*Drumming Begins* Hear that, Gamers? Those are the drums of Jumanji … Jumanji Fluxx that is! Now, make sure you don’t start this one unless you intend to finish (I promise, it won’t take very long)!

Now, if you’ve been with me for a while on this here blog-a-rooni, you might recall my original review of Fluxx. (Yeah, it wasn’t the best, I get it). Anyway, Jumanji Fluxx changes things up a bit and really does a nice job of that!

Let’s take a look at this new version and see what it has going on!

What Is It?

Good ‘ol game of Fluxx, the game of change, themed around both the original Jumanji (1995) and new Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle  (2017) films. Players still draw and play Actions, New Rules, Goals, and Keepers (to accomplish those Goals) but a few deck modifications and a very fancy turn token make this version a little bit different, which is very cool!

What’s New/Different?

To preface this, I haven’t played every version of Fluxx that exists, (there’s a lot) but I have played, and owned, a bunch. This one definitely has some exciting updates that, I feel, improve it!

1. No Creepers!! – One of my personal pet peeves with Fluxx in the past has been Creeper cards because they’re so hard to get rid of so more often than not, you know you’ve lost if you get stuck with one. I love that this version eliminates them finally
2. Meta Rules – Unlike New Rule cards which come and go, these stay in place once out. I like that they add an additional win condition (which is simple and thematic) and add in a limit on revivals for players who get eliminated, because that helps alleviate the previous complaint from many that the game goes on too long
3. Danger Cards – These are the cards that can get players eliminated if they meet certain conditions. Again, they are very thematic so I feel that they’re a nice addition to the game, and again help to keep it a bit shorter overall
4. Turn Token – Finally, there is a fancy turn token included in the game. It doesn’t play a huge role on it’s own, as you’ll probably always know whose turn it is, but there is a rule pertaining to it, which is a nice addition to keep players paying attention.

Who Is It For?

I really just have to go ahead and recommend this to fans of Fluxx of any kind as long as you’re also a fan of Jumanji. Like I said, I think the changes really make this version stand out amongst the rest, and I think the cards fit really well with the theme, which I always love since theme is very important to me personally. A great filler to any fan’s game night!

Contents and Quality

Not much to this game, as is traditional with Fluxx, but still the same nice quality we are used to.

There are 107 cards in the Specialty Edition, 100 in the Mass Market Edition, which are good quality and have nice art and everything written on them is clear to read and understand. The rules are printed clearly as well, easy to read and everything explained well.
There’s a fancy turn token which is a pretty hefty poker chip with some nice holographic-ish art. And finally, the box is awesome! I’m used to the very thin cardboard boxes, so this is a great improvement because it’s sturdier and fits on the shelf better with other small box games!

PROS

  • The new cards are super cool and unique!
  • Danger cards give you a new way to win potentially, if you can knock out all your opponents; add a layer of strategy to the game
  • Additionally, with the added player elimination, and the “No More Lives” card which comes out the first time you finish off the deck, the game can’t go on forever because you can’t jump back in after that point
  • The theme shines through with so many of the cards which is awesome
  • Great art
  • Incorporates original and new films well

CONS

  • Player elimination is still player elimination and while it likely wouldn’t happen often, you can have some of the gamers who were knocked out post-“No More Lives” sitting around waiting for the game to end for a while, which just isn’t that fun
  • While the turn coin is cool looking, it feels kind of pointless until the rule pertaining to it comes out, which it may never if whoever has it chooses not to play it

Difficulty

I think I would normally give Fluxx a 1 or 1.5/5 for difficulty, because there’s really not much to it since the rules are laid out on the table for you. I’m going to up this just a smidge to a 2/5 difficulty (oooo big changes!) just because of that slight additional strategy you can consider with the Danger cards and trying to eliminate players rather than aim for the goals necessarily.

Final Thoughts

I have always been a fan of Fluxx and I really enjoyed this version. I think the Danger cards add a lot to the game in terms of strategic play and add that “take-that” element much more than actions previously did. While I’m not the biggest fan of take-that, I thought it kind of fit with the theme of Jumanji because the Danger cards represent actual danger that could and would actually kill you in either version of the fictional game. Very cool. I also really loved the thematic feel to both of the new Meta Rules, and appreciated that add-on, small as it was. If you like Jumanji and were disappointed by the original board game (present and accounted for here) you should definitely check this out, because it does the theme justice.

My Final Rating: 8/10

Happy Gaming~

Additional Information:
Designer – Andrew Looney
Publisher – Looney Labs; Cardinal
Artist – N/A
BGG
BGA

*I was provided a copy of this game to do this review*

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