Looney Labs Fluxx Mailing list Archive

["James Hazelton" <jameshazelton@xxxxxxxxx>]

That's a hard one. I generally teach games without the rule sheet, obviously, and I explain that all the rules are on the card and that You Cannot Do Anything if You are Not Prompted on the Card to Do So (Golden Rule #1). So when someone has a problem, it's because they didn't read the card all the way through. A new player will read the top paragraph on an action, place the action in the trash, and then ask, "Now what?" "Well, didn't you read the card?" "Oh, right." Or maybe they will read everything but the fine print at the bottom. Besides missing double-keepers, they often don't get the clarifying text, and so they get confused. "Read every card in its entirety before you play it" should be Golden Rule #2

When I taught my grandmother, she got confused with how New Rules just pile up. "Why is this one still here?" It might be helpful to explain that many New Rules often stack up at once, but it's important to read every one of them and know which ones are out at the time.

Players should also know right off the bat--and not from several games of experience--that playing more Keepers will almost always help, and playing Goals is often pointless.