The rules currently in effect were Draw 4, Play 2, some Keeper Limit rule (maybe 3), and Inflation. The "Inflation" rule, for those who don't know it, adds 1 to EVERY number given as a digit in EVERY other rule or Action or event. So I started my turn by drawing 5 cards, and among the 8 cards I held, I could play 3 of them.
Some people think there's no strategy in Fluxx. NOT TRUE AT ALL. Those people probably just throw down a few cards until they've reached the Play limit, then sit back and watch someone else play. The golden strategy in Fluxx is to NEVER end your turn if there's ANYTHING you can play to keep it going.
I didn't see any way to win immediately, since I had no keepers on the table, no goal matching the keeper I held in my hand, and not enough plays (only 3) to change the goal and get and play more keepers. So the first card I played was the "Take another turn" action. That guaranteed that even if I was forced to end my turn, I would immediately get another one.
It would be a waste of a turn to just play down a keeper and go on to my second turn. The golden strategy is to NEVER end your turn if you can keep it going! The second card I played was a "Draw 3, Play 2 of them" action. Inflation made it "Draw 4, Play 3 of them" basically doubling the cards I could play that turn.
Among the four cards I could pick 3 from, I was delighted to find a "Play ALL" rule, which I immediately slammed down. NOW I could play EVERY card in my hand without ending my turn! For the second card of three, I chose a Hand Limit of 2. Everyone groaned and threw out cards to keep 3, except me, because my turn was in progress. The last of three cards I picked was an action that let me draw 2 (i.e. 3) cards from the deck. Unfortunately, the extra cards set me up in a very bad situation. Now I was holding a "Milk and Cookies" goal, and another player had Milk and Cookies keepers on the table. With the "Play ALL" in effect, I might be forced to play that goal, and that player would win.
I tried two cards as a defensive measure. I played my only keeper, a TV keeper, then "Shuffle Keepers" action. We threw the three keepers in a pile, and a neutral player shuffled them and dealt them back out. I still had TV, the other player still had Milk and Cookies, and I still held the Milk and Cookies goal in my hand with Play ALL still in effect. They would win before I even got my second turn. Ulp.
Since the cards in my hand didn't help me win or extend my turn, even though I could play all of them, I needed to get more cards into my hand. In desperation I played "Draw 5" and Inflation made it a Draw 6, and since I had only drawn 5 cards at the start of my turn, I drew another card. It was a "Taxation" card. Fantastic!
I played the "Taxation" action. For those not familiar with it, says every other player has to give you "1" card. Inflation made it "2" so I got SIX more cards to work with (and wiped the other players all out to a single card left, which was fun). But the cards I got still didn't let me win, or let me avoid playing the goal that would make the other player win.
I put down three keepers while I was thinking about what else I should do. None of the five goals I held matched any combination of the four keepers I had on the table. Shucks. Since there was no point in playing them, I held onto them.
Nothing I held did me any good. So in desperation I played the "Pandora's Box" action that somone had given me. For those who don't know it, it says to run through the deck drawing and discarding cards until you've turned up "4" New Rules, which take effect. While flipping through the deck looking for new rules, a couple of goals came up and got discarded that matched my keepers. Drat. Inflation made it FIVE new rules before stopping.
One was a Keeper Limit of 4, that didn't affect anyone.
Another was the "Border's Rule". The Border's Rule is that if you're playing in a public area, whenever someone comes up and asks about the game, all players get to draw 1 card. Inflation would make it 2, and I needed those 2 cards, so I called out "Hey! We're playing Fluxx over here!" but no one came up and asked about the game, so I didn't get the cards. Shucks.
One was the "First Play Random" that forces the first card played on anyone's turn to be drawn at random by another player (unless the rule was to play only one card, in which case the player gets to pick).
One of them was the "Rich Bonus" rule so whoever had the most keepers would draw "1" extra card at the beginning of their turn.
And to my utter relief, the LAST of them was a "Play 2" rule. Even with Inflation, I had already played at least 3 cards (ten in fact, with the seven cards played within the "Draw 3, Play 2" and the "Pandora's Box" actions not counting against the limit), so I ended my (first) turn without having to play the deadly goal. With the Hand Limit in effect, I threw out the Milk and Cookies goal, discarding it last so the player who had those keepers could see it.
Since I now had the most keepers, the Rich Bonus applied to me. At the start of my second turn (from the first card I had played, giving me an extra turn), I drew 5 for the Draw 5, 1 for Inflation, 1 for Rich Bonus, and 1 for Inflation, for a total draw of 8 cards. The player to my left drew a card and I had to play it. I don't remember what it was, since it didn't affect anything. After a brief time studying my remaining cards, I put down another keeper and the "Five Keepers" goal (either of which may have been the 8th card drawn) and won on my first turn. Ok, technically on my second turn.
I compare Fluxx to a canoe race through whitewater rapids. Either you love it, or you never want to do THAT again. I'm one of those who love it, and this particular turn is a shining example of why. A player who thinks there's no strategy in Fluxx would have never found the way to win.
Posted Wed May 14, 2008 7:04 am
