“Set phasers to phun!” Ugh…let’s try that again. “Alright folks, time to flip open our tricorders and scan the area for a good time!” Even worse. “You’re gonna want to activate your emotion chip for this one!” Okay, I’m done, I swear. “I’m reaching out to you from the Q Continuum to give you a heads up that…” I apparently lied. If you think you folks can do “Star Trek Puns” any better, leave a comment. Anywho, the folks at Looney Labs were kind enough to send me their latest rendition of “Fluxx” – a simplistic but chaotic card game where the rules are always changing. The Bridge Expansion, you guessed it, bridges the separate TOS and TNG games and allows you to combine them into one game. See what I did there? Bridges? Bridges?! *Sigh*
Full disclosure: I’ve never played a “Fluxx” game before now. No, seriously, I haven’t. I debated on getting “Star Fluxx” because of the references but never got around to it because “life” and because “busy”. If you’re like me and have never played a “Fluxx” game, you’re essentially trying to complete the central goal before anyone else. On your turn you’ll draw a card and play a card…it’s that simple. Well, sort of. There are different goal cards however that can be played by anyone, so the set you were trying to shoot for can easily be unreachable within the blink of an eye from one turn to the next. That whole draw and play a card mechanic can be undone as well by certain cards that change the rules. It really is chaotic. Spock, if he were playing “Fluxx”, would probably have a Vulcan equivalent of a conniption…that is, he’d raise his eyebrow repeatedly throughout the entire game.
“Fluxx” and by extension these Star Trek versions are wonderful for casual play. I found it very difficult to actually establish a strategy because things were always changing anyway. My deep thinking was limited to situations where I could play more than one card at a time. If you and your group enjoy games where planning things out are necessary to victory, then you may be in for a difficult time. With that said, going in with a casual/anything can happen mindset will reward gamers of any age. As a huge, huge Star Trek fan I couldn’t say no trying this one and I’m pleased to report that I didn’t regret that decision. The Star Trek references helped distract me from the initial wave of chaos I felt as more and more cards were played to the table.
“Star Trek Fluxx”, “Star Trek TNG Fluxx”, and the “Bridge Expansion” will be released to the public on August 2nd, 2018. Both core games will retail for around $20.00 each. The “Bridge Expansion” will go for $5.00 and includes mostly goal cards, though has a meta rule card and a keeper card as well. The meta rule card is placed with the basic rules during the entire game and essentially allows a player to discard four goal cards to draw five new cards and play them all at once. I think it would have been nice to include those cards for free in either of the core games since it was roughly the size of a buyable card pack you’d get from any common collectable card game. The wrapper the cards came in isn’t resealable, so you’ll have to place them in one of the core boxes anyway.
If you’re a fan of Star Trek and enjoyed “Star Fluxx” then you’ll more than likely want to get these. Forty bucks is admittedly a bit steep for two decks of cards…some sort of package deal with the expansion would have been nice. If you’re tight on cash, I’d say get whichever Star Trek version you enjoy more. I know, I know…that’s a tough choice as I like them both equally but for different reasons. Still, when it comes to some light-hearted yet chaotic fun, “Star Trek Fluxx” is just what Bones would have ordered (alongside some saurian brandy). Just don’t ask him to play…he’s a doctor, not a gamer. (Darn it Jim, I should have led with that)
Final Verdict: 7/10