Eco Fluxx

Patrick and I played five games of Eco Fluxx this weekend. The Fluxx series is published by Looney Labs, and all of the games have the same basic mechanics. (I ordered the game from Amazon on May 19th, for $15.99.)

The game starts with two required actions on each player's turn: (1) draw a card, (2) play a card. Players try to collect (and play in front of them) cards called "keepers." The names of the keepers vary depending upon the particular Fluxx game. For example, in Eco Fluxx, the keepers are items from nature (such as plants and animals); in Family Fluxx, the keepers are things like cake and presents. (Other Fluxx games include Martian Fluxx, Zombie Fluxx and Monty Python Fluxx.)

In addition to keepers, much of the deck is composed of "goal" cards. These cards give the combination of keepers that a player must have in order to win. For example, in Eco Fluxx, a player may win if he or she has the keepers bats and caves. Another goal allows a player to win if he has fish and any player has worms. Every time a goal card is played, it replaces the previously-played goal card. Thus the victory condition may change 20 or 30 times during a game.

Other cards change the rules mid-game. For example, a player may play a "new rule" card that allows players to draw four cards each turn. Later, a player may play a card that changes the draw to three cards (and the draw-four-each-turn card is placed into the discard pile). Finally, "action cards" add more chaos -- allowing players, for example, to steal a card.

Mya (aka EmeraldYam) has posted a Playmobil Legions Review of the original Fluxx game at Geekdo. The comments below her review will give you some idea of the mixed emotions that Fluxx generates. The uncertainty and randomness don't appeal to everyone. Patrick and I enjoyed it.

I had never heard of Fluxx until I listened (a couple of months ago) to Episode #31 of Game On! with Cody and John. Since then, two Looney Labs games (Fluxx and Chrononauts) are our most-played games of the year.