Unthemed Fluxx

**Fluxx®** is a card game created by game (systems) designer Andrew (Andy) Looney and published by Looney Labs. Originally published in 1996 in the United States of America, the game has gone through many iterations and themed Variants, including many foreign language versions, and continues to be the publisher's most successful and widely-known game. The basic versions of the game are known as the "Unthemed" versions and may also be called "Original," "Base," "Plain," and "Core" Fluxx. They have no custom theme to speak of and instead rely on common human experience ideas and cultural themes such as Love, Money, Time, Sleep, and Cookies.

## Gameplay

See Gameplay for detailed gameplay information.

## Versions

Generally, Unthemed Fluxx® has incremental version numbers in decimal format. However, some versions/editions stray from this overall format. Typically Fluxx® games implement a "A.B" format, where A signifies a major version, and B indicates a minor version. Major versions have a major rework in the gameplay, card size or count, or major changes to which cards are included. Minor versions usually only have print error changes or subtle card changes that don't drastically alter how the game is played. To date, there have been eight versions of Unthemed Fluxx® published in English in the United States.

## First Edition

### MSRP

$7.95

The **First (1st) Edition** of the game was released in 1996, and may also be called "1.0" due to later versions having the (now-standard) versioning scheme. It was printed in the United States by C&W Playing Cards, Inc and published by Looney Laboratories themselves. The outer tuckbox measured approximately 92mm by 66mm by 26mm and was made out of a somewhat thin cardstock type paper that does not snugly fit the deck. The whole box was printed in black and white - the front had the standard hashmark card back style, with "The Card Game with Ever-Changing Rules" above the Fluxx® text logo, and "For 2-6 players" and "Ages 8 and up" below it. It featured the art from several Keepers on the top (Milk and Cookies) and bottom (Time and Money), one on each side of the Fluxx® text logo. Edition, price ($7.95), and copyright information were printed on the left side. Publisher and contact information, and the Looney Laboratories logo were displayed on the right side. On the back was also the hashmark card back design, and a description that reads:

> FLUXX
>
>
> A perfectly simple game for 2 to 6 players
>
>
>
> Simple? Fluxx has but one rule: "Draw one card and then play one card." What cards might one play? Well, one might play Time, or War, or perhaps Love. I shall play Chocolate -- it is a fine thing to have Chocolate. What's this? You have played the card "Play two cards." Well, play a second card! Do you not know the rule of Fluxx? It is this: "Draw one card and then play two cards." Well, that's what is is *now*. Perfectly simple. The goal of the game? Ah, I'm terribly sorry. No one has played one yet.
>
>

The deck contents consist of an instruction sheet? and 81 cards, though the box says it has 80. The cards measure to be 89mm by 63.5mm, which is larger than all other Fluxx® decks printed afterward. As such, the cards from **First Edition** cannot be mixed with any other version, and later Promo Cards cannot be used with it. The cards were also printed only in black and white, and do not have any sort of "stripe" along the left side of the card as all other versions do, other than the word indicating the card type in the upper left-hand corner. The deck breakdown is as follows: 18 Actions, 20 Goals, 19 Keepers, 21 New Rules, 1 Basic Rules card, 1 Instructions card, and 1 blank card. Of particular note are the Basic Rules, Instructions, and blank cards, as indicated in the card list below:

#### First Edition Card List

Additionally, there were two Promo Cards printed for **First Edition** that will not work for any other version due to the card size differences: All You Need is Love and The Television is Watching You.

## 2nd Edition

### SKU

LOO-001

The **2nd (Second) Edition** of the game was released in 1998, and may also be called "2.0" due to later versions having the (now-standard) versioning scheme. It was printed in the United States by Carta Mundi, and was both distributed and published by Ice Crown Enterprises, instead of self-published as previous and later versions. The outer tuckbox measured approximately 90mm by 60mm by 29mm and was still made out of a somewhat thin cardstock type paper, but it was a much better fit for the cards. Going forward, until the box redesign in 4.0, the box size and materials would remain the same. The box was printed in color, with the new 5-color Fluxx® text logo on the front, and a ™ after the logo was added going forward. Above the logo was the text "A perfectly simple game for 2 to 6 players!" and below was "1 Deck, 84 Cards, Endless Possibilities!" The bottom panel of the First Edition was moved to the top side in 2nd Edition (with Time and Money on each side of the black and white Fluxx® text logo). The bottom was given a new panel with lots of important information: ISBN, a barcode, "ST#500," the price ($8.95), *CE* and *Recyclable* logos in red, "Designed by Andrew Looney," publisher, distributer, and printer text, "2nd Edition.," "© Copyright 1998 by Looney Laboratories," and an "ICE Est. 1980" logo. The left side has the ICE logo, the Fluxx® text logo, and art from the Cookies Keeper. The right side has the Looney Laboratories logo, the Fluxx® text logo, and the art from the Milk Keeper. The back has a description which reads:

> Simple? Fluxx has but one rule: "Draw one card and then play one card." What cards could you play? Well, you could play Time, or War, or per-haps Love. I shall play Chocolate-it is a fine thing to have Chocolate. What's this? You have played the card "Play two cards." Well, play a second card! Don't you know the rule of Fluxx? It is this: "Draw one card and then play two cards." Well, that's what it is now. Perfectly simple. The goal of the game? Oh, I'm terribly sorry.
>
>

The back also had "ST#500" under the description on the left, and the ICE logo on the right.

The game was redesigned and updated in 2nd Edition in the following ways:

* Card size became smaller to the current size of 87mm by 56mm
* The Instructions card was changed into an instruction sheet?
* A color-coded stripe for each card was added that matched the card type: Blue for Actions, Pink for Goals, Green for Keepers, and Yellow for New Rules
* Card style overall changed: names and type icons were added to the top left, inside the stripe, and the card type text was moved to the top of the card
* The Basic Rules card was redesigned: the back changed to an inverted-color version to distinguish it from the other cards (black became white and white became black), while the front was completely redesigned and a yellow stripe with orange outlines was added to match the new card style
* Many card names changed case somewhat
* "Coffee" and "Doughnuts" Keepers were added, as well as the goal Coffee and Doughnuts that utilized the Keepers
* The "Toast" Keeper was renamed to "Bread" and the Goal "Toast and the Toaster" was renamed to Toast
* Take Another Turn replaced the Lose a Turn Action for better playability
* The Eye Bonus New Rule was removed and two New Rules were added: Keeper Limit 4 and Money Bonus
* All You Need is Love, the promo from First Edition, replaced the Goal Keeper Shortage
* The Goal "Peace and Love" was renamed to Hippyism
* The Goal "The Eye & the Brain" was renamed to The Mind's Eye
* The Goal "Eye on the Pyramid" was renamed to The Great Seal
* The pyramid art on the Keeper The Pyramid and the Goal The Great Seal was changed

As a result of the changes, card count increased to 84 cards total, with the deck breakdown having become the following: 18 Actions, 21 Goals, 21 Keepers, 22 New Rules, 1 Basic Rules card, and 1 blank card. Below is the full card listing:

#### 2nd Edition Card List

Many Promo Cards were also created that work with this deck. Be aware, however, that newer promos have a ® symbol on the back that 2nd Edition does not have.

## Version 2.1

### SKU

LOO-001

**Fluxx® Version 2.1** was a relatively minor update to the game. Released in the year 2000, it was still printed in the United States by Carta Mundi?, but now published by Looney Labs. The outer tuckbox did not change size from 2nd Edition: it still measured approximately 90mm by 60mm by 29mm and was still made out of a somewhat thin cardstock type paper. The box was printed in color, with the 5-color Fluxx® text logo on the front, still with the ™ symbol and the card back style hashmark edge. Below the logo was the text "The card game with ever-changing rules!" The top changed in that the Fluxx® logo moved to the left, the Time and Money Keeper art was removed, and the Cookies and Milk Keeper art was placed to the right of the logo. The bottom was similar to 2nd Edition, and has the following: a new ISBN, a new barcode, no price, "FLUXX Version 2.1," "© 1998 Looney Laboratories, Inc.," "Designed by Andrew Looney," "Published by Looney Labs," a CE, recycle, and pyramid symbol, "www.LooneyLabs.com," a new catalog/sku number**☮** "LOO-001," and the new Looney Labs logo. Finally, the tuck-flap has the Fluxx® text logo printed on it. The left side has the Fluxx® text logo, and below that "The card game with ever changing rules" followed by the following list:

* 2-6 players
* Ages 8+
* 2-30 minutes
* 84 cards + instructions

The right side has the Fluxx® text logo on the left with "Mensa Select Award Winner" and "1999" below it, and the new Looney Labs logo on the right. The back is a plain black background with text, and has Play 2 and Chocolate shown on the left and right of the text, respectively. The text is as follows:

> FLUXX: A Perfectly Simple Game for 2-6 Players
>
>
> Simple? Fluxx has but one rule: "Draw one card and then play one card."
>
>
> What cards could you play? Well you could play Time, or War, or perhaps Love. I shall play Chocolate - it is a fine thing to have Chocolate.
>
>
> What's this? You have played the card "Play 2." Well, play a second card!
>
>
> Don't you know the rule of Fluxx? It is this: "Draw one card and then play two cards."
>
>
> Well, that's what it is NOW. Perfectly simple.
>
>
>
> The goal of the game? Oh, I'm terribly sorry. No one has played one yet.
>
>

The card list itself did not change from 2nd Edition to Version 2.1. The rules sheet included was redesigned somewhat, and the back of the Basic Rules card removed the hashmark border. Pyramid art changed again on cards that have The Pyramid shown, and the "toast" marks were removed from the art of Bread. Other than these changes and the outer box, **Version 2.1** is identical to 2nd Edition. See the card list for 2nd Edition for a complete list of cards.

Many Promo Cards were also created that work with this deck. Be aware, however, that newer promos have a ® symbol on the back that Version 2.1 does not have.

## Version 3.0

### SKU

LOO-001(-V30)

**Fluxx® Version 3.0** was a pretty major update, unlike Version 2.1. It was released in 2002, was also printed by Carta Mundi? and published by Looney Labs. Like Version 2.1, the outer tuckbox did not change size from 2nd Edition: it still measured approximately 90mm by 60mm by 29mm and was still made out of a somewhat thin cardstock type paper. The box was printed in color, with all sides printed black except the bottom. It still had the 5-color Fluxx® text logo on the front, with the ™ symbol, however it removed the card back style border. The text "The card game with ever-changing rules!" on the front moved to above the logo, and under the logo a new, red "Version 3.0" text appeared. The top changed only in that the Fluxx® logo was colorized, and the Cookies and Milk Keeper art was inverted to show up on the black background. The bottom was similar to Version 2.1, with all of the same information and layout, except for the copyright year being updated to 2002 and the Looney Labs logo being colorized. The left side is similar in that it has the Fluxx® text logo, and the same list from Version 2.1. However, the text line was removed, and the colorized Looney Labs logo was added below the list, and the panel flipped upside-down. The right side was also flipped, but changed to have the colorized Fluxx® text logo, a green explosion bubble with "Version 3.0" inside, and the tagline text from the front underneath. The back changed significantly: It showed an example game in progress with the Basic Rules, Draw 4, Reverse Order, Time, Money, Let's Do That Again!, Time is Money, and a card back, with multiple yellow arrows pointing to the different cards with nearby text saying what they are. The tuck-flap print was also changed to say "Read our weekly webzine at: wunderland.com."

Generally, **Version 3.0** stayed the same as 2nd Edition and 2.1 in spirit, although the game was changed and improved in many ways. The included instruction sheet was reworked and became a larger, fold-out version. Many of the cards had wording rewritten for clarity, and some artwork was changed. The blank card was removed, as were the cards that allowed players to hide their Keepers. A handful of Keepers and their related Goals were removed, a couple added, and other cards added in their place. The overall number of cards stayed the same at 84, but the ratio changed to the following: 21 Actions, 23 Goals, 18 Keepers, 21 New Rules, 1 Basic Rules card. Below is the complete list:

#### 3.0 Card List

Many Promo Cards were also created that work with this deck. Be aware, however, that newer promos have a ® symbol on the back that **Version 3.0** does not have.

## Version 3.1

### SKU

LOO-001

**Fluxx® Version 3.1** was a very minor update that was released in 2005. It was also printed by Carta Mundi and published by Looney Labs. Like previous versions, the outer tuckbox did not change size: it was still approximately 90mm by 60mm by 29mm and was still made out of the same kind of card paper. The box was printed in color, with all sides printed purple except the bottom, unlike Version 3.0. In fact, other than the bottom panel, the only other differences between the 3.0 and 3.1 boxes were that the "Version 3.0" text was removed from the front, the left side says "Ages 8-108" instead of "Ages 8+," the right side version number was updated, the tuck-flap was changed to read "Visit us on the web at: looneylabs.com," the Fluxx® text logos now have ® after them, and the Looney Labs logos had additional color and clouds. The bottom panel has three different versions as there were three printings of **Version 3.1**. All of them are similar, particularly the second and third. These are the bottoms of the three printings:

1. The top left corner has "$12" in a black circle, an "LOO-001" catalog number or SKU to the right of that, the ISBN and UPC (unchanged from previous versions) below that. To the right of the SKU and UPC there is a Looney Labs cloud logo, and underneath it another bar code with "51200" above it. To the far right, these items are in rows: "FLUXX Version 3.1," "© 1997-2005 by Looney Labs," "Designed by Andrew Looney," and "Printed in the USA by Carta Mundi." Below that are the CE, recycle, and pyramid symbols, and at the bottom right is "LooneyLabs.com
2. Everything was the same as print #1 except the price was changed to a yellow starburst with "Over 300,000 copies sold!" and the Looney Labs logo and second bar code were replaced with the full Looney Labs Doorway logo. The rules insert was also updated.
3. Everything was the same as print #2 except the starburst says "Over 350,000 copies sold!"

Contents-wise, very little changed between Version 3.0 and 3.1. The Basic Rules card was redesigned completely and instead of the side-stripe and similar styling to other card types, it now has the Fluxx® text logo (in black and white) to the left of a giant "BASIC RULES" text at the top of the card. The new version also has some text on how to begin, and then two New Rules style card icons printed at the bottom of the card, one for "Draw 1" and one for "Play 1." The back also changed to be a description card similar to the back-of-box descriptions on the first few versions of the game. Many of the cards had the font/text size reduced as well, the text under the card types changed, and images on Goals were enlarged some. There were a couple of other cards that changed, particularly the removal of two of the new Action cards that were added in 3.0, and addition of another (previously promo?) Action and a Fluxx® Fan Club ad card. In all, the number of cards stayed at 84, but the distribution is thus: 20 Actions, 23 Goals, 18 Keepers, 21 New Rules, 1 Basic Rules card, and 1 ad card.

#### Specific card changes from 3.0

Some copies of **Version 3.1** may have had misprinted Basic Rules cards due to a graphical glitch, showing partial or full numbers other than 1 (usually a 2 or the very corner of one) by the Draw or Play rule icons.

Many Promo Cards were also created that work with this deck. Be aware, however, that newer promos have a ® symbol on the back that **Version 3.1** does not have, despite the box having the ® symbols.

## Version 4.0

### SKU

LOO-001(-V4)

Released in 2008, **Fluxx® 4.0** was a heavily redesigned version of the game that included the new Creeper card type, as well as new versions of cards to handle them. The box design was changed to a two-section, flat type with divider that measures ???mm by ???mm by ???mm. The ® symbol was also added to the Fluxx® logo on card backs. Generally, card text is larger than version 3.0/3.1, and additional full-color art has been added to or updated on the cards. The Basic Rules card back has had the flavor text replaced with a white-background Fluxx® logo to distinguish it from normal cards in the deck. **Fluxx® 4.0** comes in a box with a purple background on all sides. It has the art for Cookies, The Moon, and The Sun from front to back on the front cover, along with the Fluxx® title in the five color design. The total card count was increased to 100, and the ratio changed to the following: 22 Actions, 29 Goals, 19 Keepers, 24 New Rules, 4 Creepers, 1 Basic Rules card, and 1 Meta Rule.

#### Printing Differences

Early printings of 4.0 came with the Meta Rule Rules Escalation but for playability reasons it was changed to No Creepers. The included rulesheet was also changed, but nothing else about the game is different.

#### 4.0 Card List

Many Promo Cards were also created that work with this deck. Be aware, however, that older promos do *not* have a ® symbol on the back that **Version 4.0** has, and as such observant players may be able to spot the different cards during gameplay.

## Special Edition

### SKU

LOO-051

**Special Edition** (or **SE** for short) was a simplified version of the original Fluxx® game that was released in 2012. It is also sometimes referred to as the *Target Edition* as it was released to be sold in Target stores as a "basic" or "entry-level" version. It came in a hang-tab tuckbox rather than the standardized 2-part divider box. While not strictly a "base game" release, it is unthemed and shares much more with the other base games than being a standalone themed version.

There were (at least) two different printings/distributions of this version of the game: one had the older card styles, and one had the newer card styles. The new style version has capitalization differences for card titles, and oddly had two cards replaced with different versions: Taxation! changed to Random Tax, and Awesome Music Mix changed to Awesome Playlist.

**Fluxx® SE** contained 100 cards like most newer versions of Fluxx®. The card count ratio was: 22 Actions, 32 Goals, 22 Keepers, 23 New Rules, and 1 Basic Rules card. The complete card list for both printings follows, with details in the notes:

## Version 5.0

### SKU

LOO-001

**Version 5.0** is the latest version of unthemed Fluxx®. It was released in 2014 and continues to be printed. Creepers were again removed from the game to make it somewhat of a "simpler" game again, but they can be added back into the deck by using the Creeper Pack. **Fluxx® 5.0** has the new card style introduced in SE and various themed versions of the game. The cards included seem to be a combination of the more classic unthemed versions, coupled with some of the newer ones introduced in SE. The total card count stayed at 100. The ratio is now as follows: 23 Actions, 30 Goals, 19 Keepers, 27 New Rules, and 1 Basic Rules card.

#### 5.0 Card List

Many Promo Cards were also created that work with this deck. Be aware, however, that older promos do *not* have a ® symbol on the back that **Version 5.0** has, and as such observant players may be able to spot the different cards during gameplay.

### Fluxx® Apps

Version 5.0 has also been made available for play in both the Fluxx® Android App and the Fluxx® iOS App. It is the base version for the app, with the ability to add both the Creeper Pack and Zombie Fluxx to the app. The 5.0 version can be played with or without the Creeper Pack, and the Zombie version is a separate game that does not allow for play with the Creeper Pack.