S. Turner
United States
New Hampshire
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Note: this is a review for Fluxx v4.0
Set-up
Fluxx is very easy to set up and start playing -- shuffle the deck, deal 3 cards to each player, and start playing. It is also simple to learn, the initial rules involve each player drawing one card and playing one card of their turn.
Theme/Artwork
The game has attractive artwork, and the theme is things from everyday life. There are cards in the deck such as 'Milk', 'Cookies', 'The Moon', 'Love', etc. The Goal cards in the game often have a cute or humorous aspect to them.
Play = Chaos
There are 5 types of cards in the game: Keepers, Creepers, Goals, New Rules, and Actions.
Keepers: Generally a player needs to play two keepers to win a game.
Creepers: The player is forced to immediately play a Creeper when is is drawn. Creepers generally prevent a player from winning the game, but not always. Some of the Creepers have associated actions based on the turn of the player with the card or Goal changes. It is sometimes easy to miss this if players are not paying attention.
Goals: The game actually starts with no victory condition -- a Goal card must first be played. Goals are generally for a player to have two Keepers in play. As part of the cuteness of the theme, these are things that have a real life connection, such as 'Bread' and 'Cookies' for the 'Baked Goods' Goal or 'Chocolate' and 'The Sun' for the 'Squishy Chocolate' Goal. There are some less common goals that allow a player to win with a Creepers, such as the a player with the 'Death' and 'Taxes' Creepers accomplishing the 'All The Is Certain' Goal.
New Rules: While the initial rules are 'Draw 1', 'Play 1', there New Rules cards that modify the draw and play rules. There are also New Rule cards the impose hand limits, give players bonus cards based on various conditions, etc. The number of rules can grow quickly, and the players have to keep in mind to pay attention to them.
Actions: Action cards can be helpful to a player for example, letting them Steal Keepers from other players. They can also help to clear out some of the accumulated rules to streamline the game. They can also have random effects such as switching cards with other players in the game.
Game Length
The game could end on the first player's turn with a good draw. It could also stretch on indefinitely the discard pile is reshuffled when needed. The box says 5 to 30 minutes, and that is probably a reasonable range for the bulk of the games.
Chaos!
The rules are always changing in the Fluxx, and it is sometimes easy to miss/overlook/forget some of the details on the cards when there are a lot of rules in play. When high numbered Draw/Play rules are in effect, Actions and Rule changes come around even faster. Sometimes odd rule combinations arise such as 'Draw 5'/'Play 1'/'Hand Limit 0' -- everyone draws a bunch of cards on their turn, plays 1, then discards the rest. It is also difficult to have a strategy in the game. You may anticipate a win on your next turn only to have the Goal change, you Keepers stolen, or your hand swapped.
Overall
This game can be a blast with the right group of people and miserable with the wrong group of people. Sometimes it can be real drag and won't seem to ever end. You can see the looks on the other gamers faces that they would rather just stop playing. I've actually played a Goal that let an opponent win just to end the misery at the table. During the bad sessions, you feel that you aren't even lucky enough to get the cards to let anyone win.
However, I've also played Fluxx and had a ton of fun. Odd rules popping up, people cheering, laughing, etc. It can be a good filler in between games or when people are out on a beverage run. It can also be fun for a longer session late at night at a campsite.
Chaos is what makes Fluxx what it is. It is not a deep strategic game, but it never claims to be. If that is what you're looking for, avoid this game. If you have a group that embraces Chaos and enjoys a light, light-hearted game, you may have a lot of fun with Fluxx.
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Andy Andersen
United States
Newark
Delaware
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I've had games last 10 minutes and 1.5 hours. Frankly, this is one of the few games I cannot stand.
But I thank you for your review.
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Rick Teverbaugh
United States
Anderson
Indiana
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Orangemoose wrote: I've had games last 10 minutes and 1.5 hours. Frankly, this is one of the few games I cannot stand.
But I thank you for your review.
And how many of those games that you can't stand but you still visit their forums?
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Andy Andersen
United States
Newark
Delaware
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rickert wrote: Orangemoose wrote: I've had games last 10 minutes and 1.5 hours. Frankly, this is one of the few games I cannot stand.
But I thank you for your review. And how many of those games that you can't stand but you still visit their forums?
Many. I shouldn't. I want to like game system. I can't figure out how to do it.
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Gerald McDaniel
United States
Lakewood
Colorado
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Nice review. Good timing, too. I bought this game today because I think our family group will have some fun with it. I don't expect it to be played often, but will be a crazy departure from our usual games now and then. Your review confirmed what I had assumed from reading the rules.
Fluxx has been around for a while, and it must have a decent fan base, with all the versions now available. I can see that it would only be fun with the right game group, though. We'll mix it with more serious games and hope to get some enjoyment from it, because it is so different.
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S. Turner
United States
New Hampshire
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gamesgrandpa wrote: Nice review. Good timing, too. I bought this game today because I think our family group will have some fun with it. I don't expect it to be played often, but will be a crazy departure from our usual games now and then. Your review confirmed what I had assumed from reading the rules.
Fluxx has been around for a while, and it must have a decent fan base, with all the versions now available. I can see that it would only be fun with the right game group, though. We'll mix it with more serious games and hope to get some enjoyment from it, because it is so different.
It is one of those 'love it' or 'hate it' type of games. Your experience will really depend on your personality and the personality of the people you in your group.
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Tim Mirkes
United States
La Crosse
Wisconsin
Papa was a rollin' stone...
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Orangemoose wrote: I want to like game system. I can't figure out how to do it.
Play We Didn't Playtest This At All instead. It's what Fluxx aims for but misses: random, changing rules as the game plays out, short play time (consistently less than 5 minutes), and loads of player interaction. There is player elimination, which might be a turn-off, but the game is so quick and they're already dealing you in on the next game before you have time to realize you hate player elimination, so it's a moot point.
[Edited to add the rest of the post that was cut off after initial post/edits. Apparently you can't use the "less than" symbol next to a number, or the system gets confused. Good to know.]
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Fluxx would be better if it was consistently short. As it stands, I don't really understand why people like it, if the good games are short and the boring games are long. Flip-flop that and you'd have a better game.
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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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Stunna wrote: Fluxx would be better if it was consistently short. As it stands, I don't really understand why people like it, if the good games are short and the boring games are long. Flip-flop that and you'd have a better game.
Your lack of understanding stems from your assumption that all people think that long games of Fluxx are boring.
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Bryan Stout
United States
Annandale
Virginia
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sturner wrote: Game Length
The game could end on the first player's turn with a good draw. It could also stretch on indefinitely the discard pile is reshuffled when needed. The box says 5 to 30 minutes, and that is probably a reasonable range for the bulk of the games.
...
Overall
This game can be a blast with the right group of people and miserable with the wrong group of people. Sometimes it can be real drag and won't seem to ever end. You can see the looks on the other gamers faces that they would rather just stop playing. I've actually played a Goal that let an opponent win just to end the misery at the table. During the bad sessions, you feel that you aren't even lucky enough to get the cards to let anyone win. ...
There is a simple way to handle the long-game problem: make a facsimile of the Meta Rule card Time Limit from Martian Fluxx, or just make a house rule. The gist is that you set a timer for the desired length of the game, and when it goes off the player(s) who is closest to the current Goal wins.
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