, it may even change the win conditions etc.
• Goal: These types of card set a game's victory condition when played. Generally there's only 1 Goal card in play at a time, typically goals involve collecting a set of keepers (More on Keepers below.), e.g., the Death by Chocolate goal with requires the Chocolate and Death keepers to win. There are some goals that require certain keepers not be in be in play!
• Keepers: Keepers are cards that you err.... keep in front of you when played, they're basically nouns.
• Actions: When an action card is played it will trigger an event, this may include making players pick up, discard or swap cards or keepers, it may effect turns etc.

In terms of quality, the cards in Fluxx are comparable to that of a standard set of playing cards, which is acceptable.
Large easy-to-read text is used throughout Fluxx, which is a boon considering the kind of game it is.
Cards in Fluxx, other than the action cards it seems, contain some sort of mostly monochrome line illustrations. The artwork is a bit plain, but doesn't detract from the cards or interfere with the clarity of the text. All cards also have a splash of colour which indicates which of the 4 kinds of card they are.
​Its functional more than pretty, but I don't have a problem with that.

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Example of cards from Fluxx

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How's it play?
Setup

• Set out the basic rules card face-up in the central playing area. For the start of the game, draw is 1 and play is also 1.
• Shuffle the deck and deal 3 cards out to each player, put the remaining cards into a face-down deck.
• Determine the starting player.

On to play

• Draw: The active player draws cards equal to the draw rule, which at the game start is 1.
• Play: The active player must play cards equal to the current play rule.
  New Rule: When a new rule is played, it takes effect immediately, even affecting the active player! A draw/play change is played on the relevant corner of the basic rules card, replacing any card that's already there, which is discarded. Other rules are played next to the basic rules card, sometimes this will cause other new rule cards to be discarded.
  Goal: When played, goal cards are placed into the central game area, generally there's only ever one goal card in play, a previous goal card is discarded when a new one is played.
  Keeper: When the active player plays a keeper cards, it's placed into their personal area.
  Action: Action cards are one-and-done, when played by the active player, their affect is completed they are put into the discard pile.

That's the basics for Fluxx, bear in mind that all of those rules can and will be varied or changed!

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Endgame
Fluxx boasts that there's 23 ways to win! (Mine also says it's version 3.1.)
When any player meets the win conditions, they immediately win, they don't need to be the active player or have a turn to win!

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The goal is met.

Overall
There's not much I can say about Fluxx, it's clearly a light, fun and unpredictable experience which favours opportunistic play. Players will want to keep a sharp eye out for the changes that occur when the situation inevitably shifts from one rule to another, this is especially true since any player can win at any time.
An easy game to pick up that plays quickly (Probably!), This makes it an excellent filler, the version 5.0 rules state that players can just drop in and out, making it a good opener for a longer session of gaming or a finisher.
If you want a quick diversion, it's hard to go wrong with Fluxx