• Holiday Fluxx
• Designer: Andrew Looney
• Publisher: Looney Labs
• Plays 2–6
• Ages 8+
• Playing Time: 10–40 minutes
• Initial Release: 2014
• Elevator Pitch: It’s Fluxx with a holiday theme.
• Roar Score: 3/5

Let’s get this out of the way from the start: I’d only played Fluxx once before trying out this new Holiday Fluxx. And I didn’t really like it. I think there are two kinds of people in this world: those who really like Fluxx and those who…don’t. There is no middle. No one’s ambivalent about Fluxx. At least no one I’ve ever met.

The group that played this game had one person who is firmly in the “dislike” camp, but there were three others who had never played the game before. Blank slates, if you will.

Fluxx is easy enough to explain. Everyone starts with three cards, and there’s only one rule: “Draw 1, Play 1.” The game then gets more complicated and chaotic from there. The rules of play are fluid and will keep changing with everyone’s turn. Different cards change the rules, change the winning conditions, introduce surprises, or allow players to take special actions.

It’s a matter of playing the right card at the right time. Essentially, it all boils down to slightly controlled chaos. I’m sure there are some who will argue that there’s strategy involved, but there’s not much.

It can be a fun filler game with the right crowd. It could be a great game with kids (who are old enough to read and understand the cards). But with most adults, I’m afraid it has a tendency to fall flat.

There are oodles of different themed Fluxx games available now. You’ve got your Pirate Fluxx, Zombie Fluxx, Wizard of Oz Fluxx, Cthulhu Fluxx, and on and on. Holiday Fluxx is the newest and crams in lots of Christmas and Hanukkah references, along with a few Halloween and Thanksgiving cards.

It’s fun enough to play a few times, so it makes a great stocking stuffer. And as I said, it could be a great game for the 8-12 year old crowd. (Unfortunately, my kids—at 3 and 5—are too young to play since they can’t read the cards.) I’m just not sure how appropriate it would be for a seasoned gamer.

For the Fluxx lovers out there? This is a great addition to play at gatherings around the holidays. There’s nothing remarkably new in this version (at least as far as I can tell), but it’s a small package of harmless fun. And sometimes there’s nothing wrong with that.

(Disclosure: I received a review copy of Holiday Fluxx for review purposes. All opinions are my own.)