Ever since learning about Nomic, the game about modifying the rules (published in Douglas Hofstadter's Metamagical Themas), I've been kicking around various ideas for simpler games on the same theme. Karl-Heinz Schmiel beat me to it with Das Regeln Wir Schon! a couple of years ago, and now Andrew Looney has given us his stab at it with a card game called Fluxx.
He's done an admirable job of streamlining the concept. The game has just a couple of rules— so few, in fact, that they fit on a single card. Fluxx is a draw-play-discard game with four types of cards: Keepers, Goals, Actions, and Rules.
Keepers have whimsical names like Chocolate, Toast, and Milk. When a Keeper is played, it gets placed in front of the person who played it. Keepers don't do anything fancy— they just sit there. Often, however, they're needed to win. But that depends on the current Goal.
There can only be one Goal in effect at any time. If a new one gets played, the old one gets discarded. Goals dictate how to win the game. The vast majority of them specify a pair of Keepers. If a player manages to get both of those Keepers in front of him at once, he wins immediately. A scant few Goals venture into other territory, such as holding lots of cards or being the only player with no Keepers.
Actions are one-time special abilities, used at the time the card is played. Many actions let players draw and/or play additional cards. Others involve stealing cards from other players, shuffling Keepers around, snatching cards from the discard pile, discarding a current Rule, etc.
The meat of the game lies in the Rules. These cards stay in effect once played, altering the basic rules of the game. There are four main flavors: rules affecting how many cards each player draws at the start of a turn; rules governing how many cards each player must play on his turn; rules limiting the number of keepers a player can have at once; and rules limiting the number of cards a player can have left at the end of a turn. Only one rule of each flavor can be in effect at any time, with a new one forcing the old one to get discarded. A few other rules add special effects, usually for players holding specific Keepers.
A turn consists of drawing cards, playing cards, and discarding down to the current hand and Keeper limit. Players try to gain an advantage by manipulating the rules in their favor. Actually, that implies the game is structured to allow such manipulation to succeed. It's not. Usually the best you can do is change the Goal to something you're close to achieving, and hoping it lasts until you meet it completely. There's very little scope for long-term strategy, and precious little for short-term either.
Fluxx is a topsy-turvy game There's little point to planning ahead, since the rules are quite literally likely to change out from under you by your next turn. There are opportunities to make meaningful choices, but you can't be sure when those opportunities will come or how effective the choices will be.
The most succinct description of the game I can offer is this: random. Or more precisely, chaotic. Players have little control over the outcome. This is the kind of game I normally dislike. I prefer games which let me have a firmer grip on the reins.
So Fluxx isn't my style of game. But it's nonetheless an entertaining bit of fluff. The time we've spent playing Fluxx was passed lightheartedly and with merriment. Everyone had a good time, and it wasn't important who won. Obviously, this is exactly the kind of experience Looney Labs was shooting for. Fluxx isn't a game for strategists— it's a game for the family. It's a thought-optional diversion easy enough for non-gamers to pick up and a fine filler for the end of a gaming session.
The first edition of the game features simple black-and-white line art, but I.C.E. has purchased the game and will presumably produce a more colorful version. In the meantime, visit the Looneu Labs web site at www.wunderland.com/looneylabs where you can order blank cards for personalizing the chaos.