Since getting Fluxx 3.0 I've added a bunch of new cards, including official Looney promos, ideas on Blanxx found online and from others, and some ideas of my own. My new cards come first, with all my promos and my comments on them below.
Keepers are tricky, because you generally have to balance them out with new Goals as well. Unfortunately the more Keepers and Goals you have the longer it will take for someone to win, since it will be less likely that the current goal will match any of the keepers on the table. I've tried to work around this, as you can see below.
Not used in any Goals.
Finding the card "Go Fish" had me looking through other card games for similar gameplay alterations that could be made into new Rules or Actions. I eventually came across Old Maid, which as you know consists of a deck with pairs of cards that get passed around, but with one card that doesn't have a pair: the Old Maid. What better way to employ this game mechanic than by having a Keeper without any Goals? It's the sacrifice of choice for the Swap Keepers action, and the first to go when a Keeper Limit is in place.
Counts as either Sleep or Dreams.
Sleep and Dreams are under-used keepers in my deck, with only two goals each and nothing really special about them, or the cards they're paired with in their goals (Time and Money.) They would be a good candidate for a double keeper, if only I can think of what to call it! Comfy pillows? Hypnosis? R.E.M.? If you have a suggestion, send it to the Fluxx mailing list.
Counts as the Brain.
I met the Looneys twice, in 2005. The first trip was with my friends Pete Marchetto and Rob Press when we headed to Maryland for National Science Week to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Einstein's famous papers (yes, we're geeks.) Ginohn Cooperden was/were glad to meet us, gave us a fantastic behind-the-scenes tour of Goddard Space Center, and invited us to the Looney's game night at wunderland.earth! Thanks guys! A note on Wunderland: it's unlike anwhere you've ever been. The best I can approximate it is by sending you to Andy's Brain and having you take everything you see there literally.
My second encounter was when Andy, Kristin, and Alison headed up to New York for Metro Metro's lower Manhattan scavenger hunt, where we all had a blast. I told lots of people how to play Fluxx and even got in a few games of Volcano with The Emperor himself at the after party. Excellent!
The Looneys are some of the friendliest, happiest, most open-minded and fun-loving people I've ever met. Their lifestyle is non-traditional, but the much warmth and love in that household compared with so many depressing 'traditional' homes stands as a wonderful testament to their commitment to each other. They live in a happy place, and I for one am glad they've chosen to share it with the rest of the world in the way they have.
Anyway, back to the game...
Counts as either the Toaster or Television.
The Robot is one of the first Fluxx promos and one of the most useful. Neither the Toaster nor the Television see much use in the original game so this helps make them less worthless.
Counts as either the Sun or the Moon.
I got the Star when I signed up for the Demo Rabbits program, and I think it's OK. Unfortunately the back is a bit grayer than the rest of the cards, so it stands out from the rest of the deck.
Counts as either Cookies or Bread.
I love the idea behind the Pop-Tarts Cafe, and would like to do something similar if I have the resources and the audience. Now if only I had bulk Tarts and Borders Bonus promos to give out...
Counts as either Love or Death.
Flowers is the most powerful keeper, counting towards five goals in the original game. That's more than Chocolate! It's also one of the rarest, since you can only get it with Flowers and Fluxx.
Counts as Dirt, Water or Air in EcoFluxx.
This is the Holiday Gift for 2005 Unfortunately it's way out of balance, being the most powerful keeper in EcoFluxx and the least (except for the Old Maid) in normal Fluxx. Ideally we'd want a goal using both Earth and Television to bring them up to par with the rest. What should we call it? Environmentalism? The Discovery Channel? Mapquest? Submissions, please, to the Fluxx mailing list.
You can't win Fluxx without a Goal. Here's what I got.
If nobody else has any keepers, the player with at least 3 keepers wins.
This card actually hasn't been playtested yet, but I think it would work. Many games have a rule where, in the case where one player is clearly ahead of everyone else, they can win simply because they have no competition. This card is most deadly in two player games, and becomes steadily less powerful the more players you have. It also encourages players to play keepers immediately.
Read about the Ha! Ha! guy here. I imagine him cackling with glee after utterly shaming his opponents.
The player who has two Brain keepers on the table wins.
This is only really useful if you have Andy's autographed card, but I wanted a goal that took advantage of having two Brains in the deck. It's actually the title of a Steve Martin movie.
The player who has War and at least 2 food keepers on the table wins.
Ever since playing Stoner Fluxx I've wanted a goal that took advantage of the four Food keepers in Fluxx, and here it is. Granted, it makes Chocolate even more powerful than it already is, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. We have a few exceptionally weak keepers, so one or two desirable ones aren't too bad. They give a little more direction to the game.
The player who has both Time and the Rocket on the table wins.
Chrononauts is the card game of Time Travel, and is (to quote Bill and Ted) "most excellent" for history or sci-fi buffs. In gameplay terms, this doesn't throw things off too much since Time and the Rocket aren't that popular.
The player with Peace and Earth on the table wins.
The only goal that uses the Earth. I'll be rectifying this unfortunate situation soon.
New rules are the meat and potatoes of Fluxx. Here's what I have:
Choose a keeper in play, and place it with this rule. That keeper now counts towards every player's keeper limit and the goal. Actions can still be performed on the keeper as if it belonged to an additional player, and if this rule is discarded, so is the keeper.
My roommate Joe uses this one. It's a bit frustrating remembering that it counts for everyone's keeper limit, but it does have some interesting effects. The rules for this one card might be too much for a novice game, and in fact it's complex enough that I'm not entirely sure if I want to keep using it.
Gameplay note: If the keeper associated with the card is stolen or trashed, the rule remains on the table but has no effect. This means it only affects the actions Let's Simplify and Trash a New Rule.
Another gameplay note: If Keeper Communism is played on a keeper with Backup Copy (see Actions, below) then the Keeper acts like it has a Backup Copy, and the Rule can be trashed as normal. If Backup Copy is played on Keeper Communism, then it applys to the Rule and the keeper can be swapped or trashed as normal.
The player with the Old Maid keeper has the option of discarding any card they would usually have to play.
Fundamental to the game of Fluxx is that if you have a card to play, you must play it, even if it causes someone else to win. It's been suggested that a New Rule might repeal this aspect of the game, but that in my opinion makes it much less fun, not to mention off-balance. The solution is to limit it to one player at a time, with a keeper bonus; I chose the Old Maid, giving the players some incentive to keep that keeper which is otherwise useless. This rule plays very well with Keeper Communism. The situation is very rare but that kind of combination adds a lot to Fluxx.
If you are playing Fluxx in a public place (such as the Borders Books Cafe) and a stranger inquires about the game, all players draw a card.
One of the best promo cards ever made, some people I play with actually keep it with the Basic Rules as always being in effect because it perfectly demonstrates what makes the game fun to strangers, instantly.
Draw a number of cards per turn equal to the number of players. N counts as a numeral. The player who played this card should immediately draw extra cards (if needed) so that they have drawn N cards this turn.
Play a number of cards per turn equal to the number of players. N counts as a numeral. If you have fewer than N cards in your hand, play all your cards.
If it isn't your turn, you should only have as many cards in your hand as there are players. If you have extra cards in your hand, discard them immediately. N counts as a numeral. During your turn you may ignore the Hand Limit as long as you discard all but N cards when you end your turn.
If it isn't your turn, you can only have as many Keepers in play as there are players Discard any extras immediately. N counts as a numeral. You may play additional keepers during your turn as long as you discard all but N at the end of your turn.
In other words, if you have three players, treat Draw N as Draw 3. If you have four, treat it as Draw 4, and so on. Since N counts as a numeral it's affected by X=X+1 etc. I created these because the Draw, Play, Hand and Keeper Limits cards are the core of the original game and can get lost in a large, customized deck. I didn't want to duplicate existing cards, nor did I want to bring on the agony of "Draw 0" or raise the numbers to unworkable amounts. This solution, I feel, is elegant, flexable, and appropriate to the feel of Fluxx.
Any time the numeral 1 is seen on another card, replace it with Two. Any time the numeral 2 is seen on another card, replace it with One. This card contradicts X=X+1. This does affect the basic rules.
Though I haven't tried this, it might yield interesting results, particularly if it's early in the game and the Basic Rules are still in effect. To avoid headache-inducing math it's vital that this replaces, or is replaced by, X=X+1. I think I might change this to 1=3, since 3 is used much more than 2 (Empty Hand Bonus, Jackpot, Pandora's Box, Shut-out etc.) although that would cause some conflict with Draw 3, Play 2 of them.
The player with the keepers Money and Time can count them as the Moon.
I only discovered Pink Floyd recently, and they instantly became my favorite band. I just had to find some way to use the keepers Time, Money and the Moon to pay tribute to their hits "Time" and "Money" on their best selling album Dark Side of the Moon. It shouldn't throw off gameplay that much, except with The Star and the goal Night and Day. It's a risk I'm willing to take.
I love new actions! There's so much you can do!
Get up and exchange seats with another player. Take your hand and keepers with you. When your turn ends, play continues with the player next to you.
My favorite custom card ever. It adds a nice physical element to the game (great with the Borders Bonus) and changes the turn order as well. I like it best when I'm just playing privately with one friend though.
Place this card underneath a card in play. If the chosen card is trashed, trash Backup Copy instead and keep the original card in play.
Another of my favorites, this can be played on your favorite keeper, goal, or rule to let it stick around when it would be trashed by Trash a Keeper, replaced by a new Goal, or zapped by Rules Reset.
Gameplay note: A backed-up Keeper still counts against your Keeper Limit. For example, if someone plays Keeper Limit 2 and you have Money, Milk and a backed-up Chocolate, you would need to discard one of your keepers. If you chose Chocolate and discarded the Backup Copy, you're still in violation of the keeper limit by having 3 keepers!
At any point in the game, you may play this card to trash the card currently being played. After this card is played, remove it from the deck and return it to the box.
This one's controversial. It has the same functionality as the "Memo From Your Future Self" in Chrononauts, with the exception of it being a once-per-game card. You get one shot at it, so make it count. I think this addition, far from disabling the card, makes it even better.
There's a superpowered card in Steve Jackson's Munchkin by the same name that gets nuked after one use.
Gather up the cards from everyone's hands, shuffle them up (without looking), and deal them out evenly, starting with yourself.
A fantastic card from Chrononauts that's good enough to be included in the standard deck. A great equalizer, refreshes useless hands, and can annoy someone almost at the 10 Cards in Hand goal.
Draw a card. If it's a New Rule, put the card into play; if not, discard it. Keep doing this until you have played 3 New Rule cards.
Love it or hate it, it comes with Pandora's Box for your bloated Fluxx deck. I think it's a lot of fun, and makes things even more unpredictable.
Draw 3 extra cards right now!
A new card from Fluxx 3.1, it's fun and useful enough that I had to get it.
Trash all custom and promo cards in play, including all Double Keepers.
With a deck this large sometimes the additions get in the way, and throws the balance off. This card is intended to simplify things back to normal Fluxx, at least temporarily.
Choose a player other than yourself. Give them a card from your hand, saying "You're doing a great job." That card goes into their hand. If you have no other cards in your hand, do nothing.
Found this online, I have no idea why it's named Gummi Bears but I can't think of anything better. It's neat to have to do something nice for someone in contrast to all the trashing and stealing that goes on.
Choose a player other than yourself. You both put your hands aside and exchange seats. Your opponent's hand and keepers become yours and vice versa. Your opponent continues with your turn as if it was theirs.
Like a wacked out version of Swap Seats, this card also makes you swap hands, keepers, and turn. In effect, you're now taking your opponent's position and putting them in your place. I'm afraid this could be abused, but since Fluxx is so random it's not always clear who's in the better position to win. It might work if the current rules force you to play a card that makes another player win; simply exchange places with that player, and now they have to play the card that makes YOU win! Cheap? Maybe. It needs some testing to see how it goes.
This card was named, of course, for the early '90s TV series in which the protagonist's consciousness is transferred to a different person's body every episode.