Cat Fluxx
Cat Fluxx Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
- Fluxx is a game about constant change.
- Begin by following the Basic Rules.
- Each player starts with a hand of 3 cards.
- On your turn, draw 1 card, play 1 card.
- New Rules take effect as soon as you play them.
- Collect Keepers to match the Goal and you win!
Setup
Place the Basic Rules card in the center of the table. Shuffle the deck and deal three cards to each player. Establish the draw pile by placing the remainder of the deck face down where everyone can reach it.
Going First
The dealer goes first. Or choose a player at random. Play proceeds clockwise.
Types of Cards
Each turn, you will Draw at least one card, add it to your hand, and Play at least one card. Here's how each type of card is used in the game:
New Rules change the way the game works. When a New Rule is played, you must adapt to it right away. When a New Rule contradicts a card already in play, the old rule is discarded. To play one, place it face up in the center of the table. New rules take effect immediately.
Keepers are what you need in order to win. To play a Keeper, place it face up on the table in front of you. Keep them in front of you after playing.
Goals indicate which Keepers you currently need in order to win. Goals are played face up in the center of the table. Discard the previous Goal, if any.
Actions are single-use cards. To play an Action card, do whatever it says, then place it on the discard pile. Follow the instructions on the card, then discard it.
Turn Sequence
- Draw the number of cards currently required.
- Play the number of cards currently required.
- Discard to comply with any Limit rules in play.
Optional actions allowed by New Rules, Keepers, etc., may be performed at any point during this sequence.
All cards are always playable, even if they have no effect. If you aren't sure how a card works, try reading the full text aloud as you play it.
Sample Game (In Progress)
The sample game illustrates the following: New Rules that override the Basic Rules are placed overlapping the part they supersede. Other New Rules are placed in the center. Goals also go in the middle, and are shared by all players. Keepers are placed in front of their owners. The Basic Rules card stays in the middle for the entire game. After following an Action card's instructions, place it onto the discard pile.
Limits
At first there will be no limitations on the number of cards you can hold in your hand or Keepers you have in play – but Hand and Keeper Limit cards will create such restrictions. These rules only affect you when it's NOT your turn, so you can ignore them until your turn ends. When someone plays a new Limit rule, the other players must immediately comply with the new restriction, discarding cards of their choice as needed.
How to Win
The game continues until someone meets the conditions of the current Goal. That player wins instantly, no matter whose turn it is! (If a tie, the game continues until one winner emerges.)
Other Types of Cards
Creepers: These are like Keepers you do not want. Usually Creepers prevent you from winning, but sometimes you actually need them to win. Creepers are kept on the table in front of you in the same area as your Keepers.
Creepers cannot be held in your hand. Instead, they automatically go into play. As soon as you draw a Creeper, you must place it face up in front of you and draw another card. This does NOT count as a "play."
You might have to accept several Creepers at once as you draw cards, until you've drawn the required number of non-Creepers and added them to your hand. Note that this is true any time you draw a card, such as during an Action.
Examples
Here are a few examples to show how various cards interact:
- After drawing one card, you play the Draw 3 New Rule. Now the rules require you to draw three cards on each turn, but since you only took one card before, you must immediately draw two more cards. The next player draws three cards for their turn. They play Draw 2 which changes the rules again, but they draw no more cards, having already gotten (at least) two cards this turn. Since Draw 2 contradicts Draw 3, the Draw 3 rule is discarded.
- If you play the Action called Draw 2 and Use 'Em, you will immediately draw two cards and play them both. If one of those cards is Draw 3, Play 2 of Them you would keep going, drawing three more cards, playing two cards, and discarding the third. All of this activity would be considered the playing of just one card when counting the number of plays on your turn.
- Suppose you play Draw 3, Play 2 of Them. You will start by drawing three cards. If any of those cards are Creepers, you would place them in front of you and redraw immediately until you have three non-Creepers, then you would choose which two of those cards to play.
Other Notes
First Round Creepers: At the start of the game, any player whose initial hand of cards contains a Creeper must immediately play all of the Creepers they have, and draw again, as needed, until they have three non-Creeper cards in hand.
Regarding Discarding: You cannot simply discard unwanted cards. You can only discard if compelled to by a Hand Limit or similar compulsion. (Yes, this means you could end up being forced to play a card that makes someone else win.)
Reshuffling: If the draw pile runs out, shuffle the discard pile, turn it over to make a new draw pile, and keep playing.
Cards in Play: Whenever something mentions a card "in play," this refers to a card that is face up on the table, but not in the discard pile. Keepers must be in play for you to meet a Goal that requires them. If a Keeper has a special power, you must have it in play in order to make use of its bonus ability.
Free Actions: Some cards allow for bonus actions which can be taken at any time during your turn. Since they do not count as plays, they are called Free Actions.
Jumping In: New players may join at any time by being dealt a hand of three cards.
Dropping Out: Players can exit the game at any time. Just discard your hand and all of the cards you have in play.
Special Icons
This version of Fluxx uses the following icons:
- Cat: This icon is used to label Cat Keepers.
- Dog: This icon is used to label Dog Keepers.
- Attaching Creepers: Creepers marked with this icon will become attached to one of your Keepers. If you have no Keepers in play, they will wait patiently until something arrives. Once attached, the two cards are considered a unit until they are removed from play.
Solo Fluxx
For a longer version of the solitaire rules, please visit looneylabs.com/solo-fluxx.
Setup: Before playing Solo Fluxx, remove all cards that won't apply with one player. You can play any version of Fluxx solo, but each has its own list of cards to set aside. For this version, the 11 cards to remove are:
- The Zoomies
- Mix It All Up
- Random Tax
- Trade Hands
- Rotate Hands
- Everybody Gets 1
- Exchange Keepers
- Steal Something
- Use What You Take
- Creeper Reassignment
- Draw 4 and Scatter 'Em
Start:
- Place the Basic Rules on the table, to one side.
- Divide the rest of the cards into New Rules (the Rules Deck) and non-Rules (the Main Deck).
- Shuffle the Rules Deck. Place it with the Basic Rules.
- Shuffle the Main Deck and place it on the other side.
- Deal yourself a hand of 3 cards from the Main Deck.
- You take the first turn.
Solo Fluxx layout: the Rules Deck is placed with the Rules Discard Pile, with the Basic Rules card in the middle surrounded by the One Limit Rule, One Other Rule, Draw Rule and Play Rule spaces. The Main Deck sits beside its Main Discard Pile. Scored Goals and the Keepers area are placed alongside, and the Current Goal(s) space is beside the Rules Deck area.
Play:
- Toggle between taking a turn and adding a New Rule.
- During your turn, Draw the number of cards indicated, then Play the number of cards required.
- After your turn ends, draw from the Rules deck and place the New Rule in the appropriate spot, discarding the card that was previously there.
- Comply with any new Limit before taking another turn.
End:
- Any time you meet the conditions of the current Goal, move that Goal to the Scored Goals pile, and discard all Keepers and/or Creepers required by the Goal.
- The game ends as soon as either deck runs out.
- Your score is the total number of Goals you collected.
Questions
When playing Fluxx, there are many interesting situations that can arise. If you get stuck on how a particular card works and need an official answer, the fastest solution is to check our extensive online database of Frequently Asked Questions at faq.looneylabs.com!
If you can't find the answer you need there, please email us and we'll get back to you with a ruling as soon as we can.