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 With Toy
Fair over, the next big thing on our minds is version 2.1
of Fluxx. ICE is sending us the last of their supply of Second
Edition decks, and the way things have been going, they won't
last long. This has left us scrambling to get the next print
run under way, and earlier this week, Kristin placed an order
with Carta Mundi for the largest Fluxx print run ever: 12,000
copies.
Ever since deciding to reclaim
the publishing rights to the game, we've been struggling with
the question of how much (or how little) we should revise the
game for this next edition. At first we thought we might add
a whole bunch of new cards, you know, to really update the product...
but pretty quickly we changed our minds about that, instead deciding
to plan for a future expansion, now code-named Fluxx++. For awhile
after that, we still thought we'd change the packaging, using
the double-wide box style we envisioned back when we were calling
it the Third Edition... but we soon discarded that idea, too,
since it would have been very expensive and nobody liked it much
anyway. And finally, because time is short and we're making changes
to existing plates, we've even scrapped the idea of making a
few minor changes to the wording on certain cards. So, the way
things are turning out, Fluxx Version 2.1 will hardly be different
at all.
 But for the benefit
of those who dig minor details, here's what's changing: first,
while the size of the tuckbox will not change, its appearance
(in particular, its backside) will be revised; second, the instructions
insert will be re-written; and third, artwork on several cards
will be changed. While we're still in the midst of the redesign
of the box and the instructions, we've finalized the changes
to the card set, and having sent the new files off to Carta Mundi,
I can now tell you what they are.
Having decided to be as conservative as possible about changing
the cards, we've decided to fix only those few things about the
current edition that really bother me. Interestingly, all of
these changes are follow-ups to changes made for the Second Edition.
In all, these 5 cards will change: The Pyramid, The Great Seal,
Bread, Toast, and the back of the Basic Rules card.
 When
we changed the Keeper named Toast to Bread, I had intended that
the cross-hatching on the slice of toast be removed, so that
it would look like bread rather than toast, but this somehow
fell through the cracks. It's being corrected.
The back of the Basic Rules is another incomplete change;
in the First Edition, it had the same back as every other card,
which made it hard to find when it was accidentally shuffled
into the deck (as inevitably happens). So for the Second Edition,
the back of the Basic Rules card was inverted, as per my request;
but unfortunately, my intent was unclear, and an inverted version
of the border was included on the card as well. While this admittedly
looks pretty neat, the border undermines the purpose of inverting
the image, so that it's still difficult to locate the card after
a shuffle-in. This border, therefore, will be eliminated.
 As for The Pyramid,
I redrew the art for this Keeper at the request of the Iron Crown
Art Director, as I also did with Peace and Love; but while I'm
pleased with the new versions of the Hippyism Keepers, I was
never happy with the new Pyramid. I was asked to make it a more
"traditional" pyramid, meaning of course Egyptian,
and since ICE was planning (at that time) to release numerous
foreign language editions of the game, we went along with it.
But this decision never sat well with me, and now, with version
2.1, we're returning to a pyramid of more Martian proportions.
Rather than dredge up the old art, I decided to draw a third
version of the pyramid. I hope you like it!
In
other news, Kristin's parents won a Grammy! They are members
of the Washington Chorus, whose rendition of Britten's War Requiem
was the winner this year in Category 89, "Choral Performance".
If you watched the Grammys live you probably didn't catch this
news, since (not surprisingly) this is one of those more obscure
awards that they give out prior to the main ceremonies. But that
hasn't diminished Marv and Elaine's pride one bit. And now they
can join the Grammy Club and vote each year for their favorite
singers!
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