Pirate Fluxx FAQ

Also be sure to check out All Fluxx FAQ for more general questions. If you don’t see your question answered among these, please email us at:
FAQ@looneylabs.com

Q: If my play is canceled by a Surprise, do I get to take a different play instead?

A: When someone counters your Play with a Surprise, no, you do not get to choose a different card to play. That play was canceled.

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Q: Does using a special ability listed on a Keeper or Creeper count as a Play?

A: No, using any special powers or abilities listed on Keepers or Creepers does not use up one of your plays for your turn.

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Q: If I choose to Get on With It or Swap Plays for Draws, and I end up getting Creepers when I draw, can I still use Free Actions or Keeper powers to get rid of them?

A: Well you can… just not until your next turn.

When a player chooses to take either of these Free Actions, the effect is simultaneous with their turn ending immediately. Most notably, this means that if you draw any Creepers with your draws from Swap Plays or Get On With It, you’re stuck with them until your next turn, even if there are conditions which allow you to trash or give them away on your turn. Your turn ended immediately with the draw, so that window is over.

For more info on when you can do what during a Fluxx turn, see the link at the bottom of the right sidebar: Order of Events in a Fluxx Turn

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Q: Do face-down Keepers still count towards Keeper Limits? What about Keepers hidden under another Keeper?

…for example a Keeper turned face down via Camouflage or, in very early versions, Government Cover-Up or Secret Data.

A: Yes, you must count face-down Keepers when you are counting your Keepers in play. Though they do not count as “in play” for purposes of using powers or winning Goals (though you can usually reveal them at any time) you still own them as generic “Keepers” for the purposes of Limits.

If you have a number of Keepers hidden under another card, however, as with the Treasure Map in Pirate Fluxx (or the Secret Stash, a Stoner Fluxx promo), those are all counted as just “one Keeper” (the one Keeper showing on the top of the other card/s).

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Q: If I’m drawing multiple cards on my turn, and I draw a Creeper that makes me win, do I have to finish drawing the rest of the cards for my turn?

A: Yes, you must finish drawing the rest of your cards for your turn – you might draw another Creeper which would prevent your win. You must accept any and ALL Creepers acquired during your initial Draw phase before assessing win conditions.

Consider the initial Draw phase to be all one simultaneous thing. Think of it this way: not everyone draws one… card… at… a… time. Some grab the total number for the Draw, add them to their hand, then deal with Creepers at that time, putting them immediately into play, and drawing to replace. Differences in draw style should not affect the outcome of the game.

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Q: If I have a Creeper needed to win, and I also have other Creepers not mentioned on the Goal, can I win?

A: No, you cannot. In most cases, if you have a Creeper not mentioned on the Goal you are trying to win with, then it prevents you from winning.

The exception could be considered to be Batman Fluxx, where, if you are winning with ANY Goal which requires a specific Villain (the Creepers of the Batman version) then no Villain prevents your win. You are considered to be “on the side of the bad guys” for that win. Batman Fluxx is also an exception in that, if the Goal does NOT require a Villain, then Villains ANYWHERE (in front of ANY player) will prevent the win.

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Q: Are Keeper/Creeper powers that say “On your turn…” only able to be used once when you first put the Keeper in play, or on every turn?

A: “On your turn” means every time your turn comes around (assuming favorable conditions apply).

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Q: If I decide to use Swap Plays For Draws, or Get On With It, and I draw Creepers during the execution of that option, can I ditch them immediately if conditions allow it?

…For example, in Stoner Fluxx, the Mooch can be given away to another player who has Weed, or Munchies can be trashed by “eating” any food Keeper on the table.

A: Unfortunately, no, you’re stuck with those. The Free Action associated with those New Rules is considered to be simultaneous with your turn ending immediately, which means that Creeper giveaways or discards which can only happen on your turn cannot be executed, even if conditions allow it.

Creepers with potentially immediate “on your turn” disposal include:

Shackles (Pirate Fluxx): On your turn, you can discard this along with one of your Booty Keepers in play (yes, it has to be yours).
Mooch (Stoner Fluxx: On your turn, you can give this away to another player who has Weed in play.
Munchies (Stoner Fluxx): On your turn, you can discard this by discarding ANY Food Keeper in play (yes, you can discard someone else’s Food).
Hangover (Drinking Fluxx): During your turn, you can give this away to anyone who has more Drink Keepers in play than you.
Party Foul (Drinking Fluxx): During your turn, you can discard this if you also discard one of your Drink Keepers in play (yes, it has to be yours).
The Master (Doctor Who Fluxx): During your turn, you can give this to anyone with the Doctor.
Dalek (Doctor Who Fluxx): During your turn, you can discard both this and any Doctor in play.
Weeping Angel (Doctor Who Fluxx): During your turn, you can give this to any player with the TARDIS.

Note that the following Creeper situations are instantaneous and do NOT depend on it being your turn:

Taxes (4.0 or Creeper Pack): If you have Money on the table, discard both that and this.
Drought (Eco/Nature Fluxx): Discard this if either Flood or Water is anywhere in play.
Zombie Repellent (Zombie Fluxx): This Keeper prevents you from ever having Zombies, deflecting them immediately away to another player.

There are several other Creepers which can only be discarded if you’ve had them since your last turn, or have them at the beginning of your turn, so this question will obviously not apply to those as well.

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Q: If my opponent has a Keeper in play which says “On your turn you may…” can I use that power on my turn, since it doesn’t specify who “you” are?

A: No. In order to use the powers of a Keeper or Creeper in play, it must be in your possession. “You/your” in this case refers to the owner of the card only.

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Q: Is there a penalty for failing to call the player with the Captain’s Hat by the proper title of Captain?

A: No. But keep in mind that it might give that player a reason to make you Walk the Plank, or be given the Shackles…

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Q: When a player is allowed multiple plays on their turn, are there any guidelines for timing between plays?

A: TLDR: Officially, no… BUT, when playing in any of our games which include interrupt cards which cancel a previous play (Surprise, Memo From Your Future Self, Stop Time) it’s good practice to play a little slower if you happen to be executing multiple plays, so that your opponents have plenty of time to play one of these cards, should they so desire.

Deliberately playing super-fast, “shotgunning” as one fan put it, is just rude, and, rather than avoiding arguments about interrupts, actually ends up causing them. So if you have someone who insists upon playing that way, feel free to implement a requirement of a full one-hippopotamus silent count between card plays. We think those worried about their second-to-last winning play being foiled by an interrupt will find that others are not as psychic as they feared. Read on…

So here’s a typical Surprise situation, which can cause a bit of controversy:

I recently won when the rules called for Play 2. I played my first card, a Keeper, and then a moment later I played a Goal card that caused me to win. My opponent then showed me that he had the Surprise card in his hand that could have stopped me from playing the Keeper, and we had a brief discussion about whether I should have left him more time to consider playing it.

In my opponent’s defense, I didn’t leave him much time to play his Surprise card that would have allowed him to take my Keeper for himself. In my defense, he didn’t really have any reason to play the Surprise card and take the Keeper – until he saw that my next play was the winning Goal.

So… are there guidelines on timing between playing consecutive cards?

Slapping them down so quickly that no one has a chance to do anything doesn’t seem entirely fair – but it also doesn’t seem strategic after playing a card to wait and look around at other players to see if they have any game response before playing the next card.

(Related question: A player doesn’t have to “announce” or “report” their play out loud, right? They can just play their cards and if other players aren’t paying attention, that’s the fault of the other players? We all want to have good sportsmanship, but you know how games can sometimes get, in terms of either other players not paying attention, or in terms of being very competitive!)

Here’s our response:
While we don’t have any official guidelines about exact timing of card plays, We recommend a slight pause between a two-card play like this when the active player knows it’s going to make them win. It’s rarely the case that the person with the Keeper-stopper will intuitively know that the necessary Goal is coming… until it gets there (or vice-versa: if they had the Goal-stopper, and you’d decided to play the Keeper last, they couldn’t know you’d have the winning Keeper to play after the innocuous Goal), so playing slow is often to your advantage, as the player who’s about to win.

In fact, playing casually, even pretending you don’t know what you want to play next, can be a great move. Playing slowly enough to allow a possible Surprise doesn’t have to mean broadcasting your impending win. (For example, looking significantly around the table as if expecting a challenge). Of course, announcing your your play is in no way required, but could even be part of your nonchalant act, depending on how you do it. (“Hmm… Well, there’s this Small Moon… and… let’s see… That’s No Moon, for the win!”)

That said, one often doesn’t have the presence of mind to think about deliberately hesitating. In real life, you’re usually just taking your play, and winning, at regular game speed.

Here is where the question is really about what your opponent was thinking, and they have to be honest about it: did it only occur to them to play the Surprise after you’d played the winning Goal? If you’d just accidentally played the Goal first, and then the Keeper, their Keeper-canceling Surprise would have gone through and prevented your win. But just as they couldn’t know your next play would be the end of the game, you couldn’t know they had a Surprise. For all you knew, they had the Goal-stopping Surprise, and it’s just chance which order you chose to play those two cards in. It’s not as though you deliberately played in such a way as to deliberately thwart a Surprise on your first play.

The thing to point out here is that, had you stopped playing after the Keeper, would it even have occurred to them to use the Surprise? Probably not, if they’re being honest. It’s extremely rare that one’s opponent is prescient or observant enough to realize that this play might be your second-to-last. People rarely want to squander a Surprise on the off-chance that your next play will be the winning one*. In the kind of situation you describe, the Surprise-having player usually just shrugs, and says “Darn! I had [the Surprise that would have prevented your second-to-last play], and I could have stopped that play, but it’s too late now… Oh well. Let’s deal again…”

Because, in the end, if they didn’t get that Surprise in after the applicable card, that’s the way it goes, and that’s the official ruling if people get – ahem – unruly.

*I mean, imagine it. If they’d canceled your Keeper before you’d played the winning Goal, your best reaction is probably simply to shrug as if mildly confused by such a powerful play, apparently for nothing, and make them feel like they just wasted their Surprise on a random Keeper play… heh heh. You don’t have to let them know they totally blocked your win. Meanwhile… you don’t have to get upset about missing that chance… it’s just Fluxx, and victory is snatched away at all the time in the course of any given game – usually completely by accident. Or you can let them know their spidey-senses were working, or congratulate them on how observant they are. It’s up to you.

Now let’s return to that “shotgunning” player who’s deliberately playing quickly so that nobody can slip a Surprise in on that penultimate play… It is, as the fan above pointed out, not entirely fair, and, moreover, it invites the argument “But you didn’t leave me enough time to play my Surprise!” If, on the other hand they had played it slowly, as described above, their opponent has no excuse to challenge the win, on the claim that they “were going to play a Surprise.” The opponent had plenty of time, but in the vast majority of cases, they won’t play the Surprise, because they have no idea what’s coming next. That’s part of the beauty of Fluxx!

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Q: When I play a Keeper with a power or special ability, must that be invoked immediately?

A: No, you don’t HAVE to use it immediately. You MAY use it immediately if you want to, however.

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Q: When I use a free power on a Keeper (or Creeper), is the Keeper destroyed?

A: Keeper powers do not usually destroy or take the Keeper out of play to use them – unless they specifically say they do.

A couple say you’ll have to pick the Keeper up and put it back in your hand when you use its power, and one or two say to insert the Keeper into the middle of the draw pile. Only a couple will cause destruction of the Keeper being used. In any case those requirements will all be specified on the Keeper in question.

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Q: Does Double Agenda include the playing of a second Goal as part of it’s effect?

…Double Agenda says “A second Goal can now be played…” The person I was playing with thought this meant they automatically got to put a second Goal down as part of the Double Agenda play.

A: Double Agenda allows there to be two Goals at the same time, but playing a second Goal (or even first if you’re really early in the game!) still uses up one of your plays for your turn.

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Q: How do I handle Creepers which are dealt to me at the beginning of the game?

A: Some versions of the rules deal with this explicitly, and some don’t, so we’re answering this here in the FAQ, just in case there is any confusion.

Creepers may not be held in your hand, so if you get a Creeper as part of your dealt hand, you put it on the table in front of you (play it pre-game, essentially) and draw to replace. If it’s another Creeper, continue until you have a starting hand containing zero Creepers.

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Q: Can the Captain be made to Walk The Plank?

A: Well, if the Captain’s Hat is in play (i.e. if there is a player designated the Captain) then that person is the one who gets to decide who Walks The Plank, so the only way the Captain could be made to Walk The Plank is if they voluntarily walk off it themselves, essentially.

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Q: What happens if I play an Action that causes my turn to end immediately in the middle of Draw 3 Play 2 or Draw 2 & Use Em (or Fizzbin, or Goal Bonanza)?

…Since these cards are all played as part of a single play, would the player get to finish playing them out, or would their turn just stop? And if it just stopped, what would happen to any unplayed cards? We’ve been letting the player keep them.

A: The clear answer is that if you decide to play one of these turn-ending Actions, your turn would end immediately, and you would not get to continue playing cards from your temporary mini-hand (in other words, no, you would not get to finish playing D3P2/D2UE.

Of course, in the case of Fizzbin, you don’t get a choice as to the order of cards played, but that card most closely resembles D3P2/D2UE, since you set your main hand aside, and are working from a temporary hand of extra cards to execute the Fizzbin.

Using the optional Free Action Rule Goal Bonanza also creates a sub-hand with your main hand set aside. While it’s not in any decks with turn-ending Actions, it’s in the More Packs, which could be added to any deck, including those with turn-ending Actions.

However, there is NO way that any remaining cards would go back into your set-aside hand. They are never intended to go into your actual hand at all, as indicated by the requirement to set your hand aside. Any cards left unplayed when you played the turn-ending card are discarded. If you wanted to play them, you should have done it before the turn-ending card.

Brain Transference: Discard remaining cards in your temporary hand and trade places with the player of your choice. Turn ends.
Time Portal: Choose a card as described and add to your set-aside hand. Discard remaining cards in your temporary hand. Turn ends.
What Do You Want: If you choose to take a Keeper or Goal out of the discard, it goes into your set aside hand. Discard remaining cards in your temporary hand. Turn ends.
I’ll Be In My Bunk or I’ll Be Right Back: This card does not specifically say that your turn ends immediately, but you certainly can’t continue your turn if you “Excuse yourself from the game and leave the room for a few minutes.” Discard any cards remaining in your temporary hand. Leave the room.

Swap Plays For Draws and Get On With It, while they do involve having your turn end immediately, are New Rules, not Actions, so, as you can see from this answer, things would work a bit differently:
See: Can you Get On With It or Swap Plays For Draws with your cards from an Action like Draw 3 Play 2?

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Q: Does countering a Surprise on my turn count as one of my plays? Can I also use it for the in-turn function if I do this?

A: If you are the active player, counter-Surprising does not use up one of your total plays for the turn. By the same token, however, this means you cannot use the Surprise for it’s function which would use a play. To wit:

You can only use a Surprise to do one of three things:

1) use it on your turn as a play, for it’s in-turn function
OR
2) Use it to Surprise another player,
2a) on another player’s turn to cancel a play
OR
2b) on your turn to counter their interruption of your own play (“counter-Surprise”)

You cannot do more than one of those things.

So if you’re using it to counter-Surprise on your turn (2b), you can’t also use it as one of your plays for it’s “in-turn” function (1).

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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.

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Q: We’re confused about how many extra cards we get to draw with Cartoon Talk under different circumstances.

A: This card is similar to some other cards we have, like Talk Like A Martian (promo for Martian Fluxx), Outrageous Accent (in Monty Python Fluxx), or Talk Like A Pirate (Pirate Fluxx). All of them work in the following way, to reward which ever kind of out-of-the-ordinary speech they describe.

On the first turn this card is in play for you, if you talk like a cartoon character, you can draw 1 extra card.

If you drop character and start talking like your normal self while everyone else takes their turn, then talk like a cartoon character again on your next turn, you get the same bonus as before: 1 extra card draw.

If, on the other hand, you talk like a cartoon character the entire time in between your turns (or don’t talk at all), then when your next turn comes around, you get to draw 2 extra cards when you talk like a cartoon character on your turn again.

Basically, if you stay in character in between turns, then you get the 2 card bonus if you keep it up on subsequent turns. If you stop talking like a cartoon character between turns, then talk like a cartoon character on your next turn, you get to draw 1 extra card.

Like all New Rule cards, it just stays out until it is trashed for some reason.

Just ask yourself when it gets to your turn:
Am I talking like a cartoon character now?
yes? = draw an extra card.
Did I talk like a cartoon character on my last turn, and keep it up until this turn rolled around so I’m still talking like a cartoon character?
yes? = draw a second extra card.

The maximum number of extra cards you will draw because of this Rule is 2.

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Q: Are there any Surprises that can stop an act of Plundering?

A: No, none of the regular four Surprises can stop you from being Plundered, though you could stop someone from playing the Plunder Rule initially with Avast! (Veto!) you couldn’t do anything about it once it’s been in play for a while. Note that Plunder analogues include City of Thieves (Fantasy Fluxx, Adventure Time Fluxx), Crime Happens (Batman Fluxx), and Acquisition (Star Trek: TNG Fluxx, DS9 Fluxx).

There is, however a pirate-themed promo card we produced called Skullduggery, which does exactly that: it can stop a Plunder.

See also: Can you use the Skullduggery promo…

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Q: It seems like Get On With It or Swap Plays for Draws would contradict Play All. Would putting either of these into play cause Play All to be discarded?

A: No. The instructions on Get On With It (or Swap Plays for Draws) only temporarily override the instructions on Play All and only on the turn of the player using it. Since choosing to use one of these is optional, simply putting either of them into play doesn’t contradict Play All, so you wouldn’t discard Play All just because you played one of them (nor vice versa!)

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Q: When we draw a Creeper, put it into play, and then “draw another card to replace it,” does that card replace the Creeper, discarding it?

A: It’s true, the Creeper card does say “immediately draw another card to replace it” but this doesn’t mean you replace the Creeper on the table, discarding it. This means “replace the Creeper in the number of cards you drew.” If you needed to draw 3 cards, and you drew them and one of them was a Creeper, you play the Creeper and draw another card, because that Creeper doesn’t count as one of the 3 cards you needed to draw (neither does it count against the number of cards you get to Play on your turn), so you have only drawn 2 cards, so you still need to draw a third.

You’re not replacing the Creeper from it’s place “in play” (i.e. on the table). You’re just replacing the card “lost” as part of your draw count because it was a Creeper. The idea is that Creepers go into play automatically, whether you want them to or not. They’re usually a problem for you, and you have to work to get rid of them (though sometimes you need them for Goals, otherwise, they hinder you).

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Q: What cards have effects that include ending my turn immediately if I play/use them?

A: Cards (Actions) that end your turn immediately if you play them:

Brain Transference: Star Fluxx
Clean Cup!: Wonderland Fluxx
Time Portal: Star Fluxx, Doctor Who Fluxx, TNG Fluxx, Voyager Fluxx,
What Do You Want?: Star Fluxx, Oz Fluxx, Doctor Who Fluxx
I’ll Be In My Bunk: Firefly Fluxx
I’ll Be Right Back: Fluxx Remixx
(These last two cards don’t specifically say that your turn ends immediately, but you certainly can’t continue your turn if you “Excuse yourself from the game and leave the room for a few minutes.”)

Cards (Rules) that end your turn immediately if/when you execute them, but not when you play them:

Swap Plays for Draws
Get On With it
Play All +1 (not optional, but see below)

Free Action Rules are optional, so you could choose not to use one that will end your turn immediately. While Play All +1 is not optional, you have some options about when you choose to take that final +1.

Also see:

Also see: Order of events in a Fluxx turn

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Q: Can the Stop That! Surprise counter the “free action” provided by some Rules or Keepers?

A: Those are not considered “Actions” in the sense that they are not Action cards, and Stop That (or Belay That) is intended to cancel out Action cards specifically. Nor will Veto! which cancels Rules stop this type of free action.

More broadly worded Surprises might prevent some of these, however. For example, Skullduggery is designed so that it can prevent Plundering (among other things), which is a “free action” on a Rule. It’s A Trap and You Can’t Take This Guy From Me are designed so that they can prevent special Keeper actions that let someone steal one of your Keepers.

There might be some confusion on Let’s Keep Doing That, since there is an Action card permanently in play, but it is intended to act as if it were a New Rule, so we would rule that it’s no longer stoppable by the Stop That! Anti-Action Surprise.

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Q: Can a Surprise be used to cancel a Hand Limit on your own turn?

…Example:
Player A plays a Hand Limit
Player B and C discard down to the hand limit
Player A plays Veto to cancel the Hand Limit for themselves.

Is this allowed?

A: Well, it all depends how Player A was trying to play the Veto. Every Surprise has two different instructions on it. One for when you’re using it to interrupt someone else’s play, and one for if you play it out of your own hand as a regular card on your turn.

First case (the out-of-turn function):

If Player A was trying to use the out-of-turn function to cancel the play of their own card, that’s not allowed. It’s their turn, so they can only use the in-turn function. See also: Can one ever use the out-of-turn function of a Surprise on their own turn?

Note that even if it were another person playing out-of-turn to cancel the card (let’s call them Player D) the Surprise should be played immediately after the card one wants to cancel: in the case of a Hand Limit, that would ideally be before anyone has discarded anything.

Moreover, even if everyone decided to cut imaginary Player D some slack about the timing, and they did let Player D play the Veto after some people had discarded, canceling the Rule would “prevent it from ever taking effect” and everyone would get to take all their cards back as though the Hand Limit had never been played. Long story short: you can’t Veto a rule just for you. The Rule applies to everyone, so when you Veto it, it’s Vetoed for everyone.

Second case (the in-turn function):

If Player A still had a play left on their turn after playing the Hand Limit, they could simply play the Veto for its in-turn function. What it does in this case is let them “discard [their] choice of up to 2 New Rules currently in play”. The Rules discarded don’t even have to be ones that were recently played.

In this case, those rules are not being “canceled” without ever having taken effect, they’re just being discarded. The Rules were played, they took effect for as long as they were in play, and then they were discarded. So if Player A did that, they could simply trash the Hand Limit before their turn ends, thereby avoiding having to discard down at all. Of course, this uses up one of their plays for their turn.

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Q: If someone plays Trade Hands with me, and I have some Surprises (other than Stop That, which could prevent the trade) can I use them up with no effect, just so I don’t have to give them to the other player?

A: No. Surprises can only be played for an out-of-turn effect when there is an effect to be had. You can’t just play a Surprise for no effect just to burn it.

When used for their in-turn effect, of course, they behave much the same way as Actions, and, as such, may or may not have an effect.

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Q: The Treasure Map says I can reveal my Booty at any time. Does that mean I can reveal it when someone steals my Map, so that they don’t get the Booty?

A: The bottom of the Treasure Map card says “This card cannot be Plundered, but if it is lost or stolen, the Booty goes with it.” This indicates specifically that you CANNOT save your hidden Booty if the Map is stolen. Being able to “reveal [Booty] at any time” does not include retroactively deciding to have already dug up your treasure when you realize that someone is about to take possession of the map.

Once someone plays Steal A Keeper, the transfer of ownership is considered to take place instantaneously; there’s no time in between playing that card and them owning your Map during which you could reveal those cards. The only thing you might do after Steal A Keeper is played is play the Surprise that prevents Actions. Surprises are the only cards intended to interrupt or retroactively prevent what is normally an instantaneous effect.

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Q: What happens to the two Goals when Double Agenda is trashed?

A: Whoever caused it to go away gets to choose which Goal stays in play, and which gets trashed.

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Q: If multiple Surprises are canceled by each other, how do you figure out what happens in the end?

Example:
Player A uses That’s Mine for its in-turn function to steal a Keeper from Player B
Player B uses It’s A Trap! to cancel the steal, and instead steal from Player A
Player A uses Canceled plans to cancel It’s A Trap, since Surprises can cancel Surprises.

Does the original steal go through? Player B argued that there was no steal in either direction, as both That’s Mine and It’s A Trap had been canceled by subsequent Surprises.

A: The short answer is that That’s Mine is carried out for it’s in-turn function for the Keeper steal.

The long answer:

  • That’s Mine is played in turn: Keeper is stolen
  • It’s A Trap is played out of turn by victim: That’s Mine is negated and the Keeper steal is reversed
  • Cancelled plans negates It’s a Trap, which had previously been reversing the Keeper steal and negating That’s Mine. This leaves That’s Mine un-negated to steal the Keeper as originally played

It’s not that cards just get put on the discard pile, covered and they’re gone. Think of each card as going into a “being played” area only into the discard pile when they are done being used, or when negated for good. There was sort of a little wrestling match out there in the “being played” area between all the Surprises, and It’s A Trap lost.

Here is a generic version of what a battle like this could look like. It can continue until you run out of Surprises. Keep in mind that it’s totally possible and allowed for some other player, for example, Player C, to jump in on either side, potentially confusing the toggle state of the original play. If things come to this, it may be very important to keep track of the original play being canceled, perhaps putting it in the middle and flipping it over to indicate which state it is in: effective, vs canceled.

  • A plays some card X.
  • B plays Surprise 1, canceling X.
  • A cancels surprise 1 with Surprise 2, so X is in effect again.
  • B cancels surprise 2 with Surprise 3, so Surprise 1 goes through, and X is canceled again.

and so forth. If there were more, it would look like this:

  • A cancels surprise 3 with Surprise 4, so Surprise 2 goes through, canceling Surprise 1, so X happens.
  • B cancels surprise 4 with Surprise 5, so Surprise 3 goes through, canceling Surprise 2, so Surprise 1 is in effect again, so X is canceled.

So far, the maximum number of Surprises in a version is 6, in Batman Fluxx, but here’s the page where we would update that info:
Complexity Factors for Fluxx editions

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Q: If a Goal requires something + either of two Creepers. Can I win if I have both Creepers?

A: Our call would be that you could win if you have both, since both are mentioned on the same Goal, and the rule regarding winning with Creepers is that it’s possible if the Goal specifically requires that Creeper. Another way to think of it is that it’s not an “exclusive or” (XOR) it is an “inclusive or” (and/or). An exclusive or would mean one or the other, but not both, whereas an inclusive or means one or the other or both.

This is true for any Goal which requires any subset of a group of Creepers. If the Creeper is shown on the Goal, it will not prevent the win, but if the person in question has any Creepers NOT shown on the Goal they’re trying to win with, then those excess unrelated Creepers will prevent the win.

It would be difficult to find all of them to list them here, but we will tag various applicable Goals as they are brought to our attention.
Terrifying Inspiration (Cthulhu Fluxx)
Q Who (Star Trek TNG Fluxx)

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Q: Can Skullduggery be used to stop Mutiny?

A: Yes. All of the various ways the Captain’s Hat might move around in a Mutiny would be considered changes of Keeper ownership.

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Q: Can Skullduggery be used to stop someone from discarding a booty Keeper to get rid of Shackles?

A: Yes. That player would not be allowed to use that Keeper for that reason until their next turn. However, they could immediately discard any other Booty Keeper they have to gain freedom.

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Q: If a card says I can’t Plunder from someone, can I still use Steal A Keeper to take something?

A: Plundering is different from Stealing a Keeper (or Exchanging it, or Mixing It All Up, etc…). Protection from the Plunder rule does not provide protection from someone using some other card to take your Keepers.

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Q: If I have the Treasure Map in play, can I “bury” treasure directly from my hand without having to “play” it?

A: No. You can only “bury” treasure you have in play on the table. If it’s in your hand, you’ll have to use one of your plays to put it on the table before you can hide it under the Treasure Map.

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Q: When Share The Wealth is played in Pirate Fluxx, does treasure buried under the Treasure Map get mixed in?

A: Yes, all the cards are simply mixed together – it is not necessary to keep the treasure “buried”. Whoever gets the treasure map back after the mixup could choose “bury” any booty keepers he also received, once all the cards were all allocated, of course.

Naturally, if you feel it would be more thematic NOT to dig up your treasure to have it mixed up with the rest, you can institute a house rule whereby you set those cards aside, and give them to whoever gets the treasure map after the mixup. Just remember, as for all house rules, to make sure everyone understands the way you’ll be playing before you start the game. This prevents mid-game arguments.

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Q: Does the Captain’s Hat protect me from being Plundered, like the Cutlass or Pistol?

A: The short answer is yes, you can’t Plunder the Captain’s Hat itself, but you can Plunder anything else from the Captain (unless he has the Cutlass or the Pistol).

Think of it this way: while the Captain outranks the owners of both the Cutlass and Pistol when Plundering from them, it is not, in fact a weapon which protects the Captain’s own Keepers.

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Q: Does it use up one of my plays to use Limes or Oranges to get rid of Scurvy?

A: No. It does not use up one of your plays to use Limes or Oranges to get rid of Scurvy. It might cost you a Play to put the Limes or Oranges on the table if you don’t already have them in play, of course…

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Q: Can you Get On With It or Swap Plays For Draws with your cards from an Action like Draw 3 Play 2?

A: You could certainly put either of these New Rules (Get On With It, or Swap Plays For Draws) into play as part of an Action like Draw 3 Play 2 of them (D3P2) or Draw 2 and Use Em (D2UE), or Fizzbin (or your cards drawn via the Rule Goal Bonanza) but you could not utilize their functions while in the middle of executing one of these cards. While all four of these Actions/Free Actions do give you a sort of temporary hand, you can’t substitute it for your real hand to “discard and draw back up to 3”, for example.

You would either need to invoke Get On With It! before the Free/Action with the temporary hand is played or after. The Playing of D3P2/D2UE/Fizzbin/Goal Bonanza, and all actions as a result of it are considered 1 “Play”.

See also: What happens if I play and Action that causes my turn to end immediately in the middle of Draw 3 Play 2 or Draw 2 & Use Em (or Fizzbin, or Goal Bonanza)?

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Q: If a card says “Your turn ends immediately,” but Play All is in effect, which takes precedence?

A: When you play an Action or use a New Rule card says “your turn ends immediately” it means it’s specifically overriding any Play rule that might otherwise require you to keep playing cards on this turn. You also end any option you may have to use Keeper powers or “Free Action” Rules. If it says “your turn ends immediately” then your turn ends immediately – so make sure you’re all done with stuff before you play/use one of these cards!

See: Q: What cards have effects that include ending my turn immediately if I play/use them?

Also see: Would putting either of these two into play cause Play All to be discarded?

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Q: Is the third Surprise function (countering another Surprise) limited to in-turn or out-of-turn play?

A: You can use the counter-Surprise function at any time, either during someone else’s turn or your own. Here are some basic examples:

On your own turn:
Someone cancels one of your plays with a Surprise. You play a Surprise to counter their Surprise. Note: although it is your turn, this does not count as one of your Plays.

On someone else’s turn:
They play a Surprise for the in-turn function. You play a Suprise to counter it.

On someone else’s turn:
They play a card. You cancel it with the appropriate Surprise. They counter-Surprise you. You counter-Surprise them!

On someone else’s turn:
Player A plays a card. Player B cancels it with a Surprise. You decide to counter Player B’s Surprise, for whatever reason motivates you.
(In other words, if there is a Surprise/counter-Surprise “battle” going on between two other players, as described in the previous example, you can jump in at any time on either players “side”.)

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Q: Can the Captain Plunder the Pistol or Cutlass?

A: Yes.

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Q: The Shackles Creeper says that you can get rid of it by discarding a Booty Keeper from the table. Must it be your own?

A: It must be a Booty Keeper you have in front of you. Think of it this way: you can’t use someone else’s money to pay your bail or bribe your way out of jail (unless you managed to steal it from them somehow).

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Q: The Captain’s Hat and the Treasure Map cannot be Plundered, but can they be stolen using Steal A Keeper?

A: Yes. “Plunder” has a very specific meaning in Pirate Fluxx, namely the power granted by the Plunder Rule. Steal a Keeper (and similar effects, like Exchange a Keeper) are not Plundering, they are stealing. So you CAN use the Steal a Keeper card to take away the Captain’s Hat as usual, but you can NOT take it with the free Plunder allowed by the Plunder rule.

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Q: Can you make yourself Walk the Plank?

…for example, if you want to avoid making someone else win with your last card, which happens to be a Goal?

A: Yes. It says choose a player, which means you can choose any player, including yourself – unless the Captain says otherwise!

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Q: Can the Captain choose who gets the Shackles if another player draws them? Can the Captain move the Shackles?

A: No, and No. If the Captain themselves draws the Shackles, they can decide who will get them instead, but once they have been assigned to a person, or if they were drawn by another person in the first place, the Captain does not affect them.

You might be confusing this with the Captain’s influence over who must Walk The Plank. No matter who plays Walk The Plank, the Captain (if the Captain’s Hat is in play) gets to decide who loses all their cards.

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Q: Must you discard Oranges/Limes when discarding Scurvy?
Q: Do you have to get rid of Scurvy instantly once you play Limes/Oranges?

A: Yes.

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Q: Do the cards you draw with the No-Hand Bonus count towards your Draw for that turn?

If I qualify for drawing three cards because of the No-Hand Bonus, and the Draw rule is five, do I draw a total of five cards or eight?

A: The No-Hand Bonus states: “Draw a new hand of 3 cards BEFORE observing the current draw rule” (emphasis added). Your drawing 3 cards is considered a “pre-turn action”: these cards essentially make up a “new hand” which simulates you having had a hand BEFORE starting your turn. Then you observe the current draw rule, which says draw 5 cards.

So you draw a total of eight cards in this case.

Secondary Q: So if I increase the Draw rule from Draw 2 to Draw 4 on my turn, do I still get to draw an extra 2 cards? One of my opponents argued that I had already drawn 5 for the Bonus plus the Draw 2, so I couldn’t draw more when I increased the Draw rule.

A: Since the cards drawn for the No-Hand bonus are separate from those drawn because of the Draw rule in play, and don’t count towards the number of cards drawn for your turn, YES, you get to draw two more cards when you increase the Draw from 2 to 4.

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Q: Can you use the Skullduggery promo card to cancel a Plunder – not on the Rule itself, but on a single act of Plundering?

Or to cancel City Of Thieves in Adventure Time Fluxx, or Fantasy Fluxx, or Crime Happens in Batman Fluxx, or Acquisition in Star Trek: TNG Fluxx

A: Yes.

(Note that if you stop Acquisition from happening, you don’t get to take a card from the Acquiring players hand either. The entire card play is canceled.)

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Q: If something is played where “your turn ends immediately,” does it mean that you are not subject to the hand and Keeper limits that turn?

A: No. Hand and Keeper Limits apply to you when it’s not your turn, so you would observe them as soon as your turn ends.

See also: Q: What cards have effects that include ending my turn immediately if I play/use them?

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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.

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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?

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Q: What do I do if I draw a Creeper because of an Action?

A: If a Creeper is drawn by the active player, they must take the Creeper (play it in front of themselves) and draw to replace, such that all the cards they have drawn for whatever the Action indicates will contain no Creepers.

For example, if I play Everybody Gets One, then I, as the active player, am the one drawing cards. As such, I have to take all the Creepers I draw, redrawing until I’m holding enough non-Creeper cards to give 1 to each player including myself. In a deck with a lot of Creepers, anything that makes you draw cards is a liability!

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Q: If the rules are Draw 1, and I draw three Creepers in a row, how many cards do I redraw?

…I say it’s just one card, but my husband says it should be three, since three Creepers were drawn. Who is right?

A: For practical purposes, you are correct. If you have laid down three Creepers in a row like that, you are left needing to draw 1. After your draw phase, you should end up having drawn just 1 non-Creeper for your Draw 1.

If anyone is having a hard time wrapping their head around why this is, here’s a blow-by-blow description of what happens when you draw three Creepers in a row while trying to Draw 1.

You Draw 1. It’s a Creeper.
It goes in front of you, and you draw to replace it, hoping for a non-Creeper to satisfy the current Draw rule.
Your “draw to replace” is… a second Creeper.
It goes in front of you with the first, and you draw to replace it, hoping for a non-Creeper to satisfy the current Draw rule.
Your “draw to replace” is… a third Creeper.
It goes in front of you, and you draw to replace it, hoping for a non-Creeper to satisfy the current Draw rule.
Your “draw to replace” is… finally a non-Creeper, which you add to your hand, and you have successfully followed the current Draw rule, which is Draw 1.

As you can see, in some ways, your husband is right… but the thing is, the three cards that were “drawn to replace” did happen… they’re just over as soon as you draw 1 non-Creeper.

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Q: What does it mean when a card says its action is a “free play” or a “free action”?

Does it count as one of your plays for your turn to do this thing?

A: No. That’s the whole point of it being “free”. It does not use one of your plays. Depending on the game we’re talking about (there are cards like this in Chrononauts and Back To The Future, in addition to many in Fluxx editions), you might only be getting one play per turn, and whatever this thing does won’t use up your play for the turn.

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Q: Do Surprises work any differently in a two-player game than they do in a game with more people?

A: There is no reason Surprises would work any differently depending on the number of players. Surprises always counter Surprises in full, no matter what the function of the Surprises in question.

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Q: Can a Surprise card be played to stop a card played previously during someone’s turn?

Some examples:

Example 1: Player A plays a Keeper, and then plays a Goal card to win. Player B plays That’s Mine (the counter-Keeper Surprise) to cancel Player A’s Keeper card hoping to cancel the win. Conversely, maybe Player A played a Goal, then a Keeper, and Player B tried to use Canceled Plans (the counter-Goal Surprise).

Example 2: Player A played the That’s Mine as an in-turn card and stole the Computer from Player B. Then Player A set down a Keeper. Player B then played a Surprise card, claiming that the wording on the card says it may be used on the Surprise card just played.

Example 3: Player A played Draw 3 Play 2 Of Them, drew three cards, and one of them is a Goal that let them win, so they played it. Player B then played Stop That (the counter-Action Surprise) to try to cancel the playing of Draw 3 Play 2, hoping to cancel the win.

A: In all of these cases, Player A’s actions stand, as the Surprise has been played too late. The counteractive Surprise must be played IMMEDIATELY after the card you wish to counteract. It also doesn’t apply to “the most recently played card of the target type played this turn.” Once another card of any type has been played, or a subsequent resulting action taken, it becomes too late to retroactively stop a previous card play with a Surprise.

Don’t be that person needing to ask for a special exception to the rules, and make sure the new players you’re teaching understand: Surprises need to be used in a timely manner. Whenever you have one in your hand, acquaint yourself with its power right away so that you can make a snap decision about whether to use it, since, if you hesitate too long, your opportunity is likely to pass.

So are there ever exceptions? It depends how relaxed you want to play, and how everyone is getting along. If Player B was a less-than-experienced player, it’s highly likely that it just took them a little while to read their own Surprise card to realize that it could be used in that way. If the results of a rewind are relatively inconsequential, one might cut them some slack. If Player A somehow anticipated that Player B was going to counter their play, and took their next action with barely a blink then that’s a bit rude. But if there was a heated disagreement, please do fall back on the official ruling. The ONLY reason you might choose to ignore it is if you wish to cut Player B some slack for being a n00b, or if you want to call shenanigans on Player A’s playing style for some reason.

Remember: it’s never appropriate to see the consequences of a previous card play, and THEN realize that you wish you’d stopped it before something else happened as a result of that play. In example 1, Player B probably didn’t realize that the first play would result in the win until the second card was played. In example 3, Player B couldn’t know when Draw 3 Play 2 was played that it would result in a win. Too bad. No exceptions for those cases.

This is where careful ordering of your plays and a good poker face are important so as not to broadcast your intentions. And people say there’s no strategy in Fluxx…

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Q: If someone cancels one of my plays with a Surprise, do I get the card back, and still have that play to use?

… or does the card that was canceled go in the trash (or to my opponent in the case of That’s Mine), and my attempt has used up one of my plays?

See this answer in a video!
Little Answers

A: No, it’s that second thing you said: the card that got canceled goes away, and that play has been squandered. On the other hand, your opponent had to give up a card from their hand as well, so it’s not as though it’s without sacrifice on their part too.

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Q: If a surprise card can cancel out other surprise cards can a 3rd (or even 4th) surprise card be played consecutively?
Q: With That’s Mine (That Be Mine, Twist Of Fate) played out of turn, if someone is receiving a card via an Action, can I use That’s Mine to intercept it, and get that Keeper myself?

…For example, if they’re using Steal A Keeper, or Exchange Keepers, can I get the Keeper they’re acquiring?
Or if they’re Plundering a Keeper, can I take the Keeper they’re Plundering?
Or if someone plays Mix It All Up, or Share the Wealth, can I get a Keeper that’s being dealt out to someone else?

A: No, No, and No. You can only use the out-of-turn* function of That’s Mine when someone else is using one of their Plays on their turn to Play a Keeper from their hand to the table.

You can’t use it to intercept a Keeper being allocated, traded, stolen, or acquired in any other way.

The main four Surprises, of which That’s Mine is one, interrupt or cancel a specific type of card being Played, so you have to ask yourself, “What is the type of card being Played?”

In these cases it’s an Action (or even a Free Action, in the case of Plunder or it’s analogues, in which case no card is being played at all). In those cases all you could do with a Surprise would be to stop the Action itself being played, by using the Stop That! Surprise (aka Avast! Belay That! The Stars Are Wrong!).

Using that, of course, would not gain you a Keeper which is in transit. It would only stop the Action from happening, preventing the Keeper from changing hands in the first place.

*Of course, you can simply use your That’s Mine card on your next turn, for it’s in-turn function which is essentially the same as Steal a Keeper, so you’re really not in a bad place, even if you couldn’t get that Keeper in the middle of the results of an Action.

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Q: If I use the “during my turn” part of a surprise card on my turn, does that count as a play?
Q: Can one ever use the out-of-turn function of a Surprise during one’s own turn?

A: If you use the Surprise card as one of your plays during your turn, then you must use the “during your turn” functions. The “out of turn” functions almost always cancel some other card play, and it is not allowed to cancel your own play with your own Surprise. Thematically, consider this: it’s hard to really call it a “surprise” if you’re doing it to yourself in this manner.

The only time when you might not use the “during your turn” on your turn is when you’re using a Surprise to counter a Surprise played by another player against you during your turn.

See Does countering a Surprise on my turn count as…

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Q: Can you use the out-of-turn option on Canceled Plans to nullify a goal you are forced to play during your turn that would cause someone else to win?

A: No. In general, you can’t use the out-of-turn portion of a Surprise during your turn, moreover the Canceled Plans card specifically says it is used to stop a Goal which another player has just played.

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Q: With Canceled Plans played out of turn, does this card only discard a Goal that a player has just played or an existing goal on the table?

A: Only the Goal just played.

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Q: Can Canceled Plans prevent someone from winning the game? What about That’s Mine?

Player #1 contends that he won the game because the rules say that as soon as a goal is achieved the game is over and no other actions/cards can be played. Player #2 says that no, the Surprise card overrides the general rule and cancels the playing of the goal and therefore the game does not end. Which is true?

A: Yes. If the Canceled Plans card played is played immediately, it cancels the Goal and play continues to the next person. That is the intent of the card.

It works the same way for That’s Mine. If the winning play is a Keeper, That’s Mine can be used to cancel that play, preventing the win.

Again, Surprises are meant to be able to work this way… but you have to be using the correct Surprise for the type of play you’re canceling – and you must play your Surprise in a timely manner: say, within a few seconds of the player playing their card.

For more nuanced suggestions about how to resolve some tweaky timing issues, check
When a player is allowed multiple plays on their turn, are there any guidelines for timing between plays?”

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Q: Does a counter-Surprise count as a Play for the person whose turn it is?

If I play a card on my turn and another player plays a Surprise to cancel it, then I play another Surprise to cancel the first one, since it’s my turn, does mounter Surprise count as a Play for me?

A: It does not count as a play. It’s sort of meta-out-of-turn.

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Q: If someone plays a Rule to replace an existing Rule, but someone else plays a Veto, does the rule that would have been replaced remain in effect?

For example, Play 3 is in effect at the start of a turn, the current player plays Play 4, but another player plays Veto – what is the current play limit; 3, 4, or the default 1?

A: A: The newly played and Vetoed New Rule is canceled, so the old New Rule stays in play.

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Q: Can I use a Surprise from my set-aside hand to cancel a Surprise played on one of my Draw 2 & Use Em, or Draw 3, Play 2 (or Fizzbin, or Goal Bonanza) cardplays?

Also, could I use a Surprise that was part of the subturn to cancel the attacking Surprise, and if so would that count as one of the plays?

Example:
Player #1 plays “Draw 3, Play 2 Of Them” and gets an Action, a Keeper, and a Surprise.
They play their Action and Player #2 plays Belay That [Avast, Stop That] to cancel it.
–> can Player #1 use the Surprise in their mini-hand to cancel that Surprise,
–> and if so do they still get to play their Keeper afterwards?

A: Yes, you can use a Surprise from your main hand, or from your sub-hand, to cancel another player’s Surprise during your Draw 3, Play 2 Action. Playing a Surprise to cancel a Surprise is a free action, so yes, you would get to play the third card if your second card is a Surprise that you use to counter a Surprise being used to stop your first card.

Using Goal Bonanza also results in the play of a “sub-hand” while the rest of your hand is put aside, and the same things would apply there as well. Yes, you can counter-Surprise from either your main hand or your sub-hand.

In the case of Fizzbin, you don’t have the option of using any of the cards in your temporary hand, you have to play them blind, in random order, so any Surprises that are in that temporary hand won’t be useful to you – but you can still use Surprises in your set-aside hand to counter Surprises played against cards played as part of your Fizzbin action.

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Q: If a player uses Trade Hands, and their hand contains Stop That (which cancels actions) can the other player use it immediately upon receipt to cancel the Trade Hands?

In this scenario Player #1 has the Trade Hands and Stop That, and Player #2 is being forced to trade hands.

A: No. If the surprise were in Player #2’s hand, then Player#2 could use it to stop the Action, but if the surprise is in Player #1’s hand, then Player #2 does not have access to the card until after the Trade Hands Action has been resolved, by which time it’s too late to be stopped.

If you think about it too hard, you’ll realize it can ONLY work this way. If it worked the way you described there would be a paradoxical loop:

You used the Stop That you received in Trade Hands to stop Trade Hands, so you didn’t trade hands, so you didn’t have the Stop That, so you couldn’t use it, so you traded hands, but then you had the Stop That, and you used it to prevent the Trade Hands, but then you didn’t have it, didn’t use it, but then you traded and had it…

…and so forth to insanity.

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Q: Regarding Canceled Plans and Stop That, if you play them during your turn, it says “All other players must discard one Goal/Action, or a random card, from their hands.” Does that mean players get a choice?

Or must you discard a Goal/Action if you have one, and a random card only if you don’t?

A: Players get to choose. They may either look at their cards and select a Goal/Action to give up, or they may select a random card from their hand to give up. Of course, if they don’t have any Goals/Actions, they can only opt to lose a random card.

Note that random means RANDOM. They don’t get to decide which card they give up in this case. They can do this either by mixing their own hand face down, and pulling one out without looking, or they can have you pull one from their hand as they hold it up facing themselves.

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Q: If Double Agenda is on the table, and each Goal requires a different Creeper can you win by fulfilling both Goals?

For example, if the Goals were He Bravely Ran Away (requires the 3-Headed Giant) and Rabbits of DOOM (requires the Killer Rabbit).

A: No, not if they are two different Creepers like this. The 3-Headed Giant you need to win with He Bravely Ran Away prevents you from winning with Rabbits of DOOM, while the Killer Rabbit you need for that prevents you from winning with He Bravely Ran Away.

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Q: If I have specific Creepers required for a Goal, but I also have other Creepers, can I still win with that goal?

A: In the vast majority of cases, you cannot win if you have Creepers not specifically required by the goal.

Exceptions:
• Do your extraneous Creepers say that they keep you from winning? (Almost all Creepers do, but if they don’t then go for it.)
• Is there a Rule in play that lets you win even if you have Creepers? (There are a couple of these, depending on which versions you have.)
• In Batman Fluxx, if the Goal requires a Villain, Villains don’t prevent you from winning. However, if the Goal does NOT require a Villain, then Villains ANYWHERE prevent you from winning.
• In Nature Fluxx (aka EcoFluxx) all Creepers prevent everyone from winning, regardless of who has them.

See also: The… Goal requires a Keeper and either of two Creepers…

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Q: When Double Agenda goes into play, does the next Goal played have to go in the second slot?

Or can it replace the single Goal in play, leaving a spot empty?

See this answer in a video!
Little Answers

A: If there is an empty slot for a Goal because of Double Agenda, the next Goal played must fill that spot, and not replace the single Goal already in play.

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Q: For Actions that re/distribute Keepers and/or Creepers among the players, how are those dealt back out?

Do I get to decide who gets what? Do I get to decide how many to deal to each player? Do the recipients put them in their hands or on the table in front of them? Are they face up or face down? When I’m dealing them out, who do I start with?

A: First of all, only for Everybody Gets 1 (or Dreams & Omens) does the active player get to look at and decide who gets what. That’s a very different situation that the ones we’re talking about here. This question focuses on random (fairly even) redistribution along the lines of Share The Wealth.

The cards in question are shuffled or otherwise randomized so that the dealer does not know what’s being given out. They are then dealt out evenly, going around the circle clockwise, one card to each player in turn, continuing until the cards are all gone. Dealing starts with either the active player or the player to their left, with the intention of providing any possible benefit to the active player.

• So if it’s for Keepers, or a mixture of Keepers and Creepers, the active player should get the first card, because this is felt to be to their advantage, so they won’t get shorted if the number doesn’t deal out evenly. However, we would consider it an officially sanctioned house-rule if your group wanted to give the active player the option of starting with the player to their left instead of themselves. There could be reasons…

• For redistribution of Creepers-only, the card will usually say to start with the player to the left of the active player, because Creepers are generally considered a disadvantage, and this would mean that if anyone was going to receive fewer, it would always be the active player. However, as with other redistribution cards, your group may choose to let the active player decide whether they want to start with themselves or the person on their left. Again, we can think of reasons why someone might want to start distributing Creepers to themselves first.

Once dealt, all cards will be put into play immediately, so it’s OK to deal them out face up, but it’s sometimes better to deal them out face down, then have everybody reveal what they got all at once. As mentioned above, re/distributing by dealing will cause all players to end up with roughly equal numbers of cards. So if there are large discrepancies in the number of cards players had in play, this will even them out: players with a lot more than other players will end up with fewer than they had, and players with few or zero cards in play may end up with more. That’s the way it goes.

Here’s a list of redistributing cards, and their types:

Keepers only
Share the Wealth
Monster Mash
Run!!!
The Grand Ball
Keepers & Creepers
Mix It All Up
Zombie Jamboree
Crawling Chaos
Mass Hysteria
It’s a Cyclone!!!
Creepers only
Return of the Dead
Jailbreak/removal of Arkham Asylum rule

Scramble Keepers, which is only in early versions of “Basic” Fluxx (1.0-3.x) is the only Action which is different. While you still shuffle up the Keepers and hand them back randomly and they go back into play, you don’t deal them out evenly, but instead give each player the same number of Keepers they had before. When we came up with Share The Wealth, we felt it was far superior, as we liked the way it leveled the playing field, keeping the game more competitive, to maximize player engagement.

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Q: For Everybody Gets 1, do I get to look at the cards before I hand them out to people?

The card reads, in part “You decide who gets what.” My brother thinks I should hand them out without looking at them, but I think I get to look at them so that I know what they all got, but they only know what they each got.

A: As you have surmised, there is indeed no meaning to the phrase “you decide who gets what” unless you get to look at all the cards before you hand them out (yes, the intention is that you hand them out face down so that each person only knows what they themselves got).

Many people’s first instinct upon seeing someone else play this card is to simply reach forward and draw from the deck themselves, as if it were indeed intended to be random, but most, upon a careful reading of the card, come to the correct conclusion.

Since we have plenty of room on this card, we started implementing clearer text on this card in 2016:
“You look at the cards and decide who gets what, dealing them out face down to each player.”

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Q: Do Keeper Limits apply to Creepers as well?

A: No. There is no limit to the number of Creepers you can have in front of you.

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