Card Game Review: ‘Regular Show Fluxx’

Looney Labs has given many different iterations to Fluxx, the card game that is never the same twice. Each one continues the Fluxx theme of changing up the rules, but they all have their own distinctions, whether the spooky Cthulhu Fluxx, the wild Star Fluxx, or the refreshingly cute Oz Fluxx. The latest Fluxx brings in another property well known for randomness of its own: Cartoon Network’s Regular Show.

Regular Show Fluxx is a careful blend of two very strong brands. If it were too much Regular Show, it would alienate longtime Fluxx players. If it were too Fluxx, fans of Regular Show would not find it immersive. Fortunately, the game balances the two effectively.

Like other rounds of Fluxx, the rules are simple: draw a card and play a card. As the game progresses, additional Rules will come into play, changing up the dynamics of drawing, playing, and even establishing hand-limits. Eventually a Goal card will come up, showing the winning conditions of which Keepers are needed. Action cards shake things up further by allowing players to steal cards, force opponents to discard, or do just about anything. Players will have to be crafty and quick to get their Keepers to match the Goal and win the game.

Lovers of classic Fluxx will enjoy the slew of new, practically experimental, rules. Many of them, like Recycling, Goal Mill, and Get On With It!, have to do with discarding and drawing new cards, speeding up the game by giving players the chance to change up their hands. Many players of Fluxx recall the horror of the Play All Rule, under which every card in a hand had to be used, no matter the consequences. The new Play All But 1 card gives another level to the decision-making by letting the player hold back a card. Regular Show Fluxx uses the same card backs as other Fluxx games, and players may wish to pick out a few new favorites to create the ultimate deck.

The Regular Show theme comes into play with characters and items from the show displayed on Keepers and Goal cards. A few have special abilities, such as Skips being an immortal card that cannot be discarded, but they are mostly for show. Action cards are where the game really gets into the spirit of Regular Show. Playing these prompts games of Rock-Paper-Scissors, has players “Do Me a Solid” by handing over the next drawn Keeper, and even gives the Death Punch of Death that makes an opponent discard his or her whole hand. The raucous game play fits well into Regular Show’s wild misadventures.

Regular Show Fluxx is a card game for two to six players aged eight and up. With the inherent random nature of Fluxx, games may last 10 minutes or 40. For even more wildness, a two-dollar add-on deck brings in “Cards from the Future!” with power-ups to the Time Machine Keeper as well as plenty of references to sell-out Mordecai and Rigby from the episode “Mordecai and the Rigbys.” Fans of Regular Show will love pointing out all the references, and fans of Fluxx will probably soon join them. To quote Pops, “Good show!”