Thursday, December 22nd 2005

by the Writer's Guild of Wunderland

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Spanish-speaking Fluxx fans rejoice! It won't be here for a few months, but Fluxx Espanol is on the way!

Unlike the German and Japanese versions of Fluxx, which were published by German and Japanese game companies (respectively) under license from us, in this case we will be publishing the Spanish version by ourselves. It made sense to let the Germans and the Japanese tailor and pitch the game to their markets on their own, importing their version of our product to resell to our fans (and perhaps to help get our games into schools).

However, in this case, the language in question is widely spoken domestically. Indeed, if America has a second language, it's Spanish, and there are many Spanish-speaking Americans who we think will want this product. So, it just made sense to do it ourselves, and after years of talking about it, we're finally moving forward with a plan!

To help make Fluxx Espanol special, and to help make it appealing and appropriate for the Spanish-speaking market, we're creating all-new art. (And by we, I mean Alison.) We're taking our inspiration from the style of the classic Mexican bingo-style game known as Loteria. Shown here are Alison's finished art for la Luna and el Sol, and her ready-to-colorize drawings for el Amor and la Fiesta.

The inclusion of a new Keeper called La Fiesta is another of the cool little differences we'll be featuring in Fluxx Espanol. Another is the fact that, while based on original Fluxx, the new game will also use the Family Fluxx production model: It will contain only 56 cards, and retail for just $8.

But a thinner deck means trimming the core cards to the bone, and that meant some difficult choices. We finally agreed on a set of 14 Keepers to include, featuring most of the standard Keepers plus the Party. We're also switching Cookies for Cake What are we leaving out? Dreams, The Rocket, Peace, War, and Death. It was particularly hard deciding to drop Peace, but as I kept saying, you can't have Peace without War and you can't have War without Death, so it's an all or nothing deal. Other new cards Fluxx Espanol will include are Goals like Siesta (Sleep + Sun), Happy Birthday (Party + Cake), and Wedding Cake (Love + Cake). I'm also thinking of a New Rule that would give you a bonus if you have the Party Keeper in front of you, OR, if you are playing the game at a party.

Once we get Fluxx Espanol into print, we will be working to get it into Spanish speaking markets all over the US, as well as potential international markets. Both Alvaro (our sales manager) and Luisa (our EcoFluxx advisor and part-time volunteer in the sales department) speak fluent Spanish, so they'll be a big help both in developing the translations and in pitching the finished game!

So, we're very excited about that. And other things, too. Like Josh! And the approach of Christmas! We finally got our tree done, and the shopping and gift wrapping are coming along nicely...

Well, I guess that's it for now. Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad! Happy Holidays! Have a Great Hanukkah! Enjoy National Play Week, Have fun on New Year's Night, and check back with us in 2006! (In other words, this site will not be updated next week.)

Thanks for reading, and Don't Forget to Play!