Toy Fair 2017—Looney Labs

You couldn’t walk by Looney Labs’ booth without getting a copy of Math Fluxx thrown at you. I kid, ’cause the crew at Looney are fantastic. We picked up a copy of Math Fluxx (releases tomorrow for $16!) which is a math-themed version of Fluxx. They said it’s a gift for us to check out, but what the heck, a mini-review:

It’s good.

Personally, I don’t like Fluxx — it’s not fun unless there’s a theme involved, and the theme of “math” simply isn’t exciting as “Zombies”, “Batman”, or “Monty Python”. So I wasn’t expecting to like this one, but it was a lot more fun than anticipated! The keepers in this game are numbers, 0 through 10 with lots of the low numbers, thinning out until you get to the 10. Goals are things like combining digits to get numbers, but there are extra rules (including two meta rules) that allow you to use actual math to reach the number on the goal card. It was crazy fun and we’ve broken it out a few times to play. Yeah, Fluxx just has to have a theme to get the family interested in it!

Math Fluxx: It’s Good™

Chemistry Fluxx is coming at the end of May. Use elements and laboratory equipment to match the current goal. Like Math Fluxx, Chemistry Fluxx has some basic educational components, and lots of puns.

Non-Fluxx news: Just Desserts has been out for a while, where you make treats for customers. And you probably know about Better with Bacon, a 10-card expansion that was released in late January featuring Maple Bacon Donuts, Bacon Ice Cream, and Kevin. But at GAMA this year, they will be offering Just Coffee, a retailer exclusive expansion that’s meant to be a giveaway. Go bug your local game store and tell ’em you want one!

Oh, and there’s an exciting announcement coming soon that they told me about that’s going to knock your socks off. (Available this fall.)

Also in the works: Time Breaker, a competitive game where you are attempting to stop the Time Breaker. Not much is public about it except it’s still in playtest and Looney Labs is shooting for a 2018 release.

Meanwhile, over at Fully Baked Ideas, the “more adult” imprint from Looney Labs — this is where Stoner Fluxx now lives — they have three new games on the horizon.

Stoner Loonacy (May, $14) is the game Loonacy with art from Stoner Fluxx. Players race to be the first to empty their hand of seven cards by matching them to the cards on the table.

Adult Mad Libs: The Game (June, $20) has all the madcap wordplay from Mad Libs, but with much more innuendo, “full of tasteful, sexy fun without any politics or put-downs”.

Fluxx turns 21 this year, and Fully Baked Ideas celebrates with Drinking Fluxx (July, $25). Complete with plastic cards in case anything spills, this version of Fluxx just might require liquid refreshments to play.

A copy of Math Fluxx was given to us free by Looney Labs but they didn’t know we were going to do a quick review of it, ha ha.

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Win over hungry customers with Just Desserts

Just DessertsLooney Labs, the company that brought you the hilariously confusing game of Fluxx, is back with another card game. This time, it is set in a dessert cafe and you are a waiter.

In Just Desserts, players must try to satisfy customers’ cravings for sweets by serving them delicious dishes. Dishes include such things as caramel nut torte, mint chocolate milkshake, and tapioca pudding.

There are 24 customer cards, each with a different hankering. One might want chocolate, marshmallows, and fruit. Another might want cookies, nuts, and pie. You must serve the customer by placing any number of dessert cards that fulfill his or her request. Collect customers of a certain color group, or one of each color to win.

Just Desserts supports two to five players ages eight and up and takes anywhere from five to 30 minutes to play. It costs $18 and is available at your local game store now.

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