Line #53 TabletopGame/Fluxx


1	[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fluxx_original_box.jpg]]
2	%%[[caption-width-right:220:some caption text]]
3
4	Fluxx is a CardGame with some fun (and unique) gameplay mechanics.
5
6	The basic rules are very simple -- on your turn, you draw 1 card and play 1 card. Reading that, you may have noticed there is no rule for how you win. Don't worry, the rest of the rules are on the cards you play! Every card played has a rule that modifies the game you're playing, as you play it.[[note]]In other words, Fluxx is a "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomic nomic]]" game, where the point of playing is to create and change the rules of playing the game.[[/note]] Eventually, a player will play a card that will state the condition for winning (usually but not always a Goal), and the first person to meet the Goal in play wins. But the gameplay itself is a bit more unpredictable than that, due to a variety of card types and effects. Don't worry if the Goal seems out of reach. It's probably going to change. Often.
7
8	Cards in the game are split into:
9	* New Rules - Change how the game is played. Rules generally make the game more frantic (Draw 2, 3, 4, or 5) or less predictable (Play 2, 3, 4, or All) or make other players groan in frustration (Hand Limit or Keeper Limit 0, 1 or 2).
10	* Actions - Do what the card says. Everything done in an Action Card is considered one play.
11	* Goals - Are how you win the game. At the start of the game, there is no goal; nobody can win the game until a goal is played. Generally involve Keepers, but some require Creepers, or even a certain number of cards in the hand.
12	* Keepers - You get to keep, and are played in front of you. Many of the goals involve at least two keepers.
13	* Creepers - Introduced in ''TabletopGame/ZombieFluxx'' [[note]] although some editions of the original actually label War as a Creeper[[/note]]. Like Keepers, but they have to be played straight away, and usually stop you from winning if you have any. However, some goals actually require Creepers to win.
14	* Ungoals - All players lose if this card is met. That is unless a specific card is played, then the player with the card wins.
15	* Surprises - Introduced in ''Pirate Fluxx''. These cards can be played on an opponent's turn to negate one of their cards.
16	* Meta Rules - Established House Rules that are placed at the beginning of a game and cannot be removed. Requires a group agreement to use these.
17
18	''Fluxx'' and its variants/expansions all come from the very excellent people at [[http://www.looneylabs.com Looney Labs]].
19
20	[[folder: List of Variants]]
21	* Fluxx variants:
22	** ''Fluxx''
23	*** ''Family Fluxx''
24	*** ''Fluxx: Special Edition''
25	*** ''Fluxx Dice Expansion''
26	*** ''Fluxx: TheBoardGame''
27	*** ''Tiny Fluxx''
28	*** ''Fluxx Remixx: Extra Chaos Edition''
29	** ''TabletopGame/ZombieFluxx''
30	** ''Eco Fluxx''
31	*** ''Nature Fluxx''
32	** ''Martian Fluxx''
33	** ''{{Pirate}} Fluxx''
34	** ''[[ScienceFiction Star Fluxx]]''
35	** ''Monster Fluxx''
36	** ''Holiday Fluxx''
37	** ''Mary Engelbreit Fairy Tale Fluxx''
38	** ''Fantasy Fluxx''
39	** ''Fluxx'' Video Game (iOS (2012), Android, and Steam (2019))
40	** ''Holy Fluxx''
41	*** ''Christianity Fluxx''
42	*** ''Jewish Fluxx''
43
44	* Educational Series:
45	** ''Math Fluxx''
46	** ''Chemistry Fluxx''
47	** ''Anatomy Fluxx''
48	** ''Astrology Fluxx''
49
50	* Licensed Fluxx games:
51	** ''Creator/MontyPython Fluxx''
52	** ''Batman Fluxx''
53	** ''[[Film/TheWizardOfOz Oz Fluxx]]''
54	** ''[[TomeOfEldritchLore Cthulhu Fluxx]]''
55	** ''[[{{Series/Firefly}} Firefly Fluxx]]''
56	** ''Creator/CartoonNetwork Fluxx''
57	*** ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime Fluxx''
58	*** ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow Fluxx''
59	** ''Series/DoctorWho Fluxx''
60	** ''Franchise/StarWars Fluxx'' (Russia Only)
61	** ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Star Trek]] Fluxx''
62	*** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Fluxx''
63	*** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager Fluxx''
64	*** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Fluxx''
65	** ''{{Film/Jumanji}} Fluxx''
66	** ''{{Creator/Marvel}} Fluxx''
67	** ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants Fluxx''
68	** ''[[Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland Wonderland]] Fluxx''
69
70	* Fluxx games under Fully Baked Ideas:
71	** ''Stoner Fluxx''
72	** ''Drinking Fluxx''
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	!!This card game provides examples of:
76	* AdaptedOut: ''Fluxx: Special Edition'' is basically ''Fluxx 4.0'' but with the Creepers replaced by new cards. ''5.0'' followed the trend, however the Creepers are bought back by the ''Creeper Pack''.
77	* ArcNumber: Early versions had 84 cards in a deck. Starting with ''Zombie Fluxx'' the deck size was increased to 100. Aside from special editions and promotional cards, every ''Fluxx'' variant all have 100 cards.
78	* AllThereInTheManual: The rules book has a section relating to specific instances of card plays. The official website has an expansive [=FAQ=] for each ''Fluxx'' variant.
79	* AlternateContinuity: ''Fluxx Remixx'' uses the same Keepers as in regular ''Fluxx'' but all of the goals and a good number of cards are different.
80	* AntiMagic: Surprises.
81	* ArtShift: All Fluxx variations use the same card back design as a way to combine two or more Fluxx games in one. Each variant has a unique font style to differentiate from each other.
82	* AuthorAvatar: Andrew and Kristin Looney appear as Keeper Cards.
83	* ButThouMust: The player must play the number of cards shown in the rules even if one card lets another person win.
84	* ColourCodedForYourConvenience:
85	** Every type of card has colored stripe on the side. Keepers are green, New Rules are yellow, Goals are pink, Ungoals are red, Actions are blue, Creepers are black, Surprises are purple, and Meta Rules are orange.
86	** Basic Rules and Meta Rules cards have a white back as these are not shuffled.
87	* CompressedAdaptation:
88	** ''Family Fluxx'' reduces the card deck to 56 cards to cater towards the younger crowd.
89	** ''Tiny Fluxx'' has only 21 cards: one Basic Rules Card and five of each type (Keeper, Goal, New Rules, and Actions).
90	* DiscardAndDraw:
91	** Playing a New Rules card that extends the number of cards drawn makes the person draw more cards. The same goes for playing cards.
92	** Playing the Hand Limit card makes the other players discard all but the maximum amount. The current player follows suit when their turn is over.
93	** The game must begin with no Creepers in hand and three cards per player. Any Creeper drawn or dealt is immediately placed on the table, and the player draws a new card. A Creeper card does not count as a draw nor play.
94	** At least some flux variants also have a card named discard and draw, which discards all the cards in one's hand and picks up the same number of new cards.
95	* DropInDropOutMultiplayer: Any player can join in the middle of the game and are dealt three cards.
96	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
97	** The first version of ''Fluxx'' had a different sized card deck in contrast to later versions and games.
98	** Prior to ''Zombie Fluxx'', the iconography was in black and white.
99	* ExtraTurn: The [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Take Another Turn]] card.
100	* ExpansionPack:
101	** Specific versions of ''Fluxx'' came with new expansions. These either have a group of cards in a pack or are singular promotional cards.
102	** The ''Star Trek'' expansion cards allow the ''Star Trek'' variants to easily mesh together into one big ''Fluxx'' game.
103	** ''Fluxx Dice'' makes the dice affect draws and plays. The draw and play cards replaces what the dice say.
104	** The ''Fluxx Creeper Pack'' brings back all of the Creeper related cards from ''Fluxx 4.0'' into ''Fluxx 5.0''.
105	* GameplayRoulette: Nearly half the cards in a given ''Fluxx'' deck have this effect.
106	* HotPotato:
107	** The Radioactive Potato is a Creeper that is treated as such. Each time the goal changes, it gets passed to another player.
108	** In ''Star Fluxx'', the Cute Fuzzy Alien Creature is a Keeper that is treated as such. At the end of your turn, you pass it to the next player. And if it's discarded, then it goes on top of the deck instead (so the next player will draw it).
109	** In ''Series/DoctorWho Fluxx'', the Master is a Creeper that can be passed to any player with any of the 13 Doctors on the table.
110	%% * IncrediblyLamePun: The majority of the Goal cards.
111	* InstantWinCondition: A player automatically wins in or out of their turn if they have the correct Keepers and/or Creepers on their table. This includes when an opponent tries to be sneaky by quickly overriding a played winning Goal with another one in the same turn; all played Goal Cards are active within a player's turn with the first played Goal having a larger priority.
112	* LevelEditor: ''Fluxx Blanxx'' allow you to make your own New Rules, Goals, Keepers, Creepers, Surprises, and Actions. Each pack contains ten blank cards: 2 Keepers, 4 Goals, and one for the other types.
113	* LoadsAndLoadsOfRules: The game eventually leads to a table full of New Rules cards.
114	* NoUnifiedRuleset: While most the rules are codified (despite their fluctuation), the Keep Going Meta Rule in ''Math Fluxx 2.0'', allowing players to collect more than one Goal, has no established Goal limit, so players can end the game whenever they want.
115	* ObviousRulePatch: Occurs on the updates to certain variants:
116	** ''Fluxx 4.0'' adds the Meta Rules to the series; these are official House Rules that a whole group can agree to play for the entirety of the game and cannot be overwritten.
117	** The Bat-a-rang/Batmobile loop in ''Batman Fluxx'' was an oversight by the developers. In the official [=FAQ=], the Batmobile is updated to only be used twice before discarding.
118	** In earlier versions, the combination of the rules "Draw 1", "Hand Limit 0" and "Play All But 1" made the game unplayable.[[note]]Everyone would start their turn with an empty hand, draw one card for the turn, not get to play anything because they only have one card, and then discard their only card to the hand limit.[[/note]] The card has since been revised to "Play all but 1 of your cards. If you started with no cards in your hand and only drew 1, draw an extra card" to make sure that you always get to do something.
119	* PuzzleThriller: The cards you play may set new rules or victory conditions when played that last until the card is removed. Figuring out how to play the rules and goals in just the right order to win is a better strategy than following the ones set.
120	* RandomNumberGod: The ''Fluxx Dice'' expansion replaces the Draw and Play Cards with their respective dice. In every turn, the dice is rolled, and the player follows how many cards they draw and play.
121	* RocksFallEveryoneDies: The Ungoal Cards make all players lose unless a player has a specific card.
122	* RedShirt: ''Star Fluxx'' includes Expendable Crewman, a Keeper that can be discarded in the place of another Keeper.
123	* ResetButton: The Rules Reset card removes all New Rules from the table except for the Basic Rules and any rules applied from the Meta Rules.
124	* ShoutOut: Several of the cards mix this with the above (including [[Music/TheBeatles All You Need Is Love]] and [[Creator/BenjaminFranklin Death and Taxes]]).
125	* SymmetricEffect: The "New Rule" cards add new rules or replace existing rules that affect all players.
126	* ThereIsNoRuleSix: The Creator/MontyPython [[ThemedStockBoardGame version]] has a card called "MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels." Two people playing the game must each choose a number between one and four. One is subtracted from the sum of those two numbers, and a rule corresponding to that resulting number must be followed. There is no rule six.
127	* UpdatedRerelease: Certain ''Fluxx'' variations get updates over time with the version number appearing at the side of the box. There are some special cases where the update is significant.
128	** Early ''Fluxx'' variants had their cards have an explanation for each card type. New versions removed them and resized their images.
129	** ''Fluxx 5.0'' removes the Creepers (and alters other cards) from ''4.0''. Creepers were brought back by the ''Creeper Pack''.
130	** ''Math Fluxx 2.0'' alters 16 cards most notably ditching the Plan B Meta Rule. Players now must either win by normal means or by math [[note]]Plan B was both, but Andrew Looney noted that nobody played it[[/note]]. Those who own ''1.0'' can purchase the new cards without needing to buy a new deck.
131	* UnknownCharacter: The Ungoals are treated as an evil entity who wins by making the main group of players lose. They cannot win if both a Goal and Ungoal are met at the same time.
132	* VariablePlayerGoals: The Double Agenda card allows two goals to be set on the table. A player meeting only one of them will still win the game.
133	* XanatosSpeedChess: The only way to play with anything approaching strategy, since the rules and victory condition change so frequently.

Context TabletopGame / Fluxx