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Q: If I trade my Zombie Repellent with the Car owned by a zombie-afflicted player, can I win with I Alone Survived?

…Player A only has the Zombie Repellent sitting in front of her while Player B has the Car and a zombie. The Goal I Alone Survived is played, requiring just the Car and everyone else having zombies. During Player A’s turn, she plays Exchange Keepers and trades her Zombie Repellent for Player B’s Car. Some of the players in the game believed that Player A won instantly because at the moment she was the only one without zombies and met the Goal, but the others believed that Player B’s having received the Zombie Repellent would go instantly into effect – and he would have transferred his lone Zombie to Player A…

A: Player A does not win. Although it could be argued that there is a slight lag in both in story and gameplay while Player B sprays his repellent and decides where his zombie goes, we would rule that technically those things are simultaneous in terms of gameplay, and moreover, even story-wise the lag would not affect the long-term outcome: the car thief would not be the only one surviving. Here’s how we see the story playing out:

Sure, it makes sense that the repellent would take a little time to take effect, but this is irrelevant. If someone (Player A) literally ran up to you and your zombie and your car, and stole your car, tearing off with it into the distance, while tossing you their can of zombie repellent, saying “So long sucker!” who would win?

One might argue that Player A wins because you were temporarily “with zombie” and they were driving off with the car. That’s one answer – but we think you would survive in the end, since you have the repellent, so your car thief, player A, is not “Alone Surviving” to meet the stated intent of the Goal.

Q: Does the total effect of playing a card have to be resolved before checking for win conditions, or could someone win partway through?

There are a lot of cards where, unless all steps are considered to be simultaneous, there could be timing issues.

A: A good rule of thumb is that most things resulting from a single card play in Fluxx (and many other Looney Labs games) are considered to happen simultaneously, so if there are timing issues, assume that things take place all at once, and then consider the outcome. There are a exceptions to this, but you’ll notice they follow a pattern: Draw 3 Play 2 of Them, and Draw 2 and Use Em result in actual secondary card plays, and you could win after one of those sub-plays, and Take Another Turn, since that’s a delayed thing that also results in secondary card plays (your entire second turn).

But for things like exchanging, or redistributing Keepers or Creepers, those are considered to happen all in one instant. As stated before, if you’re bumping into an issue which could go one way if it’s simultaneous, or another way if it’s not, it should almost certainly simultaneous.

See also: We think we broke the game…

Q: What happens if someone with Taxes plays Money while Silver Lining is in play?

If the Goal is Winning The Lottery (Dreams & Money) and they have Dreams, do they win before Taxes and Money evaporate each other?

Scenario: A player who had both Dreams and Taxes played Money, and claimed they won, because the minute they played Money, the Goal was met, and, while Taxes would normally prevent the person from winning, and be discarded with the Money, because of the Silver Lining, the Goal was met, it superseded the Money and the Taxes being discarded.

The counter-argument was that the minute Money was played, both it and Taxes should have been immediately discarded, and the game continue until another goal is met. So I suppose the question is which takes priority? Meeting the goal, or following the other rules/conditions on the cards in play?

A: This was such a tricky one that Andy himself was stumped on it for a while. Here’s his answer:

If this were simply a case of card timing, I’d go with the counter-argument: events must be resolved simultaneously before concluding that someone wins, i.e. Taxes destroys Money before the Goal can be achieved.

However, this case also involves Silver Lining, and the intent of that rule is to render Creepers harmless, so with the spirit of that rule in mind, I say the player did in fact win this game.

So, henceforth you may consider that the Taxes card has additional fine print, invisible but there nonetheless, which says “You may choose not perform this discard action if the Silver Lining rule is in play.”

Q: If I play Move A Card, turning the Silver Dragon green, can the moving of the card prevent that win?

Scenario: The Silver Dragon is connected to a group of six green dragon panels. Player plays Move A Card (the green action) which changes the Silver Dragon to green – but the card they move is one of the green ones, which they move away, to break up the group. Does Green win in the middle of the execution of NotGreen’s Action?

A: Unless this is the very first Action played of the game, NotGreen can choose to play the Move a Card to the bottom of the discard pile, utilizing it’s power to move a card, but not changing the color of the Silver Dragon at all. This would be the wisest way to play that card in this case. This is always an option unless it’s the first Action card played in the game, in which there is no discard pile yet to put the card under. Keep in mind a player also has the option of playing the Action to the top of the pile to change the color, but not utilizing the power of the card.

If, for some reason, NotGreen still wanted to change the Silver Dragon to green, we would still rule that Green does not win, since all effects of Actions are considered to be simultaneous. So JUST as you add another green dragon (in the form of the Silver) you simultaneously take one away, and the total remains six, never having actually reached seven.

If, by chance, this IS the very first Action played of the game, however… the question is actually moot. If no Actions have yet been played, then the Silver Dragon is wild, and Green would have already won when the sixth green card was played to the group connected to the Silver Dragon.

Q: When we all pass a card left or right, is that simultaneous?

If it’s not, the same card could get passed all the way around the circle until it’s back with the person who played the Action.

A: Yes. Everyone is supposed to pick a card from their hand, and pass it simultaneously, specifically to prevent a single card being passed around.

For example, what would happen if only one person had a hand? If the card pass happened sequentially, there would be no change in anyone’s hand! (And how do you decide who starts?) What actually happens is that the person with a hand passes a card, and everyone else passes nothing, since their hands are empty.

A good rule of thumb is: when in doubt, assume that things in Fluxx happen simultaneously.

See also: We think we broke the game…

Q: If I use Trade Goals to get the gold dragon Goal and that changes the Silver Dragon so that gold is now winning, who wins, me or them?

A: What you’re asking about is essentially: which happens first, the completion of seven panels of gold via the Silver Dragon, or the exchange of the Goal cards.

The answer is that those things happen simultaneously, so after executing all of the results from the Action card, you see who’s meeting the win conditions. So it’s the person who ends up with the yellow Goal. If you traded to get it, that’s you. This a common winning strategy ploy.

The same question applies to similar moves with the Rotate Goals action (blue) where someone uses Rotate Goals to gain the blue dragon Goal while simultaneously changing the Silver Dragon to blue for the win.

Q: If I play a Goal that makes me win, but it also makes Larry or the Radioactive Potato move to me, do I win?

A: The Goal change and the Larry move are considered to be simultaneous, so we would rule that Larry/Potato blocks that win. Basically, do both of the things (play the Goal and move the Creeper) and THEN take a look at the situation to see if you win or not.

If the Potato/Larry is moving around the table preventing wins, and you play what would be the winning Goal, and it makes that Creeper move AWAY from you, you’re then YAY, but if playing the Goal makes it move ONTO you, then you’re stuck. No win. Getting the timing right to play the Goal you need is part of the challenge of having either of these on the table.

The timing puzzle is just as tricky (maybe trickier!) if You Also Need A Baked Potato is in play so that you need to get the Radioactive Potato to move ONTO you with your winning Goal play.

Q: What if two people simultaneously meet the win condition/s?

This could happen with Double Agenda in effect. For example, in a 2-player game, if the goals are Star Gazing and Time is Money. Player A has The Eye and Time in play while Player B has The Cosmos and Money. Player A plays Exchange Keepers and exchanges The Eye for Money. Is the game over, with two winners, or must it continue until one and only one player has a winning condition?

This could also happen with 10 Cards In Hand

A: You would keep playing until only one player currently meets the win condition.

Q: Can I win with All You Need Is Love if Love is the first of several Keepers I would get in a Keeper-mixup situation?

Suppose the Goal is All You Need Is Love, and someone plays an Action which causes all of the Keepers to be shuffled and dealt back out. If someone then gets Love as their first card, do they win immediately, or must they receive whatever other Keepers are headed their way before they can claim victory?

A: The latter. This is another tricky timing case in which the instant win concept collides with the principle of everything happening immediately. In this case, the Action must be completed first. The best way to play cards like Scramble Keepers or Share the Wealth is to deal everyone their new Keepers face down, with all players then revealing the cards they got all at once.

See also: Does the total effect of playing a card have to be resolved…

Q: How does 10 Cards in Hand work in conjunction with Trade or Rotate Hands?

If you and an opponent each have 11 cards in your hand, and you play Trade Hands, would you win because after the card’s effect occurred you had 11 while the opponent had 10, or would the opponent win as soon as the card was played and left your hand?

A: You should need to finish the Action (i.e. follow through with the hand swap), before considering the issue of someone meeting the Goal. Thus, it’s that first thing you said.