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Q: If it’s draw 1, play all but 1, I draw 2 cards if I have no cards. If I then play draw 4, do I draw 2 or 3 more? Is that extra card counted as a draw or ignored like the no hand bonus is?

A: This is VERY good question, which we are surprised hasn’t come up before! We had to sit down and really contemplate the situation to make a ruling on this.

To recap, the Play All But 1 (New Rule) says “If you started with no cards in your hand and only drew 1, draw an extra card.” And, as we all know, when you play a card that increases the Draw amount, you get to draw the difference to increase your total cards drawn to the current New Rule in play.

The way Andy framed the question is “Is the extra card one draws like a ‘salary advance’ on your regular draw allotment , or is it more like a ‘bonus’ on top of your regular draw?” After some thought we felt that what the Play All But 1 card is doing is more like a temporary modification of the Basic Draw rule, and, as such, would make the extra card part of your total Draw allowance for your turn.

So, in the example presented in the question above, where (after having started with no cards, and Drawing 2) you have played Draw 4, you would draw only 2 additional cards (and continue to Play until you have only 1 card left in your hand).

Q: What happens if I have zero cards in hand, with draw 1, play 1, and I draw and play Play All But 1?

A: The card Play All But 1 says: Play all but 1 of your cards. If you started with no cards in your hand and only drew 1*, draw an extra card.

So, the player in question, starting with zero cards, must play the card they draw. If that card turns out to be Play All But 1, then, as per the directions on that card, since they “started with no cards in [their] hand and only drew 1” then they need to draw an extra card. Since the current Rule is Play All But 1, they are left with 1 card in their hand, and their turn is over.

*Note that in some printings, this second instance is written out, but, to avoid conflicts with Inflation, it should actually be a numeral as written here.

Q: Play All but 1 seems broken with Inflation.

…As written on my deck, Play All But 1 reads “Play all but 1 of your cards. If you started with no cards in your hand and only drew one, draw
an extra card.” This means that if my Draw 1 was Inflated to Draw 2, then I don’t get to draw the necessary extra card to enable me to have any plays at all on my turn.

A: As you may have noted, the fix for this is simple, which is to treat the second “one” as a “1”, which it should have been in the first place. We’ll be implementing this fix on all subsequent printings starting in 2016.

Please treat this card as though it read: “Play all but 1 of your cards. If you started with no cards in your hand and only drew 1, draw an extra card.”

Note that Adventure Time Fluxx has the card Mathematical, which is an analogue of Inflation.
Math Fluxx has Increment All, which is like Inflation, but only applies to Actions and New Rules.

Q: If Play All But 1 is in effect, and there’s something that requires me to increase my plays, do I end up playing all?

The Computer promo card, or Batcomputer in Batman Fluxx, for example, increases both your Play and your Draw by 1. Play 1 extra doesn’t affect Play All, so why would it affect Play All But 1?

A: Play All But 1 isn’t the same as Play All: when you Play All But 1, you do have 1 card remaining, so when you are then required to play +1 cards, you do have one left to play, so you must play it.

You need to take Play All But 1 as a unit into consideration: you can’t just break out the Play All, and apply the effects of the Computer, and then apply the …But 1 part.

Note that since the effects of the Computer are not optional, you have to do it, whether you like it or not. Other similar effects may be optional, so always check on that. It’s pretty easy to see whether something says you “may” do it, or if it just happens.

Q: If Swap Plays For Draws and Play All (or Play All But 1) are both in effect, how does that resolve?

If I draw the number of cards I have left in my hand to play, do I have to play them all? Which one takes precedence? Play All, or Swap Plays?

A: Once you have exercised your option to Swap Plays for Draws, you have no more plays left (you have swapped all your remaining plays) so your turn is over. So, no, you don’t play those new cards drawn. In that sense Swap Plays “takes precedence” since you may still have cards in your hand at the end of your turn even though Play All is in effect.

Specific example:
The Swap Plays For Draws card explicitly states that when this rule is in effect, you may choose at any time to play no more cards, and draw the number of cards as you have plays left. Play All says to play all your cards this turn.

So lets say you have five cards in hand. You play two cards, and decide you want to swap the rest of your plays for draws. Since you have three cards remaining, and Play All is in effect, you have three plays left to swap, so you draw three cards, thereby ending your turn.

Likewise, if Play All But 1 is in effect, then as long as you have more than 1 card remaining in your hand (which would mean you have plays left to swap) you would get to draw the number of cards in your hand minus 1, since the number of plays you have remaining is simply 1 less than the number of cards in your hand. As with Play All, of course, once you choose to swap your remaining plays for draws, you have no more plays.

Q: Is Swap Plays For Draws limited by the number of cards you have in your hand?

A: Sort of. If you have more than enough cards in your hand to cover the number of plays left allowed by the Play Rule, then you just subtract how many plays you took from the number shown on the Play Rule. You played 1 and it’s Play 3, and you have 7 cards left in your hand? Play 3 minus the 1 play you took leaves you 2 remaining plays you could swap for draws. Your hand size does not affect how many plays you have left to swap.

If, however, the Play Rule indicates more plays left than you have cards left in your hand, then the number of plays you have left is the number of cards in your hand. The number of plays you can swap for draws is the number of ACTUAL card plays you could make, not the theoretical number of plays allowed by the Play Rule.

EXAMPLE:
Draw 1, Play 3 is in effect.
You have a hand of 0 and you draw 1 card. Now you have 1 card in your hand. How many plays can ACTUALLY be taken by you? Not 3 because the Play Rule says 3, but 1, because you only have 1 card in your hand. You can’t play cards you don’t have. At whatever time you choose to exercise Swap Plays For Draws, the question is: how many ACTUAL plays do you have left? In this case, you have only 1 play available to you, which you could choose to swap for 1 draw. Now you have 2 cards in your hand, but do you get to play them because the Play Rule says 3? NO, because with Swap Plays For Draws, you are deciding to sacrifice ALL your remaining plays for draws, so, by definition, no matter how many you drew, you have no plays left in your turn.

This is turns out to be exactly how we figure out how many cards can be drawn when the Play All (or Play All But 1) is in effect. In that case, you look at the number of cards you have left (or that number minus 1) and that’s how many plays you have, so that’s how many cards you draw. Again, remember that using Swap Plays For Draws means you have no more plays left in your turn, so you won’t be able to use any of those cards you just drew until your next turn.

Swapping Plays For Draws is one of the ways you can avoid having to playing a card that would make someone else win.

See also: Can I use Get On With It if I played my only card, but the Play rule says to play more?