Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
Around the World Fluxx from Looney Labs takes players on a fast-paced journey as they attempt to match destinations to goals in play. Fluxx has come in numerous forms through the years, which is perfect for an ever-changing card game. Its time-tested collecting and matching mechanics are applicable to many different games across genres, and have even featured tie-ins including SpongeBob and Star Trek. This new geographic take draws in the sights from all around the world for the latest adventure.
How to Play
Gameplay in Around the World Fluxx is much like the regular Fluxx set. The game starts with two simple rules: On each turn, players draw one card and play one card. Depending on what cards come into play, the game radically changes with more draws, more plays, and one-time actions. Players work to collect Keeper cards featuring icons, which appear in combinations on the Goal cards. When a player has the Keepers to match a Goal, they win the game.
A Whole New Fluxx
The global Keepers and Goals make Around the World Fluxx stand out. Each Keeper is a famous world site, such as the Statue of Liberty, Chichen Itza, the Parthenon, and even McMurdo Station in Antarctica. The Goals come in clever combinations, such as the Ancient Trade Routes Goal bringing together the City of Petra and Timbuktu, and the Circular Ruins Goal requiring the pairing of Stonehenge and the Colosseum.
In addition to the unique Keepers and Goals, Around the World Fluxx has actions and rules new to the Fluxx universe. Several of the Action cards can be used as “attacks” to slow down opponents, such as “I’m Lost!” causing a player to lose a turn or “Luggage Mishap!” making a player take a turn without using the cards in their hand. Other actions and new rule cards speed up the game by allowing for more plays per turn. “Seven Seas and Seven Wonders” makes a turn become “draw seven, play seven.” “Armchair Traveler” gives a new rule for an instant draw simply by imagining aloud what a visit to a particular Keeper would be like.
An Education in a Box
Like Astronomy Fluxx and Chemistry Fluxx, Around the World Fluxx serves as an education wrapped in a box. Players will pick up plenty of geography knowledge about the sites from the Keepers and their locations. The New Rule card “When Was That Built?” even rewards players with a free card draw if they can name the years when the world sites on Keepers were built.
Around the World Fluxx is a card game for one to six players aged eight and up. Since the game is inherently chaotic with the rules changing on the draws and plays, gameplay time can be random from a few minutes to up to nearly a half hour. The game does not include any Creepers, which block wins, keeping this edition very kid-friendly and speedy. Special cards move the game especially quickly, like “Well-Used Passport” giving a draw for each country represented by Keepers on the table, or naming a specific Keeper to claim and potentially match a goal with the appropriately named “I’m Going on a Trip.”
