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Q: If Zombies Ain’t So Bad is in play, can everyone still lose because of a Zombie Victory?

A: Yes. The zombies can win, even if they Ain’t So Bad. Specifically, the Zombies Ain’t So Bad Rule says that you can still win even if zombies are disallowed on the Goal, but it says nothing about zombies being ignored on UnGoals. Just because you can win with them, doesn’t mean they might not also be able to win.

Thematically, imagine a world where zombies pose no physical threat to humans… but they have taken complete control of power. The president is a zombie, congress is all zombies, the supreme court is all zombies. Humans are not allowed to hold any positions of power, and are an oppressed minority. But hey! They’re not eating your brains!

Not so bad is not the same as good.

Q: If I play Keepers after I “put the Ring on” (by putting it face-out in my hand) are those Keepers invisible, or only the ones that were in play when I invoked the Ring?

A: We here at Looney Labs do not like what are called “memory conditions.” One should be able to look at the table and accurately see the state of things, even if one has left the room for a bit. If we had to remember which of your Keepers had been played before or after you “put the Ring on” and became Invisible, it would be highly annoying, and someone returning from a bathroom break would have no idea which of your Keepers were invisible or not.

So… as long as the Ring is face-out in your hand, all of your Keepers in play are Invisible. It doesn’t matter when they were played relative to the invocation of Ring’s power.

Think of it thematically this way: if you handed a box to Bilbo while he was wearing the One Ring, the box would become invisible, just like the clothes on his back.

Q: Population Crash doesn’t use the word “draw”… does the active player have to keep any Creepers that come up?

…Population Crash says “take a card from the draw pile and place it on the discard pile,” instead of “draw a card and place it on the discard pile.” If a Creeper comes up this way, does the active player have to take it and put it in play, or does it just go on the discard pile?

A: You are not technically drawing those cards to use them. You are merely flipping them over to find the next Goal card to give direction to the Population Crash Action, so we would rule that you do not have to take Creepers revealed this way.

Also see: What happens if a Creeper comes up when Pandora’s Box is played? Noting that our intention was that Pandora’s Box be a similar card flipping, not drawing… but we messed up the wording on the most recent printing.

Q: Does the Action Here Humans! allow one to steal the Humans In Black?

…The Here Humans! Action states: “If this is a two player game, only take one of that player’s Human cards.” (Human is singular)

A: I checked with Andy on this, and he says that Here Humans! should be absolutely able to steal an opponent’s Humans In Black. Though it uses “Human” in singular, you can’t really separate them as a group, and they would be just as susceptible as other Humans to whatever you’re using for Human-attractant (some sort of audible call? “Hay-bay-bee!” Or maybe a scent-based attractant: cinnamon rolls, or those candied almonds they sell at the mall? Or maybe it’s a visual thing: a billboard for some irresistible deal or “free money!”)

In fact, they count as Humans for anything referencing them, even The Humans Are Revolting, for example. The only real difference is that they’re not Creepers, and have the special power to nullify the Creeper-aspect of other Humans.

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: Do Crime Spree or KPOW! interact with Villain who is hidden under the Batman Cuffs?

A: In all Fluxx, when a card is not showing face up, it is generally to be treated as if it is not in play, so if it is face down (there are cards which could do this) or if it is hidden by some other card, like the Batman Cuffs, it is as though it is not there. It’s as though KPOW gets all Villains who are “on the loose” and still a threat to society. (To refresh, KPOW discards, or puts in Arkham Asylum, all Villains in play.)

Thematically, however, if Villains are being rounded up, whether they’re going to Arkham or the discard pile, a Villain in Handcuffs would expect to be taken away. (If the Villain goes away, the Handcuffs just stay where they are: ready to be used on the next hapless Villain that crosses your path.)

Since both are reasonable courses of action, after some thought, we’ve decided that it’s the player’s choice as to whether they decide to maintain the Villain in their custody, or release them to the authorities. Of course, other players might question your motives as a superhero, and worry that you were in cahoots with the Bad Guys, aka, holding a Goal that would win with that Villain, since they know that you could choose to –oops!– let that Villain go any time you want if it’s advantageous to you…

For the Goal Crime Spree (you win if 5 or more Villains are in play anywhere, and you have the Bat Signal), the answer is much the same. The Villain under the Cuffs is effectively not in play, but if the player with the Villain in Handcuffs is the person with the Bat Signal, who would win if the Villain under your Cuffs is revealed… well, you can choose to release that Villain at any time – but obviously there’s no reason to do so if it would just make someone else win.

Q: If Dead Friends and Zombies Ain’t So Bad are both in effect, can I win with Goals requiring Friends?

See this answer as a video!
Ain’t So Bad

A: One could argue that your Zombified Friends are still Friends,
since Zombies Ain’t So Bad.
–Or–
One could argue that once your Friends are Zombified, it’s simply impossible to win with ANY Goal requiring Friends, even if Zombies Ain’t So Bad, since, really, they may not be so bad, but they’re not your friends anymore, they’re zombies. How many people describe their friends as “not so bad”? That’s hardly enthusiastic, you know?

So let’s ask ourselves how many of their Friend-attributes they maintain in Zombified form, such that they would meet the various Goals in a thematic sense:

• Zombie Food: are Zombified Friends Zombie Food?
Not really. Zombies don’t eat each other.

• Barricade the Windows: Could my Zombified Friends help me Barricade the Windows?
Maybe. Depends how hard it is to do that task. It would probably be hard.

• Getaway Driver: Can my Zombified Friends drive a car?
We’re gonna go with a big “no” on that one. Seriously doubtful.

and finally…

• We’re All All Right: Are my Zombified Friends “All Right”?
I don’t care how “not so bad” Zombies are, my Zombified Friends are definitely NOT “all right”.

TLDR:
The short answer from Andy himself is the second answer: if Dead Friends is in play, you can’t win with ANY Goal requiring Friends, because they’re not Friends any more, they’re zombies, even if they’re really nice Zombies. Sorry.

Q: If Rough Seas gets played while Long Live The Captain is in effect, is the person with the Captain’s Hat immune to those Limits?

A: The Action Rough Seas says “All players who do not have a Ship Keeper on the table in front of them must discard cards and Keepers as if the rules in play were Hand Limit 3 and Keeper Limit 2. (This includes the player who played this.)”

Meanwhile, the Rule Long Live The Captain says “Ignore any Keeper Limits if the Captain’s Hat is on the table in front of you

After some discussion, we’re going with the logical intent flowing from the theme, rather than a tight reading of how we happen to have expressed the wording. Being the Captain doesn’t affect the weather: the Captain has to deal with Rough Seas just like anybody else if he doesn’t have a Ship.

Andy happens to have worded the Rough Seas card to compare the action to Hand & Keeper Limits: “…as if the rules in play were…” but it’s not as though actual Limits have come into play. He would have been better off saying: “All players…must discard down to 3 cards in hand and 2 Keepers in play” – which is, in fact, how we will re-word this next time we reprint.

Q: If I play the the Rule Elsewhere in Gotham City, am I still prevented from winning if I have Creepers?

Elsewhere in Gotham City says says “Villain Creepers held by others do not prevent you from winning”…

A: So, the thing about Creepers in MOST Fluxx versions is that they prevent you from winning if you have them. In Batman Fluxx, however, the Creepers are special, and affect others in addition to you: Creepers anywhere on the table prevent everyone from winning with a Goal that doesn’t involve Villains. So the Elsewhere In Gotham City Rule makes Villains work the way Creepers do in most other versions: other people’s Creepers don’t prevent you from winning… but your own Creepers are still a big problem for you.

That’s the idea behind the theme of this Rule: all that trouble is going down Elsewhere, but here where you are, it’s fine… unless it’s not, i.e. you DO have crime (Villains) in your neighborhood, in which case you can’t win with that Goal.

Q: Do Keepers fighting in The Arena come from your hand, or from in play in front of you? What if there’s only one Keeper on the table at all?

A: The Keepers offered up for combat have to already be in play in front of someone. You do not have to offer up a Keeper from your hand into the Arena.

When in doubt, the general rule with things applying to Keepers is that the Keeper has to be in play in order to be able to “do things”. Usually that means using special powers, but in this case, being in play is what obligates a Keeper to fight in the Arena. Not being in play frees the Keeper from any such obligations.

If there are not enough combatants (there is only one Keeper in play) that entity simply wins by default. They stick their head in the Arena, see that there’s nobody there trying to kill them, breathe a sigh of relief, and get the heck out of there.

Q: If I’m using my Laser Pistol to shoot another player’s Keeper-with-Creeper, and they have the Expendable Crewman, what happens?

Does this negate the Laser Pistol power (as the Expendable Crewman has no Creeper attached)
-or-
Do we discard the Creeper (attached to a different Keeper) and the Expendable Crewman?
-or-
Do we discard the Expendable Crewman only?

See this question in a video!
Our Friend The Expendable Crewman, Part 1
Our Friend The Expendable Crewman, Part 2

A: The Expendable Crewman’s powers take precedence over the Laser Pistol’s. So even though you aimed and shot the Laser Pistol at the Keeper/Creeper combo, the Expendable Crewman leapt (tripped?) into the line of fire, and was offed instead, leaving the Keeper/Creeper combo still there to be dealt with some other way. Note that in Star Trek Fluxx, Ensign Smith functions as the Expendable Crewman, and in TNG Fluxx, Tasha Yar has that power.

So, knowing this, you might choose not to even point the Laser Pistol in that direction, knowing that annoying Expendable Crewman is hanging around – but that’s up to you.

(Keep in mind that if you’re the one with the Expendable Crewman, AND the Laser Pistol or Sword, you’re free to target your own Keeper-with-Creeper, without accidentally hitting your own Expendable Crewman. If the shot is coming from within his own ship, he will dutifully follow directions, and stand aside, letting the attack go through. It’s only when outside forces threaten that he gets flustered or over-brave.)

Q: After I’ve been revealed as the Secret Cultist, can I still win on an UnGoal?

I know I lose my next turn, but is that ability still available to me?

A: You can only win with the Secret Cultist if you are playing it as an out-of-turn play. If you are forced to play it as an actual in-turn play, you take the penalty instead of the out-of-play ability. Thematically, the idea is that you’ve been exposed as the Secret Cultist and your plans are therefore ruined. They locked you up until you came to your senses (your lost turn) and you no longer worship the Ancient Ones.

Note that if you play the Secret Cultist as a counter-Surprise, it does not count as using its in-turn function, and does not “reveal” you, so you don’t take the penalty. It’s more like you were a Secret Cultist for a while, but then you got tired of hanging out with those losers, and just decided to leave on your own.

Either way, whether you’re thinking about it thematically or not, there’s no way you could retain that special status/ability. Since you can only claim your Secret Cultist win by playing it out-of-turn after the game ends with an UnGoal, you need to still have it in your hand when that happens. If you’ve already played it in any fashion, that card has been used up, and is now in the discard pile. You’re no longer the Secret Cultist. In fact, if the discard pile is reshuffled, someone else might end up with it in their hand, in which case THEY would be the (as yet unrevealed) Secret Cultist. You’re just some failed has-been wannabe Secret Cultist (or successful survivor of a dangerous cult experience!)

Q: How does the Expendable Crewman work when Exchange Keepers is played?

[In Star Trek Fluxx, Ensign Smith has the same function as the Expendable Crewman, and in Star Trek: TNG Fluxx, it’s Tasha Yar]

A: It all depends on who has the Expendable Crewman, and who played Exchange Keepers.

See this question in a video!
Our Friend The Expendable Crewman, Part 1

If the player who has the Expendable Crewman is the one who plays Exchange Keepers, they can choose to trade whatever they want. It’s only when someone else is taking a Keeper away from you that they must take/destroy the Expendable Crewman.

If, on the other hand, your opponent has the Expendable Crewman, and you play Exchange Keepers, you’ll be getting that dork in the red shirt, no matter what you’re actually coveting in your opponent’s collection.

Think of it this way: he readily obeys his own captain’s orders, but he always seems to leap forward at the last minute when a hostile force demands hostages!

Q: Please explain how Metamorphosis and Madness impair Keepers in Cthulhu Fluxx.

A: The Keepers in Cthulhu Fluxx that have special powers (meaning there is some ability which could be impaired) include:

The Dreamer (cure Nightmares anywhere on the table, whether attached or not)
The Reanimator (steal The Body, if in play)
The Socialite (steal The Poet, if in play)
The Sanitarium (cure Nightmares or Madness if attached to your Keepers)
The Elder Sign (hide, i.e. neutralize any one unattached Creeper)
The Necronomicon (move any Creeper from player to player, then put the Necronomicon back in your hand)
The Ghoul (discard The Body, if it is in front of you)
The Cultist (win if in play when The Dunwich Horror Ungoal causes everyone else to lose)

Here is a flavor-text interpretation:

Regarding Madness (which only affects Investigators)
The Dreamer, Reanimator and Socialite can’t do any of that nifty stuff they do if they have gone Insane. Easy. Remember that Nightmares, however, don’t impair the Keeper, so The Dreamer can still get rid of them, even if he’s the one who has them.

Regarding Metamorphosis (which can attach to ANY Keeper)
If a Keeper starts to Metamorphose, it just can’t function the way it should. A Metamorphosed Sanitarium probably isn’t going to cure your Madness or your Nightmares (in fact, it will probably make them worse) and neither will a Metamorphosed Dreamer. The Socialite just isn’t going to be particularly attractive to The Poet once she starts turning into a frog-person.

There are some other theming issues that are raised with Metamorphosis, however, because it is so far-reaching (attaches to any Keeper).

For example, does it really make sense that Wilbur Whately wouldn’t win if The Dunwich Horror occurred, just because he was Metamorphosed? I thought a main quality of this personage was that he was pretty darn metamorphosed to begin with. Also, somehow I thought a Metamorphosed Ghoul would still eat Dead Bodies.

I consulted Andy on this, however, and he had to conclude that, while it does not necessarily make the best thematic sense, the rule with regards to gameplay, is quite clear: those special abilities are lost if that Keeper is Metamorphosed. Maybe they start morphing into something NICER than they were before!

Ghoul: “My tummy feels funny! That Dead Body just doesn’t look that appetizing anymore…”

Wilbur: “OMG where are my abdominal tentacles?! Dad’s* totally not going to recognize me without them! I am SO toast…”

* For those less familiar with The Dunwich Horror, Wilbur Whately is the abomination of a son resulting from a human woman bearing the child of an Elder God. Wilbur is trying to summon his father, Yog Sothoth, to the Earthly plane.

Q: If the Federal Agents have Metamorphosis attached, can they use their power to get rid of it?

A: Metamorphosis (and Madness) specifically state that any special powers of the Keeper they are attached to are nullified, so the Feds cannot “cure themselves” of either one. Note that in order to use their special power, you sacrifice the Feds Keeper, so in this case, it makes them seem oddly sane that they don’t want to kill themselves even when they go Mad or start to Metamorphose.

Nightmares, on the other hand, while they do attach, do not impair the Keeper, so the Feds could “kill themselves” to “cure” themselves of Nightmares. This would be perfectly effective, gameplay-wise, though it does seem a bit drastic, thematically:

“Agent Jones is having terrible nightmares, Sir!”
“Well, clearly, the only way to solve this case is to kill him, even if it means taking some casualties ourselves….”
“I’ll assemble a team, Sir!”

Q: If I already have Germs, and acquire the Space Suit, can I immediately get rid of Germs?

A: If you already have Germs when you play the Space Suit, then it’s too late for the Suit to protect you from the Germs – they’re already in your system. In that case you just have to wait for enough time to pass for you to be able to give the Germs away. After that of course, you can’t be given the Germs again, because then the Space Suit will keep the Germs out.

Q: How does The Catapult work?

When you play this card, must you use its power immediately?
Does that action count as a play?
Does the action happen every time it is your turn or just once and that’s it?

A: The text says “If you have this on the table, once per turn you may move another of your Keepers to another player, then discard one of that player’s Keepers.”

Keepers or other cards with powers that let you do extra stuff on your turn are optional Free Actions you can take at any time once during your turn. It is not required, and it does not count as a play. “Once per turn” means you may do it once, each time your turn comes around.

So yes, you could choose to take this action immediately on the same turn that you lay it on the table, but as the word “may” indicates, it’s not required. You can choose to use it each time your turn rolls around – or you could choose not to.

Think of this action as the Catapult flinging one of your Keepers (like, say, a Cow) onto someone else’s collection of Keepers, landing there, and squishing something (like, for example, a Trojan Rabbit).

Q: How does Crazy Joe work in ÜberChrononauts?

A: In regular Chrononauts, the game ends immediately if the Universe is destroyed, with everyone losing – unless Crazy Joe was in the game, in which case he wins. However, in UberChrononauts, the game wouldn’t be able to continue if Crazy Joe meets his goal, and since the UberGoal requires you to accomplish more than just your character’s conditions, the universe needs to be kept from collapsing in order for the game to work.

Fortunately, there’s this special team of Time Police agents, who have been pursuing Crazy Joe across the timestream for eons, who will suddenly show up to solve this problem if it occurs.

Here’s what happens: Crazy Joe is credited with having destroyed the Universe, which teeters on the brink of destruction but doesn’t actually collapse. (The player keeps the ID card face up on the table thereafter, indicating that this part of the UberGoal is complete.) Then the Time Police rule described below is used to put the TimeLine back in order enough for the game to continue. (And while they’re busy keeping Time intact, Crazy Joe gets away scot-free! Laughing maniacally, of course.)

The Time Police Rule:
If the Universe is on the brink of destruction, and it would be awkward for the game to end without an actual winner, a special team of Time Police agents will suddenly step in to save the universe. This is done by giving all players an imaginary Restore History card, which each player must immediately use in turn on the Red Linchpin of their choice. After everyone has done their share of repair work, the Time Police will vanish and the game continues as usual with the next player. But the Time Police will not return. If the Universe is destroyed a second time, it really does get destroyed, and all players are considered losers.

Q: Can someone Memo a Memo?

i.e. can you stop someone playing a “Memo to Your Future Self” by playing a Memo or using the Cake card’s Memo ability?

A: Yes, a Memo can indeed be used to stop another Memo. And it’s mighty satisfying when you do! This also applies to the similar cards found in the Back To The Future card game.

“Looks like I Got There First to your dinosaur trap, and captured that Stegosaurus you thought you had.”

“Oh no you didn’t, because I sent a Memo to myself, telling me that you’d get there before me, so I got there 15 minutes before you, so actually, I still have Steggy.”

“Oh yeah? Well I sent myself a Memo telling me that you were going to get there 15 minutes before I got there before you, so I got there 15 minutes before you got there 15 minutes before me getting there before you, so actually, the dino is mine…”

Q: Why don’t Brain Parasites impair the Keeper? And if they don’t impair, why can’t the Doctor cure himself?

A: No. Brain Parasites don’t inhibit their host Keeper’s power, but in the case of the Doctor, he cannot treat himself. As the card says, he can only discard Brain Parasites if attached to one of your other cards.” Of course, if you have the promo card The Android Doctor, then he can cure the Doctor of Brain Parasites, and vice versa (the Doctor could cure the Robo-Doc). Like the Doctor himself, however, the Robo-Doc can’t cure himself either.

Here’s the full thematic explanation of why Brain Parasites don’t inhibit Keepers’ abilities, but they DO keep the Doctor from healing himself:

The reason is not due to the fact that he’s lost his curative powers. If you have Brain Parasites, then your every action will be subject to the whims of these aliens who have invaded your head. The Brain Parasites might WANT the Engineer to repair that computer. They might WANT the Captain to steal the Scientist. After all, they don’t want to do stuff that’s bad for their host, right?

But it simply doesn’t make sense for them to ever allow the Doctor to use his curative powers to evict themselves from his own cozy cranium. In fact, if there were multiple Brain Parasite Creepers in the game, the Brain Parasites would, logically, bar the Doc from curing anyone of Brain Parasites (which would effectively nullify the Doctor, since in this game that’s apparently the only curable disease in known space.)

PS: The real question in my mind is why the Brain Parasites don’t nullify the powers of The Expendable Crewman, since his “power” is that he frequently gets himself kidnapped or killed. Kidnapped is fine… I can totally imagine a scenario where the Brain Parasite might want it’s host to get stolen and taken to another ship (“Oh goody, we shall spread to a whole new crew!”). But one of the possible (though perhaps drastic) ways to get rid of an attaching Creeper is to destroy the host Keeper, and the Expendable Crewman’s power is to somehow step into the line of fire, even when he’s not the intended target. Maybe the “power” of the Expendable Crewman is just so strong that even having his mind controlled by an alien being can’t keep him from being a hot-headed klutz.

Q: Does Evil cause the Keeper that it’s attached to not to work?

A: No. (If that were the case, the card would say so.)

Thematically, it actually works quite well, sometimes BETTER if the Keeper is Evil. I think if you were using the Dark Side of the Unseen Force you’d be even more likely to mess with people’s heads. If you were a Bad Guy Space Captain it would totally be in character for you to shanghai other people’s Crew Members. And just because you’re an Evil Engineer doesn’t mean you can’t fix that Malfunctioning Robot – I mean, it might be your Killer Death Robot! You could be an Evil Doctor seeking to eradicate the peaceful Brain Parasite species. See, it totally works.

Evil also occurs in Fantasy Fluxx, where it is the only Attaching Creeper. Again, there’s no reason why it should cause anything to not work. The Magic Wand still turns any non-magical being into a Spellcaster, whether Evil is attached to the Person or the Wand, it makes no difference. There really aren’t any thematic reasons it should impair the Keeper either: there are plenty of Evil Spellcasters in the literature, evil Magic Rings (the most famous one does, in fact, turn one invisible, no less!) Evil Dragons, Evil Pirates, and so forth. Sadly, Evil is versatile, and seems to “work” with everything…