Hi Scott,
As may, or may not, have been noticed by others, Zombie Fluxx has no
Keeper Limits. I was wondering just why this decision was made, as they
have seemed to be a basic part of the rules, correct me if I’m wrong,
since the inception of Fluxx.
Keeper Limits have indeed been in every version of Fluxx before the Zombies
and, it's true, are not included in Zombie Fluxx. It's even true that I too
used to think of Hand and Keeper Limits as being mandatory cards in any
version of Fluxx. However, I've come to realize that only the Hand Limits
are really required, as I described here:
http://www.wunderland.com/WhatsOld/2007/WN.05.31.07.html#ThoughtResidue
This change of thinking came about during the development of Zombie Fluxx.
Why? Because Zombies make it much harder to win, and so do Keeper Limits.
You put them both together and games can go on forever. There's fewer than
average Keepers in Zombie Fluxx anyway, since room in the deck had to be
made for those danged Zombies, plus those Zombies also sometimes destroy
your Keepers, all of which combined to make me feel Keeper Limits could be
safely left out.
Hand Limits are vital because you can get into a situation where you're
drawing a lot more cards than you're playing and you need the option of
forcing everyone to put a lot of the cards back into play. When the draw
pile runs out and there's nothing left in the discard pile, it become
obvious that someone needs to play one of those Hand Limits they've been
sitting on.
Keeper Limits are totally different. All they do is extend the game, since
Keeper Limits force you to discard what might end up being the Keeper you
needed to win. Far from being necessary, Keeper Limits aren't even
desirable if there's something else, like Zombies, making it hard to
accomplish the current goal.
-- Andy