A: There should always be a Tomb. If your Get the MacGuffin deck is not a prime number of cards for some reason, simply start the Tomb with one card, then deal out the rest of the deck as evenly as possible, and take the remainder and add them to the first set-aside card to form the complete Tomb.
Archives
Q: Does Looney Labs make custom Fluxx decks? Can I pay Looney Labs to make me a bunch of custom promo cards for my fabulous event (like my wedding)?
A: Unfortunately, producing custom one-off cards or decks is not a business we’d like to get into. That said, many people have used Fluxx (or one of our other games) to propose marriage, or enhance their wedding or other event. Most of these have simply been hand drawn or otherwise created by the involved parties themselves. We have done hand-drawn cards once for a wedding proposal (with Nanofictionary, in this case), but note that these were really not appreciably better than what you might create yourself or get a local friend to do: we simply used blanxx (or blanks) and drew on them with a fine-tip sharpie.
Sorry it’s simply not feasible for us to make custom promo cards or Fluxx decks a part of our business model!
BUT we DO offer Custom Loonacy decks, including one which is wedding themed! You could use that almost off the shelf, or customize the images to your heart’s content! If you are a business looking for larger quantities (as in: must be purchased in multiples of 1,008 decks), we have Short-Run Loonacy.
If you have not tried Loonacy yet, it’s a fun fast-paced matching game!
Q: When a card “counts as” more than one other thing, does the person who owns it get to decide what it is at any given moment?
The promo card Fruitcake says it counts as either a Dessert, or the Gift. If Clear The Table is played, can it count as The Gift, and not be cleared? Open A Gift says that if The Gift is in play anywhere, each player may, on their turn draw and play the top card of the draw pile. Can The Fruitcake be declared to count as a Dessert only sometimes, to deprive other players of that option?
A: No, the player who owns a Keeper which can mimic more than one other Keepers does not get to choose when that card counts as one thing or the other. It has all applicable properties at all times – but it can never be more than one item at a time for purposes of meeting Goals. So the Fruitcake will always be swept from the table with all of the other foods when Clear The Table is played AND, if in play, it makes Open A Gift available to all players.
Disclaimer: All Fluxx cards, particularly promos, may have wording which is very specific to their situation, so it can be difficult to infer exactly how one card should or can be used by looking at other cards – so read each one carefully for its exact usage. Check FAQ on the Librarian, the Computer promo, the Android Doctor, the Animator, and others for more info.
Q: Does Mal’s special ability override the specifications on the Alliance (promo) Creeper?
…Mal’s special ability is to be able to move a Creeper “to another player”, while the Alliance says it can be moved to any player with River Tam, Stolen Goods, or Serenity. My opponent used Mal to move the Alliance to me (so they could win), even though I didn’t have any of those cards. Were they allowed to do that?
A: The player with Mal can move ANY one of their Creepers to ANY other player, regardless of what other Keepers they may have. There is no restriction on that card about where Mal can move a Creeper. The note on the bottom of The Alliance Creeper is an indicator that ANYONE who has The Alliance can move it away from themselves to someone with those specific Keepers. Those Keepers are not meant to be a limit on where it can ever be moved, just on where it can be moved “for free”.
Q: If I have the Computer (which lets me ignore limits) and someone takes it away or trashes it, do I then have to comply with the current limits?
A: Yup. The same would apply if you have the Batcomputer, or BMO which allow you to exceed the current limits by 1 (or “one” depending on how the card is worded).
The Computer exists both as a regular card in Star Fluxx, and as a promo card available to put in any Fluxx version (though they’re worded ever so slightly differently).
Q: When using a card that moves when the Goal is changed, what happens when you add a second Goal for Double Agenda? What about when it goes away?
A: For cards like the Radioactive Potato or Larry the Zombie, we would rule that the Goal, as a set, has been changed if you:
• Go from zero Goals to one
• Change one Goal out for another
• Go from one Goal to two
• Change one of the two Goals
• Go from two Goals to one
• Go from one goal to zero
All of these things would be considered a change in the Goal. The cards that could make that last situation happen may not be in Zombie Fluxx or Fluxx 4.0, but there is at least one card out there that can make that happen.
Q: Three dollars for an expansion pack? A dollar for singles? You must really be making a killing, with a markup like that!
A: Packs are a great deal when you look at the price of the single promo cards, which are, yes, $1 apiece. This is mostly because they are printed in vastly smaller quantities than a full deck of cards, or even a cello-wrapped pack, so our price doesn’t go as low per card as it does on packs. Also, picking and packing single promo cards is the most laborious type of order.
So packs, obviously, are a better deal than singletons. Taking a brief survey of expansion/promo packs at this time, they seem to range from four cards up to sixteen per pack. It looks like our pricing has been a bit inconsistent through the years, ranging from $2 to $5. Licensed assets, like the Castle Expansion, usually cost more, but that has varied as well.
Incidentally, we don’t make expansion packs just so we can make a few bucks with a massive profit margin — at least not on sales of the expansion itself. Mostly we print them in conjunction with the initial release as marketing materials that we can use to promote sales of the main game when it first comes out (usually by giving them away – marketing materials are an expense, not an income stream).
So yes, we hope they help us make more money, of course, but the idea is that they are boosting sales of the main product. If they’re really popular, we’ll find a way to keep them in print when they run out, but that can really depend. Subsequent print runs for consumer sale are always much smaller, such that our margin decreases significantly, so keeping them in print for fans is something we do primarily because we like to keep our fans happy, not because they’re a major source of income for us.
Q: I if I have the promo card The Computer (or Batcomputer) in play, do I get to draw extra when invoking Actions that have me draw or play cards?
For example, if I play Recycling, could I throw away a Keeper to draw 4 cards instead of 3? Or when I play Draw 3 & Play 2 Of Them, can I draw 4 and use 3 of them because I have The Computer?
A: No, not with the Computer (or Batcomputer). The promo card Inflation would cause all of these numbers to increase as you’ve described, but the Bat-/Computer only applies to the actual Draw, Play, Hand Limit, and Keeper Limit rule cards in play, not to any other circumstances that might cause you to do any of these things.
Q: When using the Fluxx card Zap A Card as the repeating action with the Rule Let’s Keep Doing that, what happens if you zap Zap A Card?
…and what about Smite a Card from Olympus Fluxx?
A: The answer is that when you pick an Action card to go onto Let’s Keep Doing that, it’s like they become grafted together, so you can’t do anything to one without affecting the other. In this case the Action is really just a reminder, sort of a “shadow card” that indicates the current power of Let’s Keep Doing that, which is the Rule which is actually in play, and the Action is not considered to really be “in play”.
So we would rule that you can’t actually zap Zap A Card, you could only zap Let’s Keep Doing That. When you zap Let’s Keep Doing That, the applicable Action would go in the discard pile, and, as per the Zap A Card instructions, the Rule would go into your hand.
With Smite a Card, the only difference is that BOTH cards would end up in the discard pile: trying to smite Smite a Card itself would end up smiting Let’s Keep Doing that, and it would go in the trash.
Q: When using Zap A Card in Fluxx, can I take cards out of the discard pile?
A: No. The card says you can take any card “in play” on the table. That includes: the current Goal, any current Rule (not the Basic Rules, of course), or any Keeper or Creeper in front of any player. Note, of course, that Creepers cannot be held in your hand, so they go back into play in front of you if you steal them from someone else, instead of going into your hand.
Q: The rules say you can play the Rainbow Dragon “anywhere”. Does that include on top of the Silver Dragon, like an Action card, to change it back to wild?
A: Technically, we never intended for Action cards to be played on top of the Silver Dragon, however, some people do choose to play that way.
See: In Seven Dragons, can we put the discard pile on top of the Silver Dragon to easily see what color it is?
Whichever way you choose to play, the Rainbow Dragon is a panel card and not an Action, and as such, can be played anywhere a panel card can be played – which does NOT include the discard pile, wherever you happen to be keeping it. Note that we used to have a Shuffle Hands promo card (it was a peel-off postcard type) which was an Action that changed the Silver Dragon back to wild, but, unfortunately, we are all out of that.
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: What color does the Aquarius Dragon turn when you play Shuffle Hands?
We could tell what each of the other Aquarius Actions was supposed to do to the Dragon, but it wasn’t clear what Shuffle Hands would do, based on the art.
A: The intention is that the Aquarius (AQ) Dragon should work exactly like the Silver Dragon in Seven Dragons (7D), so, by extension, since the 7D promo card Shuffle Hands depicts the Rainbow Dragon art (and the instructions included with the Shuffle Hands 7D promo say that it turns the Silver Dragon wild) the Aquarius Dragon is turned fully Wild by the Shuffle Hands action in Aquarius.
History:
When Aquarius was designed the original five actions clearly mapped to the five elements. When we added the sixth action (Shuffle Hands) there were no extra elements to map it to, so we used the “long hair babe” and a generic Aquarius landscape.
Then, when we made Seven Dragons, the whole concept of having the action-color map to a change of the Silver Dragon was new. Also, we did not include the sixth action, Shuffle Hands, but we made it as a promo card, and the obvious art was the sixth available dragon, the Rainbow Dragon, hence it’s obvious effect on the Silver Dragon was to have it go wild again (which is pretty powerful, and one of the reasons we made it a promo card instead of including three of them like there are in Aquarius).
Then we retroactively applied the Silver Dragon and it’s qualities to AQ, but the art on the AQ Shuffle Hands action was never intended to map explicitly to a particular element, so unfortunately, it’s not clear from the art what it does to the AQ Dragon.
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?
Q: There are some cards which make Inflation extra confusing. How do we do the math on those?
A: We’d consider any cards which change the meaning of numerals on a card to be mutually exclusive to each other. Only one of them can be in play at a time, so if one is out, and someone plays a different one, the previous one would be discarded.
Inflation (Fluxx 5.0)(also available as a promo card)
Double Vision (Fluxx Remixx, Drinking Fluxx, More Rules promo pack)
One, Two, Five! (Monty Python Fluxx)
Increment All (Math Fluxx)
Mathematical! (Adventure Time Fluxx)
Note that you’ll find almost all of these (except for 1,2,5) on the same line in the Fluxx card comparison spreadsheet, since we consider these to be kind of variations on Inflation.
Q: The Composting promo card says it’s okay to look at the bottom card of the discard pile. If there is a multiple play in effect, can I look at more than one card at a time?
A: Any player may look at the entire discard pile at any time, but the order of what’s in the pile should not be changed. So you can look at as many of those cards as you like, and if you see a card you want that’s, for example, third from the bottom, then (as long as you have at least three draws available on your turn) you can take all those “from the compost pile” to reach it.
In fact, when Composting is in play, some people choose to splay out the bottom of the discard pile to more easily see what’s within drawing range for a turn.
Q: What happens if one of the Rules you turn up with Pandora’s Box is Inflation?
A: Then Pandora’s Box now goes to 4. Since everything happens immediately in Fluxx, Inflation is applied to the Action that caused it to be played. Even if it was the third Rule you played, and you thought it would be the last, you’d suddenly have to go to a fourth New Rule, so you’d continue.
Adventure Time Fluxx includes the Inflation analogue, Mathematical! Inflation is also available as a promo card to add to any Fluxx deck.
Math Fluxx includes a card called Increment All, which is similar to Inflation except it only affects Actions and New Rules.
Q: The Computer promo card says it “counts as an Appliance.” Does this mean it counts as Television for the purposes of the goal Brain No TV?
A: No. The Computer promo card does not state that it counts as either The Television or The Toaster specifically, but merely that it counts as “an Appliance” so it doesn’t have the powers of either of those other cards, but can substitute for any ONE of them only with respect to the Goal The Appliances, but does not, for example, “count as” the Television for blocking the win with Brain No TV, or for any other Goal involving the Television or the Toaster (you can’t toast your Bread with your Computer to win with the Goal Toast)
Q: When you play The Computer promo card, do you instantly get another draw and another play?
A: Yes.
Q: How do I use the Andy Looney (autograph) promo card?
A: There have been various versions of Andy’s personal promo card over the years, and as we’ve reprinted it, we’ve added more things from later versions that Andy can participate in. Whether you have an early version of the promo or a later one, Andy currently counts as:
The Brain in regular Fluxx, but not Brains in Zombie Fluxx
A Friend in Zombie Fluxx and Stoner Fluxx
He’s also:
A Knight of the Round Table in Monty Python Fluxx,
A Sentient Being, and therefore susceptible to Brain Parasites in Star Fluxx
An Investigator in Cthulhu Fluxx.
Q: Do the Tree promos count as The Tree in Family Fluxx, or Trees in Eco/Nature Fluxx?
A: Yes! The Fruit Tree, Pine Tree, or Palm Tree all count as The Tree in Family Fluxx, or as Trees in EcoFluxx / Nature Fluxx.
Q: Can someone stand up and move around the table to give someone Germs (or Con Crud), or do they have to remain seated?
A: No, it has to be someone you can reach from where you are sitting during the regular course of the game.
Q: Does Inflation apply retroactively to the No-Hand Bonus?
In other words, if I started the turn with an empty hand and drew 3 cards because of the No-Hand Bonus, and then I play Inflation, do I draw another card?
A: No. While everything happens immediately in Fluxx, things don’t happen retroactively. The action of the No-Hand Bonus only triggers at the start of your turn, therefore it doesn’t give you an extra card when Inflation is played during your turn. Inflation WOULD affect the current Draw Rule, but that’s not considered a retroactive effect, since the Draw Rule says you must “have drawn X cards on your turn” which is a status for your entire turn, from the beginning. By contrast, the No-Hand Bonus occurs specifically BEFORE the regular draw for your turn, and does NOT count as part of your draw.
Note that Mathematical In Adventure Time Fluxx is an analogue of Inflation, but that Adventure Time Fluxx does not have No-Hand Bonus.
Math Fluxx, on the other hand, has both the No-Hand Bonus as well as Increment All (an Inflation analogue which only applies to Actions and New Rules).
Q: If Inflation is played as one of the cards during the Action Draw 3 Play 2 Of Them, does it apply to the Action in progress?
A: Yes. Since everything happens instantly in Fluxx, Draw 3 Play 2 Of Them (D3P2) suddenly becomes Draw 4 Play 3 Of Them (D4P3, if you will). The player should immediately draw an extra card and add it to the remainder of the cards being chosen from (the mini hand for the Action, not the set-aside main hand). It’s kind of like if you’d only drawn 2 cards instead of the 3 you were supposed to, realizing the mistake after playing one of them, and drawing the extra card you need at that point.
Of course, your regular hand will also need an extra card, since the Draw Rule itself has also incremented. You could do that at the time you’re executing your D3P2 by drawing a card and adding it to your set-aside hand, or you could catch up with that when you pick your regular hand back up again after the action. Note you’ll also have an extra Play to execute as well.
Star Trek Fluxx includes Fizzbin, which is similar to D3P2/D2UE. If Inflation was played as part of Fizzbin, all numbers would need to be increased, so you’d draw an extra card from the draw pile, and take an extra card from your neighbor. You should then reshuffle your temporary Fizzbin hand and continue.
Adventure Time includes the Inflation analogue, Mathematical! Inflation is also available as a promo card to add to any Fluxx deck.
Math Fluxx includes a card called Increment All, which is similar to Inflation except it only affects Actions and New Rules.
Drinking Fluxx includes a card called Double Vision, which is similar to Inflation, but only changes 1 to 2, without affecting any higher numbers, so actually, it won’t affect Draw 3 Play 2, but it’s worth noting.