Star Fluxx: The Ever-Changing Card Game... In Space!

In our last post we mentioned some of the games we have our reviewing eyes on for the coming weeks.  Well since then we've actually managed to get our filthy mitts on a few more games to add to our ever-growing review pile, so we thought we'd start the ball rolling with something nice and casual; Star Fluxx, from Looney Labs.

 

 

Star Fluxx is one of the most recent additions to Looney Labs' flagship card game, and in a similar manner to Zombie Fluxx or Pirate Fluxx, it follows a genre as a whole, rather than carrying the licence of a specific franchise (as with Monty Python Fluxx).  At its core it still runs off the same rules and mechanics of the original Fluxx, and so in this review we'll be focusing on the Star Fluxx-specific themes and new mechanics, rather than giving our usual walkthrough of the basic rules.  For those unfamiliar with Fluxx as a whole, our review of Monty Python Fluxx addresses the overall gameplay.

 

So as we mentioned, Star Fluxx covers a theme rather than a franchise, and (as you may have already guessed) that theme is science fiction films and television shows.  However, Looney Labs haven't let the absence of a franchise licence impede their choice of themed cards, and they've cleverly found ways to fit some of the most popular films/shows into the deck...

 

 

When releasing any product based on big cult sci-fi series, most fans would probably be that one of the big two has to be Star Trek.  Without making any specific references to any of the series or films, Star Fluxx has managed to make enough references to this cornerstone of the sci-fi world to keep fans happy.  The typical starship crew is all present and accounted for on the Keeper front, with The Captain, The Engineer, The Scientist, The Doctor, and even the Expendable Crewman - who must be the first to 'die' should an opponent ever steal or force a player to discard one of their keepers.  The Cute Fuzzy Alien Creature (a Games & Tea favourite) is a clear reference to the troublesome tribbles from the original series of Star Trek, spending the game happily wandering around the tabletop, and never going into the discard pile.  On top of these there are Goals such as Landing Party and Seeking New Civilizations, and Actions such as Beam Us Up!, which also represent their chosen franchise to varying degrees.

 

 

The other of the big two has, of course, to be Star Wars, and is also represented in force (see what we did there?) in the deck.  Whilst not as Keeper-heavy as their Star Trek counterparts, there are some wonderful Star Wars references amongst the goals in particular, such as The Power of the Dark Side, These Aren't the Droids... and That's No Moon... whilst the likes of Laser Sword and Unseen Force bulk out the Keeper pile, and Admiral Ackbar's infamous "It's a trap!" exclamation is represented by the Surprise card It's a Trap! (surprisingly!).

 

 

Whilst those two certainly make up the majority of the themed cards in Star Fluxx, there are a number of other franchises which make their way into the deck...

 

 



 

Fans of British science fiction will be pleased to see Douglas Adams' The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy represented (albeit lightly) by Forty-Two, The Intergalactic Travel Guide and I'm Depressed, whilst ongoing hit Doctor Who has a handful of cards in the shape of Time Traveler, What Doctor? Where? and the slightly more subtle Sonic Sledgehammer.

 

 

There are a few cards representing some of the older classics of the sci-fi world, such as the two above which represent the old Lost in Space series, and The Monolith flying the flag for 2001: A Space Odyssey.

In addition to these franchise-specific cards, Star Fluxx also features a lot of generic sci-fi cards, including laser pistols, space stations, moons, and alien cities, so even players who aren't too savvy on these franchises can still enjoy a decent little sci-fi game.

 

One of the interesting additions to Star Fluxx over Looney Lab's previous instalments, is the wider introduction of special abilities on Keepers.  This was touched on lightly in Monty Python Fluxx and Zombie Fluxx, but with Star Fluxx they've quite happily run with the idea and pushed the boundaries a little.  The Captain allows players to steal other crew members from their opponents, the Laser Pistol allows players to kill Creepers, and the Holographic Projection even allows players to win the game using their opponents' Keepers!  The expansion of this mechanic causes Star Fluxx to lose some of the more casual nature of its predecessors, but in return it becomes a slightly more tactical game, and here at Games & Tea we found the exchange to be a favourable one.

 

 

Creepers are back again, having been standard fare since Monty Python, although in far fewer numbers than the colossal Zombie Fluxx.  Star Fluxx has introduced a new mechanic with it's Creepers though, by causing them to attach to Keepers and remain with them until discarded.  For example, the Brain Parasites above attach themselves to any Keeper with a brain...

 

 

...so as soon as something like the Bug-Eyed Monster becomes available, the Brain Parasites attach straight onto it, neutralise any abilities of that Keeper, and remain attached.  This further increases the tactical element of Star Fluxx, by effectively taking some Goals out of the equation, making players think more cautiously about the order in which they play their cards, and making some Keepers prime targets for discarding or giving away to opponents.

 

Surprise!

 

There's one additional card type which we need to mention; the Surprise card.

 

 

These were first introduced in Pirate Fluxx (which we will be reviewing in due course), and make their return here.  Whilst they work the same way as Action cards in the players' own turns, Surprise cards are the first Fluxx cards which can also be played in an opponent's turn.  These can be used to cancel Actions, to remove a Goal, or to prevent Keepers from being stolen.  These don't so much increase the strategic edge in the same way that the previously mentioned mechanics do, but instead are more about increasing the length of the game.  This may prove to be a divisive idea, as casual games like Fluxx are often prized for their shorter length, so whilst hardcore fans may enjoy longer games, less committed players may find these to be something of a drag.

 

The Good Points

• Each card tells the player exactly what they have to do with it, and so it's a very fast game to pick up.
• It's a nice compact game, and can easily be taken to a park or pub to play with friends.  Nothing is needed except for the cards in the deck.
• There are enough franchises references in Star Fluxx to keep most sci-fi fans happy.
• Star Fluxx is a little bit more tactical than previous Fluxx incarnations, which may be able to sway the opinions of some of its critics.
• With the right number of players it's quite a quick game to play, and is good to wrap up a heavy gaming session.

The Bad Points

• Whilst slightly more tactical than other Fluxxes, Star Fluxx is still largely a game of chance, and this luck-based system will not appeal to all.
• There simply aren't enough cards in the deck to cater to all franchises, and fans of some series (such as Battlestar Galactica or Buck Rogers to name but two) may feel a little bit cheated.

Recommended Number of Players: 3

Fluxx decks are always good wind-up or wind-down games on any gaming nights.  Star Fluxx loses a little of the fun with just 2 players, but with 4 or more (the box advertises 2-6) it can start to drag on as players forget their own Goals and desperately vie to just keep eachother from winning.

 

Average Game Time: 20 minutes

Star Fluxx is difficult to put an average game time on due to its random and unpredictable nature.  We've played games which have been over in a matter of minutes, and some which have gone on for over an hour.  20 minutes is a good, solid, average time though.

 

Replay Value: High

Star Fluxx is a good game, and not overly long.  It's appealing theme and wide range of franchises make it enjoyable to go back to, and it's probably the most-played of all the Fluxx decks here at Games & Tea.

 

The Future: n/a

Each version of Fluxx is its own game, and as such the contents of the box are all you'll ever get of Star Fluxx.  However if you've enjoyed the mechanic then there are several other themed Fluxx sets to choose from, including Zombie Fluxx, Oz Fluzz, Martian Fluxx, Cthulhu Fluxx and Stoner Fluxx.

 

Price: £12

Star Fluxx will set you back roughly £12, which is a thoroughly decent price for a stand-alone card game.  The various Fluxx sets seem to be standard fare in most specialist game shops, so even if they don't have the set you're after then they should be able to get their hands on it quickly.

 

 

 

OVERALL SCORE: 9/10

 

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Coming up soon...

Good evening, ladies and gentlegamers!  It's been a couple of busy weeks outside of the world of board gaming.  We've been re-discovering our tabletop love, swelling our Khador ranks in Privateer Press' Warmachine, picking up the Children of December crew for Wyrd Miniatures' Malifaux, picking up some more Batman goodness for Knight Models' Arkham City, and picking up a sizeable beginner force of Brotherhood for Prodos Games' Mutant Chronicles Warzone Resurrection!  Yep, all in all it's been a fairly crazy couple of hobby weeks!

 

Will we be writing up blog entries about any of these systems?  We will not.  Our original mission statement was to make Games & Tea a board/card game blog, and that's exactly how we intend to stay.  If you are interested in reading about any of the above systems, then we'd thoroughly recommend checking out our good friends over at The Hobbynomicon, as they're much more into the tabletop scene than we are.

 

Our rediscovery of all things tabletop has not caused our board game love to wane in the slightest, however, and even though it's been a good few weeks since our last review (the wonderfully non-PC Cards Against Humanity), we just wanted to reassure our readers that we have a whole host of wonderful things to bring you in the world of reviews...

 

 

The most recent addition to our review stack is Fantasy Flight's Arkham Horror, a classic Lovecraftian game and staple of many gamers' collections.  We may be late to the party with this one, but we're certainly looking forward to bringing you our thoughts on it.

 

 

Next up we have Star Fluxx from Looney Labs.  In the past we've brought you reviews on Zombie Fluxx and Monty Python Fluxx, and anyone who's read these will know that we have a bit of a soft spot for what is ultimately one of the Marmites of the gaming community.  Unlike some of its predecessors, Star Fluxx does not fit a specific theme, but instead touches on the sci-fi genre as a whole, and we'll be talking to you soon about just how well Looney Labs have managed to pull that off.

 

 

Sticking with the sci-fi theme for the moment, we have our review of Wizkids Star Trek Attack Wing to bring you.  This game is built around Fantasy Flight's Flightpath system, developed for their Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game, and so the two play very similar.  In order to include some of the technologies from the Star Trek universe however, the gameplay has been tweaked slightly.  We concluded that X-Wing plays nicely as a game straight out of the box, so stay tuned to see whether or not Star Trek Attack Wing manages the same feat!

 

 

And finally, the game we're most excited about: Mantic Games' Deadzone.  This is fresh from Kickstarter, and due to arrive with us at the end of the month, courtesy of our FLGS Titan Games.  Deadzone, whilst really more of a tabletop system, looks set to bridge the gap between board game and tabletop wargame with it's fluid mechanics and complete starter box.  Much like with Wyrd Miniatures' Puppet Wars, we'll be looking at this with a board gamer's eye and seeing if it plays well straight out of the box, or if it needs to be augmented with further purchases.

 

So that's what you can expect from Games & Tea in the coming months!  On top of this there will be the continuation of the Diary of a Roleplay Beginner, with the introduction to a second roleplay system set to stir things up on that front in a few weeks!

 

For now though, we hope you're still enjoying Games & Tea, and happy gaming!

A Day (or Two) of Games

Here at Games & Tea we're regulars at our local hobby store Titan Games, and over the course of Tuesday 13th and Wednesday 14th August they were kind enough to let us use their store to host two days of board and card game goodness.  The main reason for this event was to try and introduce players to games they hadn't yet experienced (or in some cases hadn't even heard of!), but to be honest we were just thrilled to be able to spend two days playing some fantastic games with new opponents!  We took every game in the Games & Tea arsenal down to Titan with us, and some extras were brought in by some of the other regulars, which meant that even we were able to experience something new.

Day one started with a round of Felinia, the spice-trading cat-based game which has become a cult hit amongst Titan regulars, and a firm favourite here at Games & Tea.  We were more than happy to sit this one out, allowing four brand new players to experience the joys of this game, as we guided them through the turn sequences.  In an exceptionally close-run game, victory ended up being snatched by The Caustic Triton from fellow gaming blog The Hobbynomicon.

"Spice must flow..."

The day continued with a round of Letters From Whitechapel, an amazing game from Fantasy Flight in which one player takes on the role of Jack the Ripper and the remaining players must work together to catch him before his murder spree is complete.  Dark subject matter aside, Whitechapel is an exceptional game, with very tense gameplay and some seriously strategic thinking required (a full review will follow soon).  The game takes place over four turns, and in a dramatic turn of events, Jack was caught at the very end of turn three!  He could have made it back to his hideout, but one last attempt to throw the police off the scent was his downfall, and his reign of terror ended.  Once again we sat this one out, hand-holding for a new Jack player and taking the police through the motions at the same time.

"Did anyone hear footsteps?"

Iello's King of Tokyo was a new discovery for us, courtesy of another Titan regular.  Each of up to six players takes on the role of a monster movie archetype (or sometimes far-from-archetype!), and each must compete to become the greatest monster in Tokyo.  It's a game with very basic mechanics and a simple premise, but is a very good wind-down game, and falls very much into the light-hearted category, along with the likes of Looney Lab's Fluxx.  Sadly our Kraken became a little too ambitious, and was the first monster to die at the hands of its peers.
Speaking of Fluxx, a few rounds of Star Fluxx found their way into the afternoon's play, which were especially good as we were once again introducing new players to the game.  Star Fluxx has a general sci-fi theme running through the game, with references to Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who and Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy in amongst the deck.
Keeping with card games, an epic five-player game of Atlas Games' Gloom was possible, thanks to the fifth family added by the Unfortunate Expeditions expansion.  The stories flowed thick and (occasionally) fast, with some compelling (again, occasionally) narratives.  There was love, a cruise, game-manufacturing apes, spice-cat expeditions, and a cannibal cookery course... everything you could want from a tale of death and woe.  Not to mention a very eventful dog.
On a less sinister note, time was found late on in the day for a round of Dixit, from Libellud.  Once again, two of the players were brand new to the game, keeping Games & Tea's mission profile of bringing new game experiences to the masses right on track!  The game ran very closely up until the very final round, where we just managed to scrape a victory by 2 meagre points!

Day two took off very quickly, with a game of Fantasy Flight's Relic, a game based on the Talisman system, but based in Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 universe.  This was a slow-paced game as we needed to brush up on the rules, having left it gathering dust for some months.  This isn't because Relic is a bad game, but it is extremely complex and requires a lot of time and effort to play through to the end.  Even on the beginners' mission this game lasted around 2 hours, with a Sister of Battle just about snatching a victory after the Sanctioned Psyker looked as though he had it in the bag.
With the Felinia crowd busy playing Magic: The Gathering, a round of Wyrd Miniatures' Puppet Wars was set in motion; a 'shoe box' sized game with Lady Justice facing off against Pokey Viktoria.  The game got off to a slow start with both players advancing cautiously to the neutral workbenches, both wary about drawing first puppet-blood.  Lady Justice's crew looked to take the upper hand quickly, by shredding the heaviest hitter in Pokey Vik's crew, but this only seemed to enrage the latter master, as Lady Justice suddenly found her crew dropping like flies.  As Lady J's numbers started to dwindle and Pokey Vik began to gain the upper hand through workbench possession, the Justice crew went on an all-out offensive, targeting the opposing master relentlessly, and eventually managed to pull a victory out of the bag.

"PUPPETS! FORM UP IN RANKS!"

With the war for the workshop over, it was time for a new war to be fought.  We've recently been pulled into the world of Fantasy Flight's X-Wing Miniatures game, and were curious to see whether it had to be played as a full on tabletop gaming system, or if it could work straight out of the box (containing one X-Wing and two TIE Fighters).  A starter set was cracked open, the pieces assembled, pilots chosen, and the basic quick-start scenario was played.  It was a short-run game, but the two Imperial pilots were able to outmanoeuvre the lone Rebel, and the wreckage of a solitary X-Wing was left drifting through the asteroid field as the TIE pilots reported back to base.

"I can't shake him!"

With it firmly established that X-Wing does work as a standalone game, the table was reset with two large-scale opposing forces to see how the small-scale skirmish compares to an experience of X-Wing as a full tabletop system.

"There's too many of them!"

The game got off to a very close start, with early losses on both sides.  Both forces demonstrated some excellent piloting skills, with ships weaving closely in and out of eachother, working together to take down enemy targets.  The occasional glaring pilot error did start to creep through after the first few turns though, most noticeably in Boba Fett's three-turn streak of crashing into meteors.  Towards the end of the game the Rebels began to gain the upper hand, and when the dust settled Han, Luke and Biggs were all soaring off, undoubtedly heading back to fanfares and medals.
After the Galactic Empire had held a memorial service for Darth Vader, Boba Fett and the legions of nameless pilots, doom and gloom returned to the streets of Victorian London as Letters From Whitechapel unfolded on the table once more (or twice more, in fact).  Again we were pleased to introduce two new players, as well as allowing an experienced player his first taste of playing as Jack.  The first game ended half way through night 2, with some lucky patrol work and excellent deduction leading to a sneaky arrest on the Ripper.  The second game saw another player take their first taste of Jack, but sadly closing time meant that the game was abandoned at the end of night 2.  The police had a rough idea of the location of Jack's hideout, but without those other two turns we'll never know if he was ever caught.
We were able to round things off with a bit of board game rambling, as our Hobbynomicon friends were recording their second podcast, which even included a brief recap of our little event!

Overall the event was a lot of fun, but so many games were brought down by ourselves and others that some sadly went unplayed.  Zombicide, Bugmans, and three different Fluxx varieties never made it out of their respective boxes, so we're certainly hoping the guys at Titan will let us run another such event in the near future.

We hope you've enjoyed this recap of our little games extravaganza!  Normal service will now be resumed, so come back next week by which point we'll hopefully have a full review of Letters From Whitechapel up and running.