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In Constant Flux…
In 1997 Andrew and Kristin Looney brought a game of ever-changing rules to the world that quickly became the marmite of card games. Presented as a deck of cards of very simple design, Fluxx threw out the rules, or to be more specific, took all the rules, shuffled them up, and threw them all together in a mad game of random chance. To start, each player receives three random cards and each turn consists of a draw one, play one mechanism. From then on there are a number of different types of cards to play.
First, there are Keepers. These green cards are placed in your own personal play area, some coming with unique powers. Then there are pink Goals. Goals are how you win. Each goal card will show a collection of keepers and if that goal is in play when you have the matching keepers in your play area, you win. This forms the basis of the game. Get keepers, find the matching goal and win. However, there are other types of cards that will mess with this system. There are action cards that perform instantly, enabling you to steal keepers or draw extra cards. And the cards that give the game its name, the rule cards.
New rules can be added at any point and change gameplay considerably. Some of the classic rules might be that you draw or play more cards each turn, or that you have a hand size of one. It is these cards that build up into a crazy haze of chaos that will either make you love or hate this game.
Excelsior!
After a few reimplementations, themed around generic subjects like nature or science, Looney Labs expanded into the world of intellectual property. Since its launch, it has released versions including Batman the Animated Series, SpongeBob SquarePants and Star Trek. In 2019 came the action packed Marvel Fluxx. We are very much in a Marvel world with movies and TV shows every few months and board games galore and so it seems only logical that Looney Labs would follow suit. Marvel Fluxx takes the web-slinging, Asgardian, super soldiers that you know and love and assembles them together with some new additions.
The deck itself comes in the same size box as the more recent predecessors and contains many of the same cards as any other versions. You will still get to take the action allowing you to draw three extra cards, or play the rule that allows you to trash any goals in your hand for new cards but there will also be plenty of new ones to keep you interested. If you are a fan, You will recognise all of the keepers, with characters from the recent outings. This is very much a game for the screen fans rather than just lovers of the comic books.
I Am Groot
There seem to be fewer thematic actions or rules than in some of the other versions, but two stand out. The Keeper “Groot” states that while you have him in your play area, all you can say are the words “I am Groot”. This is not only stupid and fun to play with, it also has a tactical advantage. If you say anything else then that keeper moves to an opponent of your choice. So if the keeper limit is in play you can force other players to get rid of one of theirs in order to take Groot off your hands. Not to mention they then have their power of vocabulary removed for the next part of the game.
Another is the action card “Thanos snaps his fingers”. Everyone who knows the franchise understands the power that that action can have. If you play this card then all keepers in play are shuffled together and redistributed starting with the current player first. This is a great way to shake up the game and will always benefit the current player. I wish there were more cards like this in the deck.
I Can Do This All Day...
Although not a completely new edition to the franchise, Marvel Fluxx is one of the few decks that comes with a collectable poker chip. As you can probably imagine the chip is the perfect shape to be Captain America’s iconic shield. There is also a new rule card, “move the coin!” that goes with it. You must now end your turn by moving the chip from in front of you to the next player. If you fail to do so then you must discard a random card. It may seem like a small rule but it is one of the easiest and more frustrating to forget. This mechanism adds a great addition of tension. Watching the current player, carefully waiting to pounce is so much fun.
At the time of writing, with dozens of versions still on sale, not counting the dozen now out of print, Fluxx continues to grow from strength to strength. How you choose a version will highly depend on your fandom. However, for anyone who has a fondness for the franchise, Marvel Fluxx would be a great addition to the collection but if you already have another edition, this one doesn’t add very much extra.
