GAME OF THE WEEK : Week of 8/5/13 For those gamers who enjoy a little “variety” in their games, Fluxx the card game has been the choice for many players since it was first published in 1997. It’s the game of ever changing rules. Each time a player takes a turn, both the rules and the game winning conditions can change … sometimes just a little … sometimes a lot. The game has become a cult classic and has spawned no less than a dozen versions over the years, including Zombie Fluxx, Monty Python Fluxx, Martian Fluxx, Family Fluxx, Pirate Fluxx, Cthulhu Fluxx, Wizard of Oz Fluxx and even Eco Fluxx among others. Each version maintained the basic Fluxx game system but added the flavor of the given genre. Looney Labs has finally published the game in a board game format named “Fluxx : The Board Game”. The title is a little misleading due to the fact that there is no actual board, however, tiles are connected to form a “board”. From the Looney Labs website : “The board game that is all about change: changing rules, changing goals and now changing tiles. Occupy the right tile spaces to claim the current goal and reveal the next goal... getting you one step closer to victory!” The game comes with 12 wooden playing pieces in four different colors (3 yellow cubes, 3 green cylinders, 3 red pawns, and 3 blue person-shaped pieces), 8 orange pegs, tiles, 2 pegboards and 100 cards. Before the game begins, a peg is paced into the leftmost peg hole on each of the rule rows on the Rules pegboard, and also into the 3 spot on the Win pegboard. The Start tile is then placed in the center of the table. The remaining tiles are mixed and then placed around the Start tile to create a 3 x 3 square of tiles that essentially forms the “board”. The Start tile contains four directional arrows and players may only move out of it in one of those four directions. The remaining tiles have four spaces on each of them. Most spaces contain a picture of an object such as chocolate, sun, ice cream, clock, etc.. Each of these spaces can only hold one pawn. If you move onto a space occupied another pawn, you bump it to an adjacent unoccupied space (other than the one you just came from). One of the four spaces on each tile is an octagon space, which can hold any number of players. There are also two Portal spaces mixed among the tiles. As soon as someone moves onto one of the Portals, that player is immediately transported to the other Portal space. Players pick their colors and place all of their matching color pieces on the Start tile. The first five Goal cards are then placed a pile face-up by the Win pegboard. Three cards are then dealt to each player. Before the game begins, everyone gets one free rule change. They can move any one peg one space to the right even if it’s been moved by someone else, but they cannot undo or reverse another player’s move. The pegboard includes rows for how many cards a player may draw or play on their turn, how many cards they may hold in their hand, and how many spaces they may move their pawns on the board. By adjusting the pegs, players alter those rules. The game is now ready to commence! On a player’s turn, they just look at the Rules pegboard and follow the current set of rules. They will be drawing 1-4 cards, playing 1-4 cards and moving 2-5 spaces. They will be allowed to have a hand size of 1-3 cards. Players may play cards and move their pawns in any order that they wish. The blue Action cards cause an event to take place such as allowing the player to trade card hands with another player, forcing everyone to trade colors, etc.. The yellow cards are New Rule cards that change the current rules of the game. They may instruct the player to change one of the peg locations, allow them to use alternative movement rules, etc.. Green Leaper cards depict one of the objects shown on one of the tiles and allow you simply “jump” one of your pawns directly to that objects’ space. Purple Goal cards are played onto the top of the Goal pile and become the current Goal. Players may also trade in movement points to perform one of three special actions. The first action will allow a player to rotate one of the tiles. The second action allows the player to pick to up a tile and move it, connecting with another tile — as long as you keep the orientation the same. And finally, the third action permits the player to move a pawn off of one edge of the board and wraparound to the other side. This even allows the player to cross gaps left as a result of a tile being uprooted. Any time (even on another player’s turn) that a player has pawns on spaces that match the current goal, you take that goal card. And as soon as someone has a number of Goal cards matching the current win level on the Win board, that player wins! For those who love the Fluxx universe, the board game version is more strategic than the various card game versions, with an ever-shifting landscape made of tiles that can be rotated or uprooted elsewhere on the table. Victory requires accomplishing several goals but the exact number needed is subject to change! In fact, everything can change—from the rules to the game board to the color of your pieces! The game is playable by 2-4 players, aged 8+, in approximately 30 minutes.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 17:02:57 +0000
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