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Ah Mother Nature. There really is nothing like sitting back on a warm day and enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. Or maybe, if you’re a bit like me, you’ll enjoy the comforting sound of the rain outside as you sip hot tea and delve into a good board game or three. Yes, Mother Nature is truly a wonderful yet terrifying force in the world that can change moment to moment.
In a similar fashion, Looney Labs has graced the gaming world with another edition of their ever-popular game Fluxx. Nature Fluxx, as the name suggests, asks players to delve into the natural world and collect the Keepers amongst the Creepers as they work towards achieving the current goal in play. How does this version of the game stack up I hear you cry? Well, let’s take a closer look.
Gameplay
Firstly, if you’re new to Fluxx, it’s important to understand how the game is played and why the theme of nature fits in so well. The appeal of Fluxx stems (pun absolutely intended) from the constant changing rules and goals. The game begins with one simple instruction: draw a card and play a card. Players must collect cards known as Keepers to try and meet the current goal in play, all the while navigating the games ever-changing rules and the dreaded Creepers. For those that may not know, Creepers are cards that players want to avoid. They essentially stop participants from being able to win the game and can come with some nasty effects if drawn from the deck. As the game goes on, new rules will be added. Some will stick throughout the whole game, whilst others will replace whichever card was already in play. It’s safe to say that there will never be an identical game of Fluxx!
Similarly, like other games of Fluxx, the setup is wonderfully quick and simple which is a great attraction to newer players. People with more experience with Fluxx may expect a slightly more layered game as in many other versions, such as Batman Fluxx and Cthulhu Fluxx, there are a variety of different cards that can be played during the game such as Surprise Cards. These can alter the game quite drastically and add another layer of complexity. However, in Nature Fluxx, Looney Labs has taken the game back to its most basic style. The players are simply allowed to enjoy the more traditional various Rule Change cards, a handful of Creeper cards and of course Action Cards to give the game a somewhat more calming experience than players may get with different editions.
Theming
The true beauty of this version of Fluxx comes from the theme. There are a variety of different plants, animals and objects from the natural world that are brought into the game in Fluxx’s recognisable art style. Any nature lover would be happy to just sit back and look through the deck itself, admiring the array of choices made by Looney Labs.
Final Thoughts
One thing that particularly shined through for me when playing Nature Fluxx is the use of the Creepers. There are only 3 of these cards in the game and they each represent a different natural disaster: Forest Fire, Flood and Drought. What is interesting about these Creepers, and different to any other version of Fluxx I have played, is that when drawn these cards affect all the players rather than just the one who drew the card. I think this is a very accurate depiction of how these natural disasters would work in the real world, they wouldn’t just affect one thing but all of them, so the use of these cards is quite cleverly done.
I also very much appreciated the variety of ways to achieve Goals in this edition. There are several Goal cards that allow players to collect a handful of different Keepers to win rather than just the standard combination of 2.
I’ll be honest, I’ve played fair few games of Fluxx now. Whether that’s Firefly Fluxx or Cartoon Network Fluxx, it’s safe to say that there are enough versions of the game out there for most people to have had a taste of it somewhere along the line. For those various editions, there has always been something special added to them to give them a true taste of the theme they are trying to emulate. For instance, in Cthulhu Fluxx, there are Doom Points as well as cards that reflect the Lovecraftian lore that it is based on. Perhaps I have been spoilt with these editions, but with Nature Fluxx I couldn’t help but feel it was lacking the same excitement and uniqueness that many of the other editions of Fluxx gave me.
With that said, it can also be a blessing of how simplistic this game is. For a seasoned veteran of Fluxx, it can be quite off-putting however for someone brand new to the franchise it can come as a welcome relief. It may not be my first pick off my own shelf but for someone new to the world of bord gaming, Nature Fluxx is a great choice.
