Marvel Fluxx Rulebook

Table of Contents

Contents
Summary
Overview
Setup
Going First
Types of Cards
- New Rule
- Keeper
- Goal
- Action
Turn Sequence
Limits
How to Win
Sample Game (in Progress)
Examples
Other Notes
Questions?
Credits

100 cards, 1 Collector's coin, 1 instruction sheet.

Knowledge of English required.

Summary

Fluxx is a game about constant change.
Begin by following the Basic Rules.
Each player starts with a hand of 3 cards.
On your turn, draw 1 card, play 1 card.
New Rules take effect as soon as you play them.
Collect Keepers to match the Goal and you win!

Overview

Fluxx games are all about change. The game begins with just a couple of simple rules, then becomes more complex little by little as additional rule cards are played. At first there will be no way to win – that's what Goal cards are for. Each Goal has a different victory condition, but they all require you to collect special cards called Keepers. As soon as someone's collection of Keepers matches the current Goal, they win!

Setup

Place the Basic Rules card in the center of the table.

Shuffle the deck and deal three cards to each player.

Establish the draw pile by placing the remainder of the deck face down where everyone can reach it.

Going First

The dealer goes first. Or choose a player at random.

Play proceeds clockwise.

Types of Cards

Each turn, you will Draw at least one card, add it to your hand, and Play at least one card. Here's how each type of card is used in the game:

New Rule

New Rules change the way the game works. When a New Rule is played, you must adapt to it right away.

When a New Rule contradicts a card already in play, the old rule is discarded.

To play one, place it face up in the center of the table.

Keeper

Keepers are what you need in order to win. Keep them in front of you after playing.

To play a Keeper, place it face up on the table in front of you.

Goal

Goals indicate which Keepers you currently need in order to win.

Goals are played face up in the center of the table. Discard the previous Goal, if any.

Action

Actions are single-use cards. Follow the instructions on the card, then discard it.

To play an Action card, do whatever it says, then place it on the discard pile.

Turn Sequence

Draw the number of cards currently required.
Play the number of cards currently required.
Discard to comply with any Limit rules in play.

Optional actions allowed by New Rules, Keepers, etc., may be performed at any point during this sequence.

All cards are always playable, even if they have no effect. If you aren't sure how a card works, try reading the full text aloud as you play it.

Limits

At first there will be no limitations on the number of cards you can hold in your hand or Keepers you have in play. But Hand and Keeper Limit cards will create such restrictions. These rules only affect you when it's NOT your turn, so you can ignore them until your turn ends. When someone plays a new Limit rule, the other players must immediately comply with the new restriction, discarding cards of their choice as needed.

How to Win

The game continues until someone meets the conditions of the current Goal. That player wins instantly, no matter whose turn it is! (If a tie, the game continues until one winner emerges.)

Sample Game (in Progress)

The rules sheet illustrates a sample game in progress, with these callouts:

The Basic Rules card stays in the middle for the entire game. It reads: Start with 3 cards. Draw 1. Play 1.
New Rules that override the Basic Rules are placed overlapping the part they supersede. Other New Rules are placed in the center.
Goals also go in the middle. They are shared by all players.
Keepers are placed in front of their owners.
After following an Action card's instructions, place it onto the discard pile.

Examples

Here are a few examples to show how various cards interact:

After drawing one card, you play the Draw 3 New Rule. Now the rules require you to draw three cards on each turn, but since you only took one card before, you must immediately draw two more cards. The next player draws three cards for their turn. They play Draw 2 which changes the rules again, but they draw no more cards, having already gotten (at least) two cards this turn. Since Draw 2 contradicts Draw 3, the Draw 3 rule is discarded.
If you play the Action called Draw 2 and Use 'Em, you will immediately draw two cards and play them both. If one of those cards is Draw 3, Play 2 of Them you would keep going, drawing three more cards, playing two cards, and discarding the third. All of this activity would be considered the playing of just one card when counting the number of plays on your turn.
Suppose your hand contains a Keeper and a Goal that requires it. Which should you play? You might think it's a tossup, since you don't have the other Keeper you need. However, you should definitely play the Keeper first. If you play the Goal, it will very likely be replaced by another long before you find the second Keeper.

Other Notes

Regarding Discarding: You cannot simply discard unwanted cards. You can only discard if compelled to by a Hand Limit or similar compulsion. (Yes, this means you could end up being forced to play a card that makes someone else win.)

Reshuffling: If the Draw pile runs out, shuffle the Discard pile, turn it over to make a new Draw pile, and keep playing.

Cards In Play: Whenever something mentions a card "in play," this refers to a card that is face up on the table, but not in the discard pile. Keepers must be in play for you to meet a Goal that requires them. If a Keeper has a special power, you must have it in play in order to make use of its bonus ability.

Free Actions: Some cards allow for bonus actions which can be taken at any time during your turn. Since they don't count as plays, they are called Free Actions.

Jumping In: New players may join at any time by being dealt a hand of three cards.

Dropping Out: Players can exit the game at any time. Just discard your hand and all of the cards you have in play.

Questions?

When playing Fluxx, there are many interesting situations that can arise. If you get stuck on how a particular card works and need an official answer, the fastest solution is to check our extensive online database of Frequently Asked Questions: http://faq.looneylabs.com/

If you can't find the answer you need there, please email us at [email protected] and we'll get back to you with a ruling as soon as we can.

Another great way to learn is with our many tutorial videos: looneylabs.com/Video-Fluxx

Here are a few FAQs that relate specifically to Marvel Fluxx:

Q: Do Keepers fighting in The Arena come from your hand, or from in play in front of you? A: The Keepers offered up for combat must already be in play in front of their owners. If only one combatant is available, 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 go home.) 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, it also means being obligated to fight in the Arena.

Q: Why is the Goal with Ant-Man and Hawkeye called Somebody's Gonna Get It? A: It's a reference to the cover of The Avengers #223 (September 1982), which depicts a tiny Ant-Man holding onto the tip of an arrow Hawkeye is about to shoot, with the caption "When Ant-Man and Hawkeye join forces... SOMEBODY'S GONNA GET IT!"

Q: When did Iron Man, Dr. Strange, and Black Panther become members of The Illuminati? A: In New Avengers #7 (July 2005) it is revealed that these characters, together with a few others, formed a secret cabal to help shape events in their world. Each of them represented a different speciality and/or political power at the time and came together secretly as the Illuminati in an attempt to use their knowledge and influence to help humanity. Since then, membership has changed a few times but all of these characters were founding members of the secret society.

Q: Why isn't [insert name of favorite superhero] in the game? A: We are excited to have been able to include as many great characters in this game as we did, but even so, someone has a favorite we unfortunately had to leave out. Partly this is because the game design can only accommodate about two dozen Keepers, but also, our licensing agreement included limitations which restricted our use of certain characters.

Credits

The original version of Fluxx was invented on July 24, 1996.

Game Design: Andrew Looney
Package Design: Cardinal
Special Thanks: To Mike Bisogno, Tom Ryan, Keith Baker, Dave Chalker, Leila Zucker, Ron Zucker, Cooper Braun-Enos, Corrie Griffith, Rob Ruhland, Eli Kramer-Symth, Rich Potter, and Tim Howe for the expert ideas and suggestions.

Fluxx® is a registered trademark of Looney Labs®.

Cardinal Logo/Logo Cardinal & © Cardinal Industries Inc. 30-30 47th Avenue, L.I.C., NY 11101, USA. Imported and distributed under license by Spin Master International, Spin Master Ltd., 225 King Street West, Toronto, ON, M5V 3M2 Canada; Imported by Spin Master Australia Pty Ltd, Suite 101, Level 1, 18-24 Chandos Street, St Leonards, NSW 2065; Imported into EU by Spin Master, Kingsfordweg 151, 1043 GR Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

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