Simon Woodward
New Zealand
Hamilton
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Hi all
Just picked up Martian Fluxx, my first version of Fluxx, and enjoying playing it with my kids. However, one problem I find is that the hand size can very big very fast, since there is no hand size limit in the basic rules.
This slows the game down a lot and makes it hard for us to manage the cards. I find myself playing hand size and other rule cards just to keep the game manageable, not because they actually help my so-called "strategy".
Anyone else find this? Any suggestions on a solution?
Thanks
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Australia
Melbourne
Victoria
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"manage the cards" ??
It's a fun silly little game one step removed from a drinking game. If you're trying to get some kind of strategy, you've probably got the wrong game. After all, Fluxx is the sort of game where someone will suddenly realise they've won, with no planning, sheer random fortune.
For me, it's part of the deliberate ridiculousness that sometimes (not every time) you have so many cards that you can barely hold them.
On the flip side, sometimes no players have any cards in their hands, having to just play whatever card they draw on their turn.
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Simon Woodward
New Zealand
Hamilton
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When I say "manage", I mean hold, read and choose. I'm not talking about deep strategy, just the sheer act of dealing with them, especially for kids. The cards are unnecessarily text heavy too.
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Text heavy? Um.... compared to what? poker cards? I have had as many as 20 in my hand. That was kinda awkward, but not unworkable.
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Simon Woodward
New Zealand
Hamilton
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Text heavy as in there's a lot of unnecessary text on them, like every Creeper telling you you can't win with it, etc.
So my kids are 7 and 8, they can't hold many cards and their reading is slowish compared with an adult.
So have you guys got anything constructive to contribute? Or are you just here to mock people?
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Jeff Wolfe
United States
Columbus
Ohio
Zendo fan, Columbus Blue Jackets fan, Dominion Fan. These are 'permanent microbadges' to free up space on my microbadge row
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I have not had a problem with the number of cards in hand in Fluxx. It happens occasionally, but not enough to warrant a "fix."
Some versions of Fluxx have "Meta Rules," which are special rules that are chosen at the beginning of the game, and are in place for that entire game (although some of them can be changed by New Rules.) Meta Rules are Orange. The Basic Rules are a form a Meta Rule, which is why the little card images are Orange in most versions of Fluxx available today.
I have created a couple of Meta Rules for games that I want to change in some small way. I write the rule on the back of a business card and highlight the title with an orange highlighter pen.
For your situation, you might consider a Meta Rule. Something like:
Hand Limit 8: When it's not your turn you may not hold more than 8 cards in hand. Your hand limit may be further reduced by New Rule cards.
or:
Strict Hand Limit 8: You may never hold more than 8 cards in hand. If you ever have more than 8 cards in hand, you must discard down to 8 immediately, even if it's your turn.
That wording is just off the top of my head. You could probably do better with a little tweaking. The first is just like the New Rule except it's always in effect. The second would always apply (and it would make it impossible to meet the "10 Cards in Hand" Goal from the base game.)
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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The simplest fix, if you think it's a problem, is to just a couple of the hand limit cards from basic Fluxx to Martian Fluxx. While they suggest that mixing different versions can cause some unanticipated problems, I think that mostly has to do with Keepers and Goals. I don't think adding a couple of carefully selected New Rules or Actions would be a problem.
The backs from all versions are the same so you can mix them easily enough.
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Simon Woodward
New Zealand
Hamilton
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There are Hand Limit cards in Martian Fluxx, but the problem arises when when no Hand Limit card is on the table.
I think a default hand limit is probably the easiest solution.
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Australia
Melbourne
Victoria
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manukajoe wrote:
So have you guys got anything constructive to contribute? Or are you just here to mock people?
Look with any game if you don't like some of the rules you can make house rules to bend them however you like.
For myself it is a deliberate feature of the game that it does deliberately annoying things like make you hold too many cards. To me, taking that out would be taking away some of the essence of the game. But if you want to enforce a maximum hand limit, or remove the "draw rules" - that's up to you.
I think the older version of the ordinary Fluxx game would be better for kids - no Creepers and the Keepers don't do anything fancy - means much less to read.
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manukajoe wrote: Text heavy as in there's a lot of unnecessary text on them, like every Creeper telling you you can't win with it, etc. It's there because not all creepers work the same way. Some have special conditions that let you win with it, such as human leader. see: http://boardgamegeek.com/image/613194/martian-fluxx I've found that the reminder text helps people learn faster. this way you don't have to constantly look things up in the rules.
I suppose a Meta-rule hand limit 12 would be about right for your goal.
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Bryan Stout
United States
Annandale
Virginia
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For your information, the text on each card is in two parts:
- The text at the top tells you how to play that type of card (New Rule, Keeper, Goal, etc.), and is the same for each card of that type.
- The text at the bottom -- if any -- is particular for that specific card.
So, after you understand how each type of card works, the reading task is cut in half. And after several plays, your kids will probably get the hang of it, and you will no longer need to have a default Hand Limit rule. (Unless the problem is holding them, rather than reading them, in which case I recommend you get some of those card holders.)
In the meantime, you may want to play a couple of games with hands face up on the table, so you can talk about options and let the kids get used to things.
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Simon Woodward
New Zealand
Hamilton
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Yes I imagine the reason they explain how to play every single card is to allow you to attempt the mythical "learn the game as you go" approach. Although I found this is not really a good idea, it's much better to teach the basics of the game before you start, mainly the different colours of cards and how they each work.
So the top part of all cards is redundant, as is the bottom part of most of the Creepers.
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