The chair creaks as you settle onto it. The candlelight flickers. All around you the ravenous faces of your so-called friends twist in delight as you slowly open the box laid out on the table. Welcome to Dangerous Games! Each week, we'll feature a horror/thriller/monster tabletop game you should be playing. Don't be scared… roll the dice… what's the worst that could happen?
Zombie Fluxx
You race across the yard, looking desperately for anything you can grab to fight off the hordes of undead. Those rotting, gnawing monsters used to be your friends, your neighbors… and now they're out for your brains. You know if you could just get that shovel you'd be able to start bashing some zombie heads and make some progress. You search and search until you finally find the shovel. All right, zombies, come and meet your maker. Suddenly, out of nowhere, shovels don't work on zombie heads anymore. Now you need the baseball bat... and suddenly you can't carry the shovel and the bat at the same time... and the rules of this world change again... and again!
Don't worry, you're not caught in some twisted nightmare - it's just a game of Zombie Fluxx! A new edition of the classic 1996 game Fluxx by Looney Labs, Zombie Fluxx is a game about changing rules and fighting the undead. The card game, for two to six players, features chaotic rule-switching and fast-paced undead fun.
Gameplay Mechanics
The idea behind all Fluxx games (their themes include Cthulhu, The Wizard of Oz, Monty Python's Holy Grail, and many more) is that the rules constantly change. Each game starts with a core rule or objective to win the game. By playing cards you work toward the current objective. But whenever someone plays a new rule, or a new objective, the mechanics of the game shift wildly.
For instance, you may be trying to collect two specific items and just as you're about to snag that last item you need from an opponent another player plays a new objective card. The new card requires you to have two completely different cards. Now all your hard work has gone to waste, and it's time to start over. The first player to complete a goal before it switches over wins the game.
Replay Value
When a game is this chaotic, it usually holds up very well for replay. Games don't last longer than about fifteen minutes to a half an hour, and that keeps the excitement fresh. You can play this ten, maybe fifteen times before you start to get tired of the objectives and goals you're out to get. Plus, this is a very social game, full of interactivity, so as long as your friends aren't boring, the game won't be boring either. The artwork on these cards are wonderful, tame, and full of colorful zombie gore. It doesn't look like any other game, and that keeps it feeling very fresh.
Overall Impressions
This is another one of those fun, light-hearted games. You don't need to agonize over strategy or ruminate over misplays or mistakes you made. It's not going to give you something deep to chew on, but it's perfect for the quick bite. Speaking of bites and chewing, my friends and I often bring this to dinner when we go out to eat, and bust it out while waiting for our entrees to arrive. Nothing like playing cards about eating brains while waiting for burgers!