The Game We Play After the Kid Goes to Bed
Written: Apr 12 '07 (Updated Apr 12 '07)
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Pros: Great cards, endless possibilities, fun and different.
Cons: Sometimes it's a good game, sometimes it's not. Not really for kids.
The Bottom Line: A fun and different game for adults and older children.
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| dagny21's Full Review: Fluxx |
Fluxx is an unusual card game for 2 to 6 players who’s rules, mechanics, and goals are determined by the cards played during the game. Fluxx comes with 84 cards, with no duplicates, listed below.
The Cards
Rules
Basic Rules, Brain Bonus, Draw 2, Draw 3, Draw 4, Draw 5, Final Card Random, Government Cover-Up, Hand Limit 0, Hand Limit 1, Hand Limit 2, Hand Limit 3, Keeper Limit2, Keeper Limit 3, Keeper Limit 4, Money Bonus, Play 2, Play 3, Play 4, Play All, Secret Data, Tax Bonus, Time Bonus.
Keepers
The Brain, Bread, Chocolate, Coffee, Cookies, Death, Doughnuts, The Eye, Love, Milk, Money, The Moon, Peace, The Pyramid, The Rocket, The Sun, Taxes, Television, Time, Toaster, War
Goals
5 Keepers, 10 Cards in Hand, All You Need is Love, The Appliances, The Brain (no TV), Chocolate Cookies, Chocolate Milk, Coffee and Doughnuts, Death and Taxes, Death by Chocolate, The Great Seal, Hippyism, Milk and Cookies, The Mind’s Eye, Money (no Taxes), Peace (no War), Rocket to the Moon, The Sun and the Moon, Time is Money, Toast, War and Death
Actions
Discard & Draw, Draw 2 and Use ‘em, Draw 3 play 2 of Them, Everybody Gets One, Exchange Keepers, Pilfer the Trash, Rules Reset, Scramble Keepers, Security Breech, Steal a Keeper, Take Another Turn, Taxation, Trade Hands, Trash Hand Limit, Trash a Keeper, Trash Keeper Limit, Trash New Rule, Use What You Take.
One Blank Card
To make whatever you wish of it. A new rule, an action, a keeper, or a goal.
Playing the Game
To start the game, you lay out the “Basic Rules” card and then deal 3 cards to each player. Decide by whatever method you choose who goes first. The “Basic Rules” say to draw one card on each turn, and play one card. So that’s what the first player does.
To play a “New Rule” card, you place the card next to the “Basic Rules” card and that rule goes into effect immediately. The “New Rule” card may change the number of cards drawn on each turn, or the number of cards played. It may impose a hand size limit, or a “keeper” limit. There are a few other things the rules cards can do, but those are the basics.
To play a “Keeper” card, a player lays it in front of themselves, face up unless the rules dictate otherwise. The “Keeper” cards help the player win the game, at least most of the time.
“Goal” cards are played in the center of the table, and they determine what needs to be done to win the game. Most often it is something like “Rocket to the Moon” which means you have to have the “Rocket” keeper and the “Moon” keeper to win. A goal is only in play until someone lays down a new goal, at which time the old goal is “trashed” (discarded).
When an “Action” card is played, you perform whatever action is on the card, then discard it.
Once you have played your card, if there is a hand limit in effect, you must discard down to that limit. If there is a keeper limit in effect, you must discard keepers down to that limit. Once all requirements of the rules are met, it is the next player’s turn.
If at any time you run out of cards in the draw pile, the discard pile is shuffled and becomes the new draw pile and play continues as before.
The Good
Endless Possibilities
I love this game because you just never know how it’s going to go. It’s totally unpredictable, and the game can resemble many different games, depending on the cards that are played.
No Duplicate Cards
I’m really impressed by the great variety of cards in this game. There are 4 types of cards, but all are different, and this makes play endlessly interesting, and also allows for more strategizing since you know if a card has already been played or discarded, it’s gone (at least until the deck is reshuffled).
The Not So Good
Confusion
Sometimes you can get so many rules going that you start forgetting what you’re supposed to do. Whenever you play a rules card that contradicts old rule cards you remove the old rule cards into the discard pile, which should simplify the game. However, you can still have quite a few rules in effect without them contradicting each other, and it really can get quite confusing. Sometimes my husband and I will play for quite awhile, then suddenly realize we’ve been doing it wrong!
Not Always a Good Game
You can’t really count on Fluxx being a good time. Usually it is, and when it is, it’s really fun and challenging. But, sometimes it’s just lame. Sometimes it takes a long time, sometimes someone wins almost immediately.
Age Range
This is not really a kids game. It takes a lot of attention to detail, sometimes there’s a fair amount of strategy involved, and you have to be able to read very well to play as some of the cards have very detailed instructions.
Final Thoughts
This is a good game for adults who are looking for something a little different. Most people I know who’ve played this game enjoy it, but some people absolutely despise it. My husband and I love it and, for the record he tends to like all games less than I do.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 8.95
Type of Toy: Game
Age Range of Child: 9 Years or Older
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Epinions.com ID:
dagny21
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 in Kids & Family |
 - Top 500 |
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Member: Christine D
Location: Alaska
Reviews written: 364
Trusted by: 63 members
About Me:
Happily married mother of one boy.
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