The problem with reviewing a Fluxx deck is the same problem you have playing the game. Every Fluxx variant is both the exact same game and a completely different game, at the same time. As I have said before, when dealing with Fluxx, the only constant is change. And, despite everything that I have said in this paragraph, that’s a good thing.
For those who have forgotten, Fluxx is a deceptively simple game that can become very complicated. The dealer gives you three cards than it starts off with just two rules: you draw one card, you play one card, and then your turn ends. You also have the option of starting a game with one or more Meta Rules in play. A Meta card is considered a Basic Rule Card, but one that is immune to being changed. It is decided on at the start of the game by all players, and only all players agreeing can remove it. The rest of the deck consists of Goals (cards that describe the conditions needed to win), Actions (cards that you use once, and then discard), New Rules (cards that modify the starting basic rules) and Keepers (cards that you keep on the table in front of you after playing them). Players try to collect the right Keepers to match the current Goal. Unless the current Meta Rule says otherwise, there is only ever one Goal in play. Any time a new Goal is played, the old Goal is discarded. This means that you can be close to winning, only to discover that your Keepers aren’t needed for the new Goal.
Now, let’s take a look at Word Fluxx specifically. Word Fluxx is about (surprise) words and letters. At first glance, I was worried that this was just going to be Scrabble with extra steps, but there’s enough variation in Goals to keep the game interesting. Goals range from simple things like Noun, Verb, or a word of a specific length, to more complex ones like Words that Rhyme, Words with Double Letters. Then there are the fun ones like “Spell Flux”, “Spell I WIN” or “Spell the name, initials or nickname of one of the players”. My personal favourite is “Roman Numerals” which allows a player to win if they have any three letters from the list of I,V,X,C,D and M.
Meta Rules. Word Fluxx only includes one Meta Rule Card, “Keep Going”, which allows you to have longer games. Instead of ending the game immediately after one Goal is achieved, you can just play until you need to stop for whatever reason, and whoever has the most Goals when the game ends wins. When a player wins a Goal, the goal card and whatever Keeper cards were used to win are collected by the player, but all other cards stay in play. Words being one of the simpler themes, I think that Keep Going is a good choice here.
Artwork. I’ve seen some really awesome artwork on Fluxx cards, but there’s really only so much you can do with letters of the alphabet. The letters are large, the font is easy to read, and they made some effort to make the cards colourful. I’m not entirely sure why they chose to have something that looks vaguely like an atom as their wildcard, but it gets the idea across. [Editor’s Note: it’s a play on the Looney Labs logo -dc] There’s at least one of each letter of the alphabet, with more commonly used letters having two, three, or four copies.
Unlike some of the Intellectual Property themes, there aren’t really any New Rules or Actions that are unique to this deck only. It’s also hard to nail down the intended age group for this game. Some of the Goal cards include descriptions of some very simple concepts, such as what a verb is, what a noun is, what rhyming is, etc. On the other hand, things like Roman Numerals and Country/State/Province codes are mentioned with no explanation at all. It’s hard to tell if it’s an educational game for children, or an all ages game.
Replay value. Although it’s a pretty simple concept, there’s enough here to keep it from being boring. When I was testing it out, we didn’t have any problems playing several games in a row, with or without the Meta rule in force.
If you can’t decide which pop culture theme you are in the mood for, or you just want to get back to basics, this would be a good choice as a time waster or a palate cleanser between more complicated games.You can find more Looney Labs goodness online at www.looneylabs.com or on their Facebook page: facebook.com/LooneyLabs.
