3 quotes from the trio
of reviews of Chrononauts currently featured on Amazon.com
(all of which give it a 5 star rating):
- "I have to admit this is quite possibly the best game
I've ever played." -- John Liosatos (Morton
Grove, IL United States)
- "This is quite possibly the best board game ever." -- Penn Davies (Guelph, Ontario, Canada)
- "It's a lot more than your average card game -- it's
immersive, complex and richly imagined." --
Daniel J. Brashler (Easton, PA)
|
"A friend introduced me to Fluxx, which
I instantly fell in love with, and then I found you at Origins
this past summer. My life hasn't been the same since!! You guys
are the GREATEST!!" -- Diane S. of Saint
Louis, comments with order #80430 |
"One of my old work buddies introduced me
to Fluxx, and I played about 300-400 games of it while I was
pretending to work." -- comments with an
order from Daniel B. |
"I'm writing this letter in
thanks for the great holiday card you sent out. This Monday had
been going really cruddy for me and I had an overall bad day,
but when I got home my mom told me I had some mail. I saw I had
a letter from Looney Labs and wondered what it was. When I opened
it up and saw the great Tirade art on the front I felt great
that you guys sent me a card. When I opened it up and the three
promo cards and the mini-catalog fell out I was thrilled. To
cheer myself up even further I stopped at the mall and picked
up a copy of Eco-Fluxx. Thanks for the card Looney Labs, it really
brightened up my day!" -- email from a Fluxx
fan named Brett |
"Dear Looney Labs: I would like to start
by saying Thank you! My family and I have enjoyed many hours
sharing Fluxx with all of the people we know. It's a great game
that kids and adults can play together. A terrific concept that
has motivated my sons to become creators of new cards as well
as new games! I have attended Origins gamefest for the last three
years and GenCon gamefests for the last four or five. I ran into
your booth at Origins and played IceTowers, which I had to purchase
on the spot. With the IceTowers purchase I received your advertising
card... and then ordered Fluxx, some Blanxx, Cosmic Coasters
and the rest is great history." -- message
with a SASE request from Doug P. |
"P.S. They put up a 'Toys For Tots' box
at my office today. In prior years my standard 'toy' for the
box has been a copy of Scrabble. I figure, if I'm going to give
some kid a toy at least it should be something fun and potentially
educational. This year I think it's going to have to be a few
Looney Labs games instead. Nothing against Scrabble but I simply
MUST continue to spread the Fluxx Love!"
-- email from Di |
"I had to play Fluxx to get aquatinted
with it for a Demo I have to do this weekend, and discovered
I love it to pieces. My Hard core Chrononaut-ness prevents me
from saying it's the best game I have ever played, but they are
both very very excellent games, both for their own reason. I'd
say they're tied." -- comments from a rabbit
named Michael |
"As none of us had played EcoFluxx before,
surprises abounded as we were able to compost the deck, frogs
went extinct, dirt became polluted, and insects became poisonous.
We were only able to play one game before I had to move to another
table, but I know at least one player bought the game from one
of the vendors at their earliest opportunity."
-- Seth
Ruskin's UberCon Rabbit Report |
"If your only exposure to Looney Labs has
been through Fluxx, you are doing yourself a disservice by not
exploring the world of Icehouse. It is a world full of analytical,
calculating games and Martian Chess is one of the best. It is
a game that will change the way you look at abstract strategy
games, chess boards and pyramids." -- Lowell
Kempf, "A
Game of Changing Pieces and Shifting Ground" |
"A coworker on a traveling job with me
made me play Fluxx all over the country, in bars, cafes, RV repair
place waiting rooms... I bought my own deck in Louisville, and
then I taught it to my cousin in California. It's been a long
journey." -- Stephanie D, comments with
order #79212 |
"OMG Pandora's
Box (the card) is evil!!!! :-) :-) :-) I played a game of
Fluxx with a friend last night, and it went on for over 90 minutes!!
One game!! We used Pandora's box about 5 or 6 times during the
game, between it first coming into play, a couple of 'Let's do
that again's, and a few reshuffles of the deck. It was ultimately
a Pandora's box play that ended the game, forcing a 'Play All'
where I had to play a goal for which he already had the Keepers
on the table. I love it! And I love my boxxes, too. :-) Just
thought I'd give my opinion. The rest of you guys *have* to get
these things. :-D" --Jen Breland, on the
Rabbits mailing list |
"This guy... he had a deck of cards. Everything
sorta goes blurry after that. We were all yelling and throwing
cards at the table. It was like the world around us was changing
with every round. And then I won. And I wanted more." -- Comments with an order for Fluxx from Tamas B.
of Bellevue, WA |
"I first discovered Looney Labs when Chrononauts
was first being talked about. I saw some info on it in a retailer
solicitation and it sounded like the coolest game ever! And it
is! Since then I have continued to search out all Looney Labs
games... I also got a girl to date me and fall in love with me
over Chrononauts. 'Got' is a bad choice of words, but the promo
card I gave her certainly helped me appeal to her. Viva La Chrononauts!
Thank you for the love of my life." -- Daniel
Cisek's rabbit bio |
You've got to hand it to Looney Labs. They know
how to design simple, fun, sociable games that serious gamers,
dilettantes and kids alike can enjoy. My husband and I first
discovered Looney Labs years ago, when we picked up a copy of
Fluxx. The next year, we discovered Chrononauts, the time travel
game, soon to be followed by Chrononauts: the Early American
edition. Our five-year-old son enjoys all of these games, even
though they're not quite age-appropriate, in that they require
significant reading. So when a friend recently recommended Looney
Lab's Aquarius card game as fun for kids and adults alike and
requiring only minimal reading, we knew we had to pick up a deck.
Our son, you see, has become a game fiend in recent months and
finding games that are suitable for him, but tolerable or --
dare we hope? -- even genuinely fun for us has become a matter
of self-preservation. Aquarius, I am happy to report, fits the
bill perfectly. Something of a cross between classic dominos
and Fluxx, with a dash of 70s nostalgia thrown in for atmosphere,
Aquarius is trivially easy to learn and surprisingly engaging
for a game in which luck, more often than not, trumps strategy.
Two to five players can play and even the youngest players, if
capable of counting to seven and memorizing the meanings of a
handful of symbols, need not feel disadvantaged. The brightly-colored,
psychedelic 60-card deck features various permutations of five
basic 'element' illustrations... They are pretty darn
cool illustrations, and invariably draw admiring attention. This
game is fun and it knows how to flaunt it." -- 5
star review of Aquarius at Epinions.com |
"To The Fluxx Crew: Wow! What a great Game.
First I'd like to thank you all for your efforts in making a
wonderful game. I purchased a pack of 3.0 Fluxx last night and
have played at least 20 games. My wife and I were up all night
laughing at the insanity of it all. When I woke up this morning
I could only think of one thing... I've got to get more! I just
knew the pack of cards I had couldn't be it. I quickly found
your website and browsed the many wonderful card ideas..." -- message with a SASE request from Travis H. |
"I run the Original Game Shop in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, and am a avid Fluxx player. It (Fluxx) is the only
game in my store on which I offer a moneyback guarentee. If you
don't like it, bring it back! I've done this since First edition,
almost ten years, and have never had to give money back. I love
the game, and demo it all de time. Long live the Emperor Looney!" -- Ben
Hopkin's Rabbit Bio |
"This game is so simple we couldn't believe
it! Draw one, Play one...Then the rules change. My video game
crazed children LOVE Fluxx. Now when their friends come over
they ask to play Fluxx. What better review is that?? 9, 10 &
11 yrs olds ask to play cards instead of Playstation!! OH! I
haven't seen any of the children get mad or frustrated when they
lose either...the rules change so quick no one has time to get
mad! ;-)" -- L. Kambarn (Chincoteague, VA),
commenting
on Fluxx at Amazon.com |
"Fluxx involves a variety of
school-appropriate activities and skills. Like any good game,
especially one with elements of strategy and abstraction, Fluxx
is a good exercise for mental agility. Like chess, it promotes
prediction with limited information and problem solving with
limited resources. By the nature of its play, Fluxx involves
all of the following skill areas: Kinesthetic learning, Number
sense, Problem-solving, Reading comprehension, and Social skills.
Fluxx, like any well-designed game, offers many real opportunities
for learning. Bounce off some teachers and parents the factors
just listed and see if they don't find new uses for Fluxx and
other games in their classrooms and homes." --
David Millians, "Working in Fluxx," Comics & Games
Retailer, June 2005, pages 22-23 |
"That's gotta be the best
20 minutes of chaotic, concentrated fun I've had all weekend."
-- Brett Nicholas, commenting on Giant Circular Fluxx
at GenCon 2005 (as reported by Marc
Hartstein) |
"During lunch, we dove right into the game--paying
little regard to the rules that were packaged with it, and immediately
fell in love with it. We must've played eighty or so games in
the span of nine hours. We even played it while watching the
movie we rented for the night. It was magical--and then we collapsed
and fell asleep. Fluxx was my gateway drug into the realm that
is known only as Looney Labs. My life was never the same again...." -- comments with an order from Pat F. |
"One mother and children became
regulars that day at the tables. Already owning Fluxx, the mother
and two children were keen to see what else there was to offer.
They played Zendo and Aquarius and when they were ready to leave
they asked what other games we had (just for reference). I mentioned
Chrononauts and they liked the sound of it but to play later,
but when I outlined the premise of Nanofictionary they were dragging
mother back to the table to play! When they finally left the
little boy was begging his mother to buy Nanofictionary (which
was on sale just next to us at the stall near our tables). 'No,
we have to buy Daddy's present,' said the mother. 'Buy him Nanofictionary!'
said the young convert excitedly." -- Rabbit
report submitted by Nimrod
Jones |
"Last night we were at the hospital
waiting for my granddaughter to arrive in this realm and to pass
the time between contractions my wife, my daughter (the mother
to be) and myself played Fluxx. The nurse cast inquisitive looks
at us and the
games in progress and eventually came in on her break to
ask about the game. I showed her the rule sheet and she watched
us finish up a game. Then she asked if she could borrow it a
second to show to the other nurses. Of course I said yes. She
came back and asked where she could get a copy. I directed her
to the website. I would like to say that Fluxx took away all
the pain of labor, but it didn't. (Maybe Stoner Fluxx, but the
hospital might have a problem with that). It did however take
our minds off the current event and reduce the stress levels." -- email from a Rabbit named Kermit |
"We've had Fluxx for a long time. Every
time we play it, we laugh a lot. At the end of the game, we always
agree that it's a terrible, horrible, no-fair game and that we'd
better play again immediately. Totally zany, and I'll never admit
how much I love it." -- Heather
Madrone's Rabbit bio |
"My son played Fluxx and Nanofictionary
while working on a mission trip in West Virginia -- kids from
a California church introduced the game to the group, which included
churches from Florida and Chicago. Our son loved both games.
We're anti-drug conservative carnivorous Christian Republicans
-- but we do like flowers, happiness, bright colors, long hair,
the environment, creativity and games! Don't you just love America?
May you have a peaceful, joyful day -- and thanks for helping
us to keep thinking and smiling with your games!"
-- Sandra of St. Petersburg, FL |
"I found Fluxx at a local bookstore. My
eight-year-old son loves playing card and board games with me,
but usually bounces from one to another. Since we started playing
Fluxx, he loves it and almost always wants to play it. So we
had to look for blanxx and expansions." --
Joseph of Allegan, MI |
"It's hard for me to remember what was
my first exposure to Looney Labs. Was it a random Fluxx game
at Origins? Was it one of the all night sessions of Are You A
Werewolf? at GenCon? About a year and a half ago, I decided to
get a copy of Fluxx in order to carry it around in my pocket.
That was the start of a game collection that has grown to a obsessive
compulsive side." -- Lowell K, comments
with order #77723 |
"The Annual Fluxx Tourney was a huge success.
To win, you had to be the first person to accumulate three wins
in the finals on Sunday afternoon. It was hilarious to see the
winner open Flowers and Fluxx, toss the deck to another player
(the winner already had a deck), pass out the flowers to others
around him, then with a huge smile remove and add to his own
deck the Flower
Keeper. He just wanted the card!" --
Amy's
report on Sci
Fi Summer 2005 |
"Thanks for the support, the games look
great, the display looks great, and the upsells and catalogs
look great. We made a good choice by adding you to our product
line." -- a new Looney Labs retailer, Jared
of Distraction Games, after receiving our POP
display |
"Independent board game designer and publisher
Andrew Looney presents some very hard-learned and heart-felt
lessons about what you'll be going through while making your
Graded Course Project for this class. The best part is that he's
an entertaining (as well as informative) read. We played his
Fluxx game in class." -- comments about
Andy's "11
Game Design Principles" article which is featured on
the research reading list for a
game design class |
"I wanted to write you in response to your
post on the
28th and the
week before about your rationale for not sending your product
to be produced in China. I wanted to commend you on what had
to be a difficult decision. I'm currently living in WV and have
seen first hand chemical plants, manufacturing plants, and the
like all close up shop to move to China or Mexico and have witnessed
the crippling effect it has on small-town economies. I moved
back to this state because my hippy ideals wanted a place where
I could afford to buy some land and grow some of my own food
and hopefully slowly work my way off the grid as much as I can
and when I read your post about being willing to postpone short-term
financial gain for your higher ideals it really moved me... I
just wanted to let you know that I for one and many others really
have a great deal of admiration for you being willing to not
cave into the awful globalized economic structure built on virtually
slave labor. Keep fighting the good fight and producing some
killer games!" -- email from Ryan F. |
"I think that Fluxx is the
best game ever invented!!!!" -- Jami of Keizer, Oregon |
"I think these are the greatest games ever
made. My friends and I used to play Chrononauts in our US History
class when the teacher gave us study time. 'Hey Mr. Vargish...
I just killed Hitler!'" -- Kelly
Cooley's Rabbit bio |
"I went to my Mom's house on Sunday (Mother's
Day) and when I walked in there was a Fluxx deck sitting on the
kitchen table, and it had nothing to do with me. Her live-in
bought it for her for Mother's Day because a friend told him
about it. I'm no demographics expert, but you couldn't hope for
more mainstream customers than my Mom and her boyfriend Dave.
Video game publishers would literally kill for that kind of mass
appeal." -- email from Paul, whom Andy used
to work with in the videogame programming biz |
"Throughout the weekend I managed to play
every single game in the Little Experiment (Fluxx, Aquarius,
Cosmic Coasters, Chrononauts, NanoFictionary, Are You a Werewolf?,
IceTowers, Zendo, and Volcano), most games numerous times. I
love demoing these games. I love watching people as they catch
on to key concepts, and I love it when they win. It's awesome
all around. I've not met a Looney Lab game that I didn't like,
and that love of the games definitely helps me demo them. Players
see how much I love the games, how enthusiastic I am about them,
and it catches on like wildfire. One of they key factors of propagating
Rabbits!" -- report on PenguiCon 3.0 by
Lisa
Padala |
"I played Fluxx for the first time last
and night and just wanted to tell you all: ten thousand gold
stars and more thumbs up than I have on my two hands! Bloody
brilliant! Fluxx has replaced my weekly Cuban Uno game with my
friends (we use illegal rules...don't ask.) Thanks a million!"
- email "From One of Four of Your Newest
Fans," named Donna |
"A NOTE ON THE FLUXX: This is a great game,
and we thought everyone should have a deck. It's made by Looney
Labs, who cut us a generous deal and came all the way from Maryland
to do the hunt. There's some downtime between the end of the
hunt and the after-party -- it could be a great time to play
Fluxx at a bar, cafe, etc. We hope you enjoy it. We do." -- from the instructions packet in MetroMetro's 3rd
New York City scavenger
hunt |
"P.S. We had a blast in the park again
today. Lots of people came and asked us about the pyramids and
we even convinced a group of people to play with us. We made
friends! It was great! And we weren't even demoing per se." -- David, on the Rabbit mailing list |
"We work in a large room in a warehouse
with no cubical walls. We set up a Volcano board on the corner
of his desk and we started playing during the day. We keep one
extra pyramid (from the set we use for caps) out to the side
to indicate who's turn it is. We don't get in trouble for wasting
time because we still get our work done only taking a few minutes
at a time to contemplate a new move. (it can take a few days
to get through a game) As you can imagine we have attracted a
lot of interest. We now have two new players!!!"
-- Joelle, on the Rabbit mailing list |
"I stumbled across Zendo in my local game
store, bought it, and loved the concept of Icehouse pieces. Nanofictionary
ROCKS! The Empty City was also enjoyable... fun characters
and good atmosphere. (I've lived in Washington D.C. before and
it evoked memories of the Metro, the Smithsonian, and secret
hang-out places all over town.)" -- comments
with an order from Philippe of Colorado Springs |
"I'd have to second all this, Fluxx is
the game I play more than anything, its always in my pocket and
it only takes a couple of minutes to teach a new player, Zendo
has to be the best game a geek could ask for. Problem solving
to the max. And then once you've got a set of Icehouse pieces
there's a huge amount of fantastic games that you can play, my
personal favourite is Volcano which has a chess like strategy
to it." -- SilentDunk at Slashdot, in a
discussion of "Fun
Tabletop Games" |
"Thank you for speaking out so publicly
against marijuana prohibition. Thank you for making pot less
'scary.' Thank you all for putting your money (and your crazy
business) where your hearts/politics are. I've played (and sold)
your games for quite a while now, but when you became more and
more vocal about pot legality I started to get a little uncomfortable.
I was raised by alcoholic rage-filled parents, but it was 'drugs'
I was afraid of, thanks to early-childhood anti-drug 'education.'
I was terrified of pot, the people who used it, and the possibility
that it might somehow sap my intelligence just to attend concerts
where it was being smoked. I was well and truly paranoid about
it... But... Andy's writing was eloquent and non-confrontational
when Stoner
Fluxx was released. By then I was a Mad Rabbit/Demo Bunny
already and trying to keep an open mind. I thought a lot about
smoking pot, and why I was so afraid of drugs. I started to calm
down a little bit. Last year at GTS, I had the chance to meet
you all... got some hugs (thank you Russell!), some flowers,
and autographed promo cards. You weren't scary. Andy even remembered
my name from the Early American Chrononauts beta-test! 'Stoners'
ceased being scary. I started talking to people about marijuana
prohibition (I live in Santa Cruz, it's a major topic bandied
about town). After it was obvious that I had calmed down, several
friends came out of the smoking closet. It turns out I knew a
LOT of stoners, all of them cool people that had just been hiding
that part of their life from me. They knew it would upset me,
so they didn't push it on me at all. More proof that stoners
aren't scary people!" -- email from Danielle
Brown |
"Wow this went great! Today I was at Gnome
Games from 12:50 - 5pm demoing games. I taught 8 people how to
play each of the following games: Aquarius, Fluxx, Zendo, Nanofictionary,
Thin Ice, Martian Chess. We had a BLAST. There was this nice
lady who was a teacher and she loved all of it. We also met some
nice boys there too who wanted to learn. Everyone recieved a
Happy Flower and some promo cards, and a smile. =) I saw a few
people buy games on the spot and then after the demo, Pat Fuge
pulled me aside and told me I should let you guys know that about
$90 were spent today on Looney Labs merchandise. Three of my
new friends bought games today! I'm not really sure how you guys
tally that up but I hope it helps, everyone was quote 'going
to make all of their friends learn it.' Wow this was fun!" -- Katie
Bolssen's rabbit report on her demo at Gnome Games of Green
Bay, WI |
"Found Chrononauts at gaming
store and loved it. Especially loved that it could be played
with any number of players down to 1 and it still remained a
fun and enjoyable game." -- Preston of Lafayette,
IN |
"If you're anything like us, you
probably can't be bothered learning the rules to anything. The
minute we get our mitts on a new plaything we just want to start
playing. Modern living makes you impatient. And let's face it,
rules are boring. Like the saying goes: 'Any fool can make a
rule'. This is particularly true of card games. We're usually
asleep by the time the explanation is over. Suggest a game that
people are unfamiliar with and the normal response is a harrumph,
followed by 'but I don't know how to play that one!' Maybe that's
why Fluxx has drawn us so quickly and completely into its anarchic
clutches. It's fast-paced, fun and totally unpredictable. It's
also a game that has to be played to be appreciated - words can't
do it justice. The simple, quirky and, above all, random nature
of Fluxx make it incredibly playable, and it has that all-important
one-more-go-factor in spades." -- review
of Fluxx at Firebox.com |
"Played Fluxx while deployed
in Iraq. Hours of non-combat fun!" -- Kathryn of
Honolulu, HI |
"Long before there were websites and email,
I encountered the Looneys and their highly original game ideas
and loved their entrepreneurial free spirit, their inventiveness
and energy. From the start, when they'd come over and help stuff
their flyers into our catalogs for our annual mailings, we've
had a nurturing fondness for these brilliant bohemians. We happily
started selling some of their games ourselves and show them at
our Maryland
Renaissance Festival pavilion. I'm immensely proud of Andy
and Kristin and their entire family/community and how far they've
come as an enlightened game company, never losing the spirit
of fun and humanity while striving towards business success with
a unique product line....We love selling Fluxx
and Chrononauts
and the epistemologically splendid Nanofictionary.
They are tributes to the amazing brains of Andy Looney and his
artistic team." -- Kate
Jones, founder of Kadon
Enterprises, on her Rabbit page |
"My first game convention was Origins 2004...
As I initially walked around the exhibit halls, one room stood
out. People in lab coats were milling around, and you could see
these cool little (or even really big) pyramids everywhere. I
didn't see much of the convention on Saturday, but I ended up
making my way through the registration lines again on Sunday.
Still I think about 75% of my time was spent hanging out in the
Looney Lab or near the booth. I was hooked. I ended up buying
the Stocked Game Bag just to see all the products. I keep stashes
of pyramids in my bookbag for impromptu games or just to play
with them. I'm still learning the games, but am willing to play
what I know or figure the others out." --
Tonya
Weaver's rabbit bio |
"The pyramids of the Icehouse set are a
great example of a well-designed game system. They can be physically
configured in any number of ways: stacked on top of each other,
aimed at each other like arrows, organized into patterns, or
distributed randomly -- different Icehouse games take different
advantage of these material affordances. The number of pieces
and distribution among the three sizes and four colors also determines
the formal relationships and logical groupings that can be expressed
by the organization of pieces. The Icehouse Set components elegantly
embody a flexible yet expressive set of potential formal and
experiential relationships." -- Salen and
Zimmerman, Rules
of Play, page 547 |