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Players: 2-6 (ages 8+)
Playing Time: 10-30 minutes (though it all depends on the cards)
You know how, sometimes, after playing a card game for a while, you get just a little bit bored? Sure, it may be your favorite card game ever—but it’s always the same thing, right? The same strategies, the same rules, the same goals. And after playing it for a while, it starts to feel like just more of the same thing.
Well, never fear, weary gamers—your card game doldrums have come to an end. Because Fluxx is never the same game twice.
To begin, each player gets three cards. At first, everything is pretty simple: when it’s your turn, you draw a card and you play a card. That’s all there is to it.
But as soon as players start playing their cards, things start to change. For instance, someone could play a Goal—a card that determines what you need to do in order to win. Or someone could play a New Rule card, which then builds on the basic rules of the game. From here on out, you could have to draw two cards at the beginning of every turn instead of just one. Or you could have to discard all of the cards in your hand at the end of every turn.
And then, just when you think you’ve got everything figured out—just when you think you’re about to win—your opponent will play another Goal card, and you’ll have to change your game plan.
You see, the ultimate goal of Fluxx is to meet the conditions on the current Goal card. That could mean having 10 cards in your hand. Or it could mean having the right two Keeper cards (Chocolate and Milk, for instance) on the table in front of you. But the catch is that the Goal is rarely the same from one turn to the next.
As you play, the game is constantly changing. The end goal is constantly changing. And your strategies are constantly changing. In other words, everything is always in flux. It’s never the same game twice—which, I must admit, makes it pretty difficult to try to explain.
What I can say, however, is that Fluxx is, without a doubt, my new favorite card game. It’s easy to learn and simple to play—which means that younger players will have no problem keeping up. As for older players, since the game is constantly changing, it’ll keep even the most burnt-out of card players engaged. And I can say from experience that once you start playing, you’ll have a hard time setting the deck aside.
So if you and your family have gotten tired of the same old card game, give Fluxx a try—it’s the perfect cure for the same-old-card-game blues.
