Fantasy Fluxx

 Given how many nerdy intellectual properties are represented in the vast Fluxx pantheon - Dr Who, Star Trek, etc - it's a bit surprising that there has not heretofore been a Fantasy edition of Fluxx. For those who are new to this blog or just new to hobby games, Fluxx is a game of ever-changing rules; it's quick to teach initially but new players will have reading to do on some of the cards. Many cards change the game state - the rules, the win conditions, and so on - you could say the cards in Fluxx keep the game in flux! As I have reviewed many flavors of Fluxx in these pages, I will not go into detail about the mechanics; see previous entries or the second image below for the particulars.

The genius of Fluxx is its fluxibility.. er... flexibility. Dozens of variants have been produced, all with many similarities and a few differences. Once you learn the basics, you will understand generally how to play all of them. Fantasy Fluxx follows the template with a few interesting additions. The tropes in the game are readily recognizable from recent high fantasy film series and a classic reference here and there. As for what's new, Fantasy Fluxx has a few tricks up its sleeve in the form of magic items and magic spells. Three new Keeper cards - Magic Ring, Magic Sword and Magic Wand - confer special abilities that keep your Keepers safe, banish a Creeper to another player, and grant Spellcaster ability respectively. The Magic Ring bestows "invisibility" on your Keepers such that other players can't mess with them. Three new action cards - Healing Spell, Fireball Spell, and Invisibility Spell, let you resurrect a card from the discard pile, discard any card anywhere or force another player to discard their whole hand, and make your Keepers invisible (as does the Magic Ring), respectively. Even better, if you have a Spellcaster (IE if you have a caster in front of you on the table or you have the Wand) you can use these powers multiple times - you return the card to your hand and face it outwards as a reminder. This is a really neat new mechanism and players will be jonesing to get their hands on these powerful abilities.

Fluxx has many fans and they will surely enjoy this new entry. It's family-friendly and not overly complicated once you get the gist, which means almost anyone can play it if they have the patience to learn the flow of the game. And it's always fun to see familiar characters and ideas expressed in a slyly generic way, such as the Inconceivably Smart Fellow you will remember from The Princess Bride (mad props to the the great Wallace Shawn). I also liked the diverse skin tones on the illustrations on the characters.

I'm impressed at how the Looneys keep Fluxx fresh. Check out this latest edition... to do anything else would be... Inconceivable!