''Fluxx'' is a

card game A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card ga ...

, played with a specially designed deck published by

Looney Labs Looney Labs, Inc. is a small game company based in College Park, Maryland, United States. It is named after its founders, Andrew Looney and Kristin Looney, and is best known for creating the Fluxx line of card games. The company has three U.S. pat ...

. It is different from most other card games, in that the rules and the conditions for winning are altered throughout the game, via cards played by the players.

History

''Fluxx'' was created by

Andrew Looney Andrew J. Looney (born November 5, 1963) is a game designer and computer programmer. He is also a photographer, a cartoonist, a video-blogger, and a marijuana-legalization advocate. Andrew and Kristin Looney together founded the games company Lo ...

on as the first game for his and his wife's part-time game design company, Looney Laboratory. The original print run was for 5,000 units and was released in 1997. The game was successful and was licensed a year later to

Iron Crown Enterprises Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) is a publishing company that has produced role playing, board, miniature, and collectible card games since 1980. Many of ICE's better-known products were related to J. R. R. Tolkien's world of Middle-earth, but the ''R ...

(ICE) for wider distribution. ICE went bankrupt two years later and Looney Labs resumed publication and distribution. By , Labs was considering putting out another standalone deck version called ''Fluxx++'' using card created by the Fluxx playing community with ''Fluxx Blanxx'' and ''Fluxx: Goals Galore'', an expansion consisting of goal cards, based on its Origins 2000 5 Goal cards promo pack. Labs created ''Fluxx Lite'', a slimmed down 56 card deck to lower the price for discount superstores, in design by . In 2003,

Amigo Games Amigo Spiele is a German board and card game publisher. Many of their games have won Spiel des Jahres awards, and many have been published in English by Rio Grande Games. Notable games * ''6 nimmt!'' (also ''Take 6!'') * '' Bohnanza'' * '' Caf ...

, a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

game company, licensed and published a

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is als ...

version of ''Fluxx''. The in design ''Fluxx Reduxx'' was indefinitely placed on hold as of to focus on EcoFluxx. Looney Labs registered the Fluxx trademark. By , Stoner Fluxx had been released and EcoFluxx was in play testing, and scheduled to be released later that month followed by ''Family Fluxx''. In , Looney Labs issued a Spanish language edition of the game. The release of a zombie-themed version brought the first of a new card type, the Creeper and Ungoal. In 2008, Toy Vault and Looney Labs co-published and released ''Monty Python Fluxx''. Fluxx edition 4 was released in and was the first set to have the Meta Rule subtype card, which stemmed from a Fluxx Tournament rule. In 2008, ''Zombie Fluxx'' won the Origins Award for Traditional Card Game of the Year. ''Stoner Fluxx'' was placed back in print under the Full Baked Ideas imprint of Looney Labs on after being out of print for four years. Full Baked was launched with expectation of a future release of a drinking variant and other mature subject versions. Two variants were re-released on , ''EcoFluxx'' and ''Family Fluxx'', with Eco being a new edition. In , the Surprise subtype of cards were introduced in the ''Pirate Fluxx'' themed variant. In , the German language version 2nd edition was released by Pegasus Games. By over 1 million decks of all Fluxx versions had been sold while Pirate Fluxx was getting into bookstores that month. On , Looney Labs got a simplified, less expensive general market version with redesigned packaging of Fluxx into Target stores. For the summer 2012, Fluxx was number 10 in ICv2's Top 10 Card/Building Games (hobby channel). A Cartoon Network version of the game was made available as a Target exclusive from mid-August 2014 until Easter 2015, while in July the '' Regular Show Fluxx'' was released to the hobby market. The fifth edition of the regular Fluxx game was made available beginning in 2014 as the 4.0 edition ran out. Looney Labs teamed up with

The Doubleclicks The Doubleclicks are a nerd-folk musical duo based in Portland, Oregon, consisting of siblings Laser Malena-Webber (on guitar, ukulele, or cat keyboard) and Aubrey Turner. They first became known for performing nerd-friendly comedy music, inclu ...

for a Fluxx theme song. A new expansion of the game, ''Fluxx Dice'', plus two new licensed variants were scheduled to be released in the summer of 2015. With a delay of the first variant to be released at the polled requested of the retailers, Looney Labs pushed back the dice and the other variant to stagger the releases to spread out the impact. A series of educational variants were released in 2017 and 2018. In partnership with Gale Force 9, two Fluxx versions of Star Trek were released in August 2018.

Game description and play

The first edition deck consists of 84 cards with four types of cards: Keepers, Goals, Actions, and New Rules. While the game begins by requiring players to simply draw and play a specific number of cards, the mechanic mutates when a New Rule card is played. The card may change the number of cards drawn or played per turn, the number of cards held per hand, or the Keepers played. The Goal cards change the Keepers needed to win the game. Games last from 5 to 30 minutes. Later sets sometimes included new card subtypes, depending on the theme of the set. These include included Creeper cards that block or make goals more difficult to obtain; Ungoal cards, which have conditions where the game ends with no winner; and Surprise cards, a 2011 addition, which allow players to negate other types of cards which could prevent a victory and can be played at any time, though they have other effects when played on one's own turn. The first Fluxx tournament at

Origins Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * ''The Origin'' (Buffy comic), a 1999 ''Buffy the Vampire Sl ...

1997 had an extra rule calling for an increase in the Basic Rules each time the deck was reshuffled which was kept for future tournaments. On via their Wunderland blog, Looney introduced "Meta Rule" cards for players to print at home and add to standard decks or place in the primary deck Edition 4.0. Early edition decks had 84 cards while newer standard decks have 100 cards, while ''Lite'' versions (Family, Spanish, SE) consist of 56 cards.

Card sets

Editions

* Fluxx 1.0 (1997) first released version; monochrome, poker-sized cards * Fluxx 2.0 (1998) published by

; new card layout, use of color, bridge-sized cards * Fluxx 2.1 (2002) reprint of 2.0 with minor changes * ''Family Fluxx'' () initially designated as ''Fluxx Lite'' then ''Fluxx Jr.'' before being released, is a full-color "family friendly" 56 card edition, with family bonuses, re-released on , currently (by ) out of print * Fluxx 3.0 (many cards removed and added, to improve balance) manufactured by

Cartamundi Cartamundi Group is a company based in Turnhout, Belgium, that manufactures, produces, and sells board games, card games, collectible card games, packages, and playing cards through its manufacturing and sales subsidiaries. The name of the company ...

* Fluxx 3.1 () new style Basic Rule card, two cards removed, one card added; manufactured by Cartamundi * Fluxx 4.0 () card number increased to 100, all color, introduction of Meta rule in any set and creepers in primary editions * Fluxx SE () a

Target Stores Target Corporation (doing business as Target and stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a compon ...

exclusive "basic entry" edition of the game, with simplified rules and exclusive cards, manufactured by 360 Manufacturing * Fluxx 5.0 (2014) removal of all creepers and several other cards, 17 total, replaced by new Keepers, Goals, Actions, and New Rules cards

Languages

* Fluxx Spanish (''Fluxx Español!''; ) Looney Labs, a 56 card set with 6 new Goals, a new Keeper and a new Rule *

''Fluxx'' first edition (2003; based on 3.0 card set) by Amigo Games **Second edition (; based on 4.0 card set) Pegasus Games *

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

''Fluxx'' (based on 3.0 card set) HobbyJapan *

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

''Fluxx'' (based on 5.0 card set) PS Games *

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

EcoFluxx, released in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

, released in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Variants

There are also versions of ''Fluxx'' that have been released using entirely different themed sets of cards while playing by the same set of rules. * ''Stoner'' 1st edition (Released by and out of print in ) * ''EcoFluxx'', a percentage of profits goes toward environmental causes ** First edition (October 2005) Allison Frane art 84 cards ** Second edition () added additional cards including Creeper cards and has new art; 100 cards ** ''Nature'' () renamed third edition of EcoFluxx with update cards and packaging & continuing its donation to its eco-causes * ''Zombie'' () 2008 Origins Award for Traditional Card Game of the Year, introduced the Creeper type card, 100 cards * '' Monty Python'' () co-published with Monty Python licensee, Toy Vault; 100 cards with Todd Cameron Hamilton art * ''Martian'' () * ''Pirate'' () introduces the Surprise cards * ''Star'' (STARFLUXX, styled like STAR WARS, with space theme)() * '' Oz Fluxx''() * ''

Cthulhu Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was first introduced in his short story " The Call of Cthulhu", published by the American pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' in 1928. Considered a Great Old One within the p ...

'' () *''Fluxx the Boardgame'' () Parents' Choice Recommended Seal Fall 2013 Games *''Monster'' (Fall ) also a

exclusive, manufactured by 360 Manufacturing *'' Regular Show'' () 100 cards - out of print *'' Cartoon Network'' (mid-) also a

exclusive *''Holiday Fluxx'' () 100 cards with art by Ali Douglass *''

Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...

'' () *'' Batman'' () with Cryptozoic Entertainment *'' Firefly Fluxx'' () 20th Century Fox and Gale Force Nine *''Doctor Who'' (November 23, 2017) *

Star Trek: The Original Series ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' (''TOS'') to distinguis ...

() with Gale Force 9 * Star Trek: The Next Generation () with Gale Force 9 * ''Fairy Tale'' () art by Mary Engelbreit * Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (May 23, 2019) *

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics * ...

– Specialty Edition (August 15, 2019) with Cardinal Industries, who releases the regular edition sans the extras; includes 7 exclusive cards, and a collectible coin *

Jumanji ''Jumanji'' is a 1995 American fantasy adventure film directed by Joe Johnston from a screenplay by Jonathan Hensleigh, Greg Taylor, and Jim Strain. Loosely based on Chris Van Allsburg's picture book of the same name, the film is the first ...

– Specialty Edition (August 15, 2019) with Cardinal Industries, who releases the regular edition sans the extras; includes 7 exclusive cards, and a collectible coin; adds a "Danger" type cards that can eliminate players with the ability to return unless the deck then elimination is permanent *''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It chronicles the adventures of the title character ...

'' (May 21, 2020) *Fantasy Fluxx (January 2021) *Fluxx Remixx (March 2022), A version of Fluxx 5.0 with "remixed" goals, rules and actions, alongside the original keepers. ;Fully Baked Ideas imprint * ''Stoner'' 2nd Edition () with 5% of proceeds going to end cannabis prohibition groups; 100 cards *''Drinking (July 24, 2017) ;Educational sets *''Math'' () *''Chemistry'' () *''Anatomy'' (April 5, 2018) *''Astronomy'' (January 9, 2020) Many of the version can be combined with each other to make a "mega Fluxx" deck (as all these versions have the same card back style).

Expansions

Several expansions have been produced, including: * ''Flowers and '' (a gift set with a "bouquet" of six plush "Happy Flowers", a ''Fluxx'' 3.0 deck and an exclusive "Flowers" promo Keeper card) * ''Fluxx Blanxx'', a set of blank cards for creating one's own custom additions (see above). **2nd edition - begins formatted fronts while including the Chrononauts Beatles Reunion CD card **3rd edition - adds Creeper blanks while removing the Chrononauts card * ''Jewish'' * ''Christian'' * ''Castle'' Expansion Cards ( for Monty Python Fluxx * ''7 Cards From the Future'' (a 7-card set for ''Regular Show Fluxx'') *''International Tabletop Day Expansion: Wil Wheaton and Felicia Day Fluxx Promo Packs'' (April 11, 2015) * ''Fluxx Dice'' () * ''Star Trek Fluxx Bridge Expansion'' (August 2018) used to play both Star Trek & Star Trek TNG Fluxx together at the same time * ''Firefly Fluxx Upgrade Pack'' (August 2018) 10 card pack includes Jubal Early, Hands of Blue, upgraded Reavers and Yolanda (aka Saffron, aka Bridgett) * ''Black Knight Expansion'' (August 2018) a 10 card pack including the Black Knight as a Creeper, also Tim the Enchanter, new rules and a new Quest * ''Fluxx Creeper Pack'' (August 2018) To bring back the Creepers dropped for edition 5, War, Death, Taxes, and Radioactive Potato with Goals, Actions and New Rules * ''The Doctor Who Fluxx 13th Doctor Pack'' (Mid-year 2019)

Board game

''Fluxx: The Board Game'' is a board game implementation of the card game released in . This game was awarded the Parents' Choice Recommended Seal Fall 2013 for Games. The game moves the Keeper card items to spaces on the board while adding the "Leaper" card type. The board is separated into 9 movable tiles with four spaces each except for the start tile with the initial set up of 3x3 square. Besides the Keeper spaces there are 1 octagon space per title and two teleport spaces for the whole board. Moving on to one teleport space allows the player to move to the other teleport space. The octagon may hold any number of pawns while the keeper spaces can only have one with an incoming pawn pushing out the current pawn. There are two peg boards that track, the number of goals needed to win and current rules. All start with a hand of three cards and a color card in face up to indicate the pawns they control. They each get to make a free rule change. New general rules affecting the tiles include rotation, moving and allowing

wraparound Wraparound, wrap around, or wrap-around is anything that wraps around something. It may more specifically refer to: Apparel * Wraparound sunglasses or goggles * Wraparound baby sling, or wrap, a piece of cloth that supports a baby * Wraparound ...

tile movement. The game only has Action, Goals, New Rules and Leaper type cards. Action cards can change force a change in player color. A Leaper card counts as a card play but allows you to move a pawn to the item on the board. Goals cards are stacked near the board with top most card the current goal.

Promotional cards

Looney Labs gives away promotional cards related to ''Fluxx'' at conventions such as

Gen Con Gen Con is the largest tabletop game convention in North America by both attendance and number of events. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, live action role-playin ...

and

. They have given away cards such as Composting and Jackpot, which later appeared in ''EcoFluxx'' and ''Family Fluxx'' respectively. They have also given away promo cards for

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

to members of their online mailing list and in ''

High Times ''High Times'' is an American monthly magazine (and cannabis brand) that advocates the legalization of cannabis as well as other counterculture ideas. The magazine was founded in 1974 by Tom Forcade.Danko, Danny"Norml Founder Retires – Exha ...

'' magazine. Game Technicians (previously known as Mad Lab Rabbits), voluntary game demonstrators for Looney Labs, give away promo cards to people interested in the game. *

2000 Goal promo 5 card pack. * Sir Not Appearing In This Game! () for Monty Python Fluxx & its Castle expansion * Traitor, a Creeper promo card ) issued for the release of another Looney game, ''Are You The Traitor?'' *Wizard of Oz song promotional card *"Mrs. Claus" promotional card in Holiday Fluxx store launch kit *"Skullduggery" promo card () Pirate store launch kit *"The Alliance" card () Firefly store launch

Online

''Fluxx'' was available to play for free via the Volity network and was also available to be played online via the CCG Workshop, using the gatlingEngine to adjudicate most of its rules automatically. However, both Volity.net and CCG Workshop are no longer operating. In December 2012, ''Fluxx'' was released by

Playdek Playdek is an independent video game development company founded in 2011, based in Carlsbad, California. Playdek specializes in developing board games and card games for the iOS platform. Overview The core of Playdek's team worked together in ...

as an app on

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

operating systems (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple TV) by purchasing it from the Apple App Store. It uses the "mass market" deck developed for

, removing some of the more esoteric themes (such as Cthulhu) and complex rule cards.

Reception

The base game won the Mensa Select Game Award in 1999.

Rick Loomis Rick Loomis (August 24, 1946 – August 23, 2019) was an American game designer, most notable as the founder of game publisher Flying Buffalo, which he managed until his death. Career Early years Richard F. Loomis was born and raised in Scott ...

comments: "''Fluxx'' makes a good game for a group that has one of those annoying 'I-must-win-every-game' types. The rest of you can enjoy yourselves as the game spins out of his control (as it surely will) and perhaps he'll eventually learn to lose gracefully. Meanwhile, ''Fluxx'' will be busily exercising everyone's logic synapses as you attempt to deal with the chaotic situations that occur because of the cheerful clash of rules." An ICv2 review of the Batman variant by Nick Smith gave it 4 out of 5 stars as "The Fluxx series of games is not for everyone." But the game worked well with the Batman theme: "The game-themed victory conditions are good, and the thematic elements were very well thought out. This may be the best-designed Fluxx set in some time, and it can be a lot of fun for casual fans to try to achieve the thematic victory conditions."

Reviews

*''

Pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

'' - 3.0

References

External links

* , official game site * {{bgg, 258, ''Fluxx''
Fluxx family
at Board Game Geek
The designer explains the Hand Limit rules

Fully Baked Ideas
Official Site, adult versions imprint Andrew Looney games Amigo Spiele games Card games introduced in 1996 Dedicated deck card games Mensa Select winners