I am Groot, I am Groot, and I am…. (passing keeper to next player), well now that is over with, let’s talk about Marvel Fluxx.
| Marvel Fluxx (2019) | |||||
| Designer(s) | Andrew Looney | Artist(s) | Looney Labs | Publisher |
Looney Labs |
 |
2-6 |  |
8+ |  |
10-40m |
Marvel Fluxx is another amazing rendition of the amazing card game, Fluxx, by Looney Labs. If you are not familiar with Fluxx, you are in luck. Fluxx is a card game that the rules are always changing, but watch out, the rules can be reset at any point.
Box and Components
The game comes with 1 Marvel coin, 35 goal cards (pink border), 23 new rule cards (yellow border), 27 keeper cards (pink border), 21 action cards (blue border), and the instructions.
The box is a perfect fit for the game components. Everything has a place and stays in place when it is moved around a lot. Anyone familar with Marvel Comics will appreciate the artwork; the art looks great and kept simple for the game. The cards and Marvel coin are made with good materials and are high quality.
Disclaimer: There are two versions of this game. The one sold at major stores did not come with 7 bonus cards. For local game stores and speciality stores, there was special editions made that will have a gold star on the box; this version comes with the bonus cards. However, they are working on producing this bonus cards for purchase to be added to the “regular” box version.
Mechanics
Fluxx is a fairly straight forward game with the difficult part being all of the changing rules and keeping up with those changes. Take your time on your turn to read all rule cards in play.
Setup
At the beginning of the game, you set up the “starting rules” card and place it in the center of the table. The starting rules are draw one card and play one card. You will then shuffle all of the Fluxx cards and deal 3 cards to each player. The remaining cards will be placed in the center of the table within reach of all players face down; this will be the draw deck.
Players Turn
On a player’s turn, they will draw cards from the Fluxx deck and play cards from their hand. At the beginning of the game, this will be Draw 1, Play 1 with the basic rules, but the fun of Fluxx comes from the every changing rule set. Throughout the game, these basic rules will change, and additional rules will be introduced adding new twists.
The types of cards in Marvel Fluxx include:
New Rules (yellow border) - These cards could replace the basic draw one or play one rules, or it could be a completely new rule adding in new free actions, card restrictions, or even restricting your hand limit. If th rule replaces one of the basic rules, basic rule upgrades will cover the space on the basic rules card; the basic rule card is never discarded. All of types of rules will be placed around the basic rules in sight of all players.
Actions (blue border) - These cards allow for special actions to be taken such as stealing other player's cards, drawing extra cards, drawing and playing cards off the top of the deck, and forcing all players into an arena to debate who would win in a fight.
Goal (pink border) - The goal cards display a set of Keepers needed to win the game, but be careful, the goal cards can be easily switched out! By default rules, only one Goal card is allowed out at a time and is the goal for all players.
Keeper (green border) - Keepers are the cards necessary to win the game. As you play Keepers, they will sit in front of you face up. There are actions that can steal keepers so beware. Look at your keepers as they occasionally offer free special abilities or restrictions.
In other variants of Fluxx, there are additional cards such as Creepers and Surprises; those cards will be discussed in reviews of versions of Fluxx that include those cards.
End of the Game
You will go through player turns as described above following the active rules, and once a player has the required keepers in front of them to fulfill the Goal card, the game is over!
Fluxx Variants 
If Marvel Fluxx isn’t your preferred theme, you should look at the other variants they have. Looney Labs has a ton of different themes for Fluxx. The game play is generally the same in each, but the themes are catered to different fandoms and occasionally add in a new mechanic.
Firefly Fluxx is based on the short lived tv series by that name; Jayne Cobb was my favorite in that show. There is Star Trek Fluxx that caters to the Trekkie fans. Monster Fluxx is a lot of fun because it focuses on the classic monsters. I am waiting on Astronomy Fluxx to arrive from my latest Kickstarter that I backed with Looney Labs (Pyramids). I have always loved the stars and deep space. When I was a small child, I always wanted to be an astronaut; however, my weak stomach had other plans. The soon to be released one is Spongebob Fluxx based on your favorite characters that live under the sea! There are so many versions of Fluxx available on their website!
Final Thoughts
I was a newbie to the Marvel Universe until Marvel began the MCU films. I fell hard for Iron Man. He is my favorite Marvel character, and I love when I obtain this keeper card. “Leave him alone; he is mine” is frequently said while playing this game.
Some of the keepers have abilities; one of our favorites is the Groot keeper. With Groot, the only thing you are able to say while Groot is in front of you is “I am Groot.” If you mess up and speak other words, Groot is passed to the next player, and they are only allowed to say “I am Groot." This will continue around the table until someone wins the game or an action is played that removes Groot from play. This card makes the game really fun when in play. Make sure to read your Keeper cards because the special abilities may help you ultimately win the game.
There is another perk to this version of Fluxx as well with the player token; it is a Marvel coin. There is a rule card in the deck that is played that the coin must get passed at the end of your turn; if you do not pass it, you lose a card from your hand. This will continue around the table such as the Groot card until the rules reset or a card is played to remove a rule. It makes it a little more complex because there is already so much to remember in this game, but if you forget it, you get a slight penalty.
This is one of our favorite games to break out when we are doing game demonstrations or charity events; it doesn’t take a lot of time to teach and play so we can play it between longer games. I love that the rules are ever changing so the games don’t get stale playing it over and over again. There is so much replayability with the different Fluxx games. If you haven’t tried Fluxx, this is a great one to pick up and try out.