It truly is an excellent time to be both a Star Trek fan, and a tabletop gaming fan. It seems like every few months we’re treated to a new Trek game hitting the shelves of our friendly local game store.

One of the latest to hit the market is Star Trek Fluxx, and it’s 24th century companion Star Trek: TNG Fluxx. The basic Fluxx card game has been around since the late 1990s, and there have been several editions that reflect a variety of themes and franchises. In fact, a Star Fluxx edition has been out for a while, and lovingly (and unofficially) riffed a bit on Star Trek. That said, the two new official Star Trek editions of Fluxx will no doubt become your new favorite versions of the game.

A brief word about Fluxx in general: this is a fast moving card game with “ever-changing rules,” which can take anywhere from 10 to 40 minutes to play. While the suggested age is 8+ and number of players is 2 to 6, I’ve made it work with younger kids and more players without breaking the game balance too much. It helps that it is easy to play, with very little instruction needed before diving right in.

The point of the game is to end up with a set of cards on hand (“Keepers”) that match the current “Goal” card on the table. But with a goal that is constantly being replaced and with new rules coming and going, there’s usually no clear indication of who is close to winning until just before they accomplish the goal.

These two new Star Trek editions of Fluxx feature Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: The Original Series elements, along with a 12-card “Bridge Expansion” packet that allows you to play with both sets at the same time. Each Trek edition has a standard set of cards that will no doubt be familiar to fans of previous Fluxx games (“New Rule,” “Surprise,” and “Action” cards namely).

Of course, it’s the Star Trek specific cards (“Goal,” “Keeper,” and “Creeper” cards) that really turn these into unique collector’s editions.

One of my favorite Trek specific cards comes from the Original Series set, and it is a delightfully deep cut reference to the episode “A Piece of the Action.” (A game of Fizzbin, anyone?) Other classic references in the Original Series set include the Doomsday Machine, Spock’s beard from the Mirror Universe, random red shirts, and the Guardian of Forever.

Speaking of the Doomsday Machine, this set has an “Ungoal” card type that I haven’t seen in other editions of Fluxx. If each player has had the Doomsday Machine card — and no one has the Enterprise — then all players lose the game! It’s a card that will no doubt encourage some cooperation to defeat the Doomsday Machine, or it’ll end the game for everyone.

The Next Generation set has a significant Borg presence, drawing on their relationship to both Picard/Locutus and Q, and this makes for some interesting “Goal” cards (and an “Ungoal” card of its own). I did think there were a few missed opportunities here, though.

It would have been clever to somehow involve Robin Lefler’s rules (this is a game all about crazy rules afterall). I also thought it would have been fun to have a “Creeper” card based on “The Game” episode from season 5. Instead, we have the rather generic feeling Romulans and Malfunction “Creeper” cards.

It just seemed like the Next Gen set lacked some fun callbacks to episodes (like the Fizzbin card of the Original Series set). The Borg are fine and all, they just feel a little over-represented in all Next Generation games. It wasn’t an insignificant part of the franchise, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t the whole franchise.

One of the primary ways these sets are distinguished from previous iterations of Fluxx, is in the ability to combine them with the Bridge Expansion cards. Here we have a clever “Meta Rule” card, which is placed alongside the Basic Rules card for the duration of the game. It allows anyone to discard 4 goal cards all at once, and then draw 5 new cards immediately and play all of them.

Combining both sets creates a huge draw pile, and this is a way to get through a large number of cards more quickly. It’s exactly the kind of rule change needed to make the combination of sets work. I’m also a huge fan of the The Bridge “Keeper” card, which lets you steal the Enterprise “Keeper” from someone (and potentially help you deal with that “Ungoal” related to the Doomsday Machine “Creeper” card).

When I’m picking out what to bring to game night, Star Trek Fluxx is going to be a top pick. It’s so easy to introduce to new players, and anyone who likes Star Trek will no doubt get a kick out of all the crazy Trek-themed cards. It’s absolutely worth picking up both sets and the expansion!

If you’re at STLV this weekend, the Star Trek Fluxx games are available for sale only at the FanSets booth in the convention vendors room — including the Bridge Expansion pack.