An exclusive interview for the 'Casters Kitchen'!

Tim talks to Fluxx Card game creator Andy Looney about his various works and his orgins to gaming

1) What got you into gaming?
 
I've been into games since I was a little kid, so I guess I'd have to say 
it was my mom, who figured out that her kids could be entertained by board 
games. I also thought the games my other brothers were playing were cool, 
and wanted to be able to join in.
 
2) What was the driving idea behind fluxx?
 
I wanted to do a game with dynamic winning conditions, and the idea of 
being able to change the rules seemed to have a lot of appeal... I dunno, 
it just kinda popped out! Actually though, it was my wife's request for a 
card game that started it -- our first game publishing efforts were with 
the pyramid-shaped gaming pieces called Icehouse, which were very difficult 
(i.e. expensive) to produce, whereas a card game would be so much easier, 
she said, so I invented one she could publish.
 
3) What made you choose Monty Python as a theme for fluxx?
 
Actually, we were approached about it, rather than choosing it ourselves. A 
company called Toy Vault was already making MP licensed toys and games, and 
they wanted to do a MP version of Fluxx, and asked us about it. As a fan, I 
said I wanted to do it myself, so we worked with them on working out the 
licensing deal.
 
4) What is ice house?
 
Icehouse is a gaming system that uses small colorful pyramids of 3 sizes. 
It's also the first game for that system, but there are now so many games 
(over 200) that the original is just kind of a footnote now. Nowadays they 
are sold as a game called Treehouse, but if you get 5 Treehouse sets you 
can play the original game and almost everything else! I like to compare 
the set to a deck of playing cards, since they are similarly versatile.
 
5) Tell us about the EcoFluxx campaign.
 
EcoFluxx is our ecology-themed version of Fluxx, and we donate 5% of the 
proceeds from it to various groups working to save the environment. Since 
we're a bunch of tree-hugging hippies, we think the environment is pretty 
important!
 
6) If you were only ever allowed to play one of your games for the rest of 
your life, which would it be and why?
 
I'd have to say Icehouse, since I could play an almost infinite number of 
other games with just that one set of pieces!
 
7) What is your new game 'Are you a traitor'?
 
It's what we call a deception party game. It's inspired by Mafia/Werewolf, 
if you've ever played that, but it's got very different structure. Werewolf 
has a number of flaws in my opinion, the worst of which is player 
elimination, and I was seeking to improve on the original with my design. 
Basically, it's a game about trying to figure out who is lying, and who is 
telling the truth (and, if you are one of the liars, about avoiding getting 
caught in your lies!) It's great fun!
 
Thanks for playing our games!