Looney Labs has just announce that their award-winning card game Fluxx is making its way to iOS sometime next month.
I was first introduced to the game sometime in the late 90’s by a co-worker and it is absolutely brilliant in its simple complexity. Let me explain… Fluxx starts out with two basic rules, that on his or her turn, each player draws one card, and plays one card, as play continues new rules are added which regulate the direction or play, how many cards you can play, how many cards you can hold onto, etc.
There are a few different card types, one of which are ‘goals’. This means that the goal of the game is also constantly changing, depending on the cards that other players play. The moving target nature of the game is what makes it so special and means that you must always be on your toes and ready to switch up strategies at a moments notice. It may sound a bit confusing, but one hand and you’ll quickly get the hang of it.
The iOS port of the game is being developed by Playdek, who are no strangers to bringing tabletop games to iOS, with hits like Food Fight iOS, Nightfall and Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer. I can easily see a Fluxx iOS title fitting into the excellent card game infrastructure that Playdek built for Food Fight, just hopefully with improved Game Center notifications and the ability to ping (or boot) unresponsive players.
Over the years, the folks at Looney Labs have released no fewer than 10 different themed versions of the game, from Zombie Fluxx to Pirate Fluxx and even Monty Python Fluxx. I’m be curious to see if Playdek releases these as IAPs sometime down the road. Check out this recent episode of Wil Wheaton’s TableTop webseries on which Wil and his guests played the Star Fluxx variation of the tabletop game.
According to Playdek’s landing page for their upcoming (universal) app, the game will feature:
- New streamlined rules
- Game Center achievements
- Universal App – play Fluxx on iPhone 3Gs, iPhone 4, iPad, iPad 2, iPod Touch 3, or iPod Touch 4
- Single player vs AI
- Pass-and-play Multiplayer
- Full asynchronous support for multiplayer online games
- Invite Game Center friends to online games
- Maintain multiple Saved games
- Online game timers
Looney Labs’ founders Andy and Kristin Looney will be holding a live event on their YouTube channel on Wednesday Nov. 7th at 8pm EST to discuss the upcoming iOS version of the game. *Video is now embedded below.
And if want to be alerted the moment the game hits the App Store, Looney Labs has a sign-up sheet here.
As a big fan of the physical card game and Playdek’s Food Fight iOS game I am super excited about this release. I no longer work with the guy who introduced me to Fluxx so we don’t get to play it together that often anymore, but now with asynchronous online multiplayer, we’ll be able to throw-down in a game of Fluxx anytime we want.
