[Fluxx] Zombie Fluxx Question

[Andy Looney]

Hi Christopher!

> It is one of the first games I ever introduce people to because it
> is so easy to explain, and so much fun.  (for most people.)  Fluxx has
> gone fishing, camping, to family holidays, cast parties, picnics, the
> zoo, and many other places.  It's a wonderful go-to game which I will
> never turn down an opportunity to play.

Awesome! I'm so glad you like my game(s) so much.

> If the Zombie victory goal is out and there are 5 or more Creeper
> cards on the table and One person has the Zombie repellent card and a
> zombie gets passed to the person with the zombie repellent, is the zombie
> victory condition fulfilled? Or does instantly imply that the person
> never actually gets the zombie card? For example it is given to him, and
> he passes it on to somebody else before he sets it down?

This is an excellent question. Even I was a bit stumped!

> it should be like a force field, which creates a zombie free
> zone around your little sanctuary.  (which could in fact be detrimental
> if the goal requires a zombie because you don't have a choice.)

That's basically how I see it. If you have the repellent, Zombies never 
really come into your possession, they bounce away from you again as soon 
as they approach. But mechanically, when a Creeper is given to the player 
with the Repellent, they do sort of possess it momentarily, as it's up to 
them to decide who to immediately pass it along to. So I understand the 
argument which says for a split second, the Zombie Victory conditions were 
met. But I think that goes against the spirit of both cards. The idea 
behind the repellent is that the it keeps zombies from ever getting close 
enough to you to hurt you, and the idea behind Zombie Victory is that the 
players lose because everyone's overcome with Zombies. It doesn't feel 
right to say that a player is "overcome by Zombies" because someone had to 
spent a moment telling an approaching zombie where to go.

So I say you made the right call. The game continues, Zombie Repellent 
keeps you from ever truly being in possession of a Zombie.

-- Andy Looney