The ever-expanding world of Fluxx has expanded once again, this time into the world of (the remake of) Jumanji.

For those unfamiliar with Fluxx, I’m going to briefly cover the rules below. Feel free to skip down to “What’s New In Jumanji Fluxx” if you already know how to play the game.

How to Play Fluxx

Fluxx is a card game with ever-changing rules. It starts out pretty simple. The entire deck is shuffled, and each player is dealt three cards. The rest of the deck is placed in the middle of the table, with the Basic Rules card face-up next to it.

Here’s where people tend to try to overthink things. The Basic Rules card says, simply, “Draw One, Play One.” And that’s it. When it’s your turn, you draw a card from the deck and then play a card from your hand. Play then passes to your left. Honestly. Nothing more.

Until… the card someone plays is a new rule. That is placed next to the Basic Rules card and instantly takes effect. So if the new rule is “Draw 2,” then the person who just played it draws another card (because otherwise they will not have drawn 2), but they still only play 1 because that part of the Basic Rules is still in effect. The next player draws 2 and plays 1, and so forth.

But what’s the goal? Well, when the game starts, there isn’t one. No one can win. Because Goals are another type of card you can play, and until someone plays a Goal, there is no goal. But once one is played, it takes effect instantly as well, meaning that it’s possible to play a goal that immediately ends the game.

Most goals involve collecting Keepers, the next type of card. Keepers are cards you play face up in front of you, to keep. Most Keepers are thematic cards from whatever license or theme the deck is based on. A few have special abilities, but most just sit on the table, hoping to eventually end up being part of the right combination of cards to match the current goal.

Or, and one more thing about that Goal: unless there’s a rule in play changing this, you can only have one Goal out at a time. As soon as someone plays a new Goal, the current one is discarded. So don’t get too excited if you have one of the two Keepers you need for the current Goal – odds are good it won’t remain the goal for long.

One last type of card in the deck, and the type that will again confuse overthinkers, are the Action cards. These are played as normal but contain a set of instructions to follow. You don’t have to do anything when you play an Action other than whatever it says on the card.

Play continues like this, with new Rules and Goals constantly shifting the game while players collect Keepers and play Actions, until all of the sudden someone lucks into having the right combination of Keepers to match the goal, at which point they win and everyone else loses. I’ve played games that last only a couple of rounds and others that stretch on seemingly forever.

What’s New In Jumanji Fluxx

Fluxx in the Jumanji world. Image by Rob Huddleston

Jumanji Fluxx is a set of 107 cards, with a Specialty Edition that includes 7 additional cards. Like all Fluxx games, there’s a set of standard Rule and Action cards, but the Keepers and Goals are all theme-specific. So instead of generic Keepers from the original game like Sun and Rocket and Toaster, Jumanji has keepers like Bravestone and Ruby Roundhouse and Lions and Tigers and The Game. Instead of goals like Peanut Butter Sandwich (collect Peanut Butter, Jelly, and Bread), you now have goals like Cake Makes Me Explode (collect Mouse and Cake) or Eye of the Jaguar (Jewel of Jumanji and The Statue).

A sampling of the Danger cards in the game. Image by Rob Huddleston

The new twist to the game introduced here are the Danger cards. Each of these cards, when played, eliminates a player. Thankfully, this isn’t Monopoly-style elimination where your friend should probably go ahead and go home. Eliminated players discard their entire hand and all of their Keepers, but once everyone else has had a turn, they can jump back in by drawing a new hand of three cards and then starting their turn.

(This rule actually exists in all editions of Fluxx these days to allow players to join the game at any point. Given the overall random nature of the Goals, there’s no particular advantage to playing the game from the start versus coming in at a later point.) If there should ever be only a single player left, that person automatically wins.

The Meta Rules. Image by Rob Huddleston

The game also has a set of Meta Rules. These are agreed upon at the beginning of the game and, like the Basic Rules, remain in effect at all times. (Although a few of them have to be triggered by other game events before they actually affect the game.) One of the Meta Rules that is interesting is No More Lives. This card starts at the bottom of the deck and, once played, prohibits players from jumping in, which means that both new players cannot join afterward and eliminated players are eliminated permanently.

The animal cards. See the image above for the adventurers. Image by Rob Huddleston.

Some cards have a special designation: either a paw print for Animals or a hat for Adventurers (the main characters from the movies). These act as groups for a few of the Goals. For example, the We Have To Finish the Game! goal requires having The Game and any two Adventurers.

The Specialty Edition cards. Image by Rob Huddleston.

The bonus cards in the Specialty Edition include two new Keepers – Zebras and Crocodiles – along with Goals specific to them (Stripes needs Zebras and Tigers, and Dangerous Reptiles need Crocs and Snakes). The set is rounded out by three Danger cards triggered by either the Zebras, the Crocs, and one particularly nasty card: Deadly Venom!, which eliminates players who have Snakes, Giant Bugs, or Man-Eating Vines. Players are eliminated in order, ending with the person who played the card, so it’s possible that this card could end the game.

The It’s My Turn! coin. Image by Rob Huddleston.

The final bonus item in Jumanji Fluxx is a collector’s coin. This is included in both the Specialty and regular editions. It’s given to the player who goes first, and they basically hang on to it throughout the game until the Move the Coin! rule is played, at which point each player must remember to pass the coin to the next player or be forced to have a card randomly chosen from their hand and discarded.

A couple of thematic Goal cards. Image by Rob Huddleston.

All in all, Jumanji Fluxx adds a nice new theme to the game. The addition of the Danger cards and the possibility of elimination is a nice twist that adds an additional gotcha! element to the game. I suspect that this will become one of the go-to editions of the game at our game nights.

Jumanji Fluxx is available at Amazon and other fine retailers. The regular edition is $15, while the Specialty Edition is $18.