Life with Churry.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Alternative Education

One of my favorite games of all time is Fluxx. Playing the game demands a high level of attention, but it's really easy to learn the basics of the game and start playing.
(1) Deal 3 cards to each player.
(2) Someone starts by following the basic rule - draw one, play one.
(3) Take turns playing.
Every card has instructions on it. If you play a card, follow the instructions on that specific card.

Based on a recent e-mail from the company, the buyer from a big department store chain in New York couldn't figure out how to play. The active fan base responded immediately to help fine-tune the separate (not on a card), printed instructions so people might understand the instructions better. One contributer credited his experience with Magic for helping him understand "do what it says on the card."

Has the American education system been infused with such...um...freedom that people don't know how to follow directions anymore?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

x+1

pattig said...

Some people need it to spell out every single line of the directions. They can't just follow the cards; they need details.

My uncle "cheats" at Swap, because it doesn't clearly state in the rules that you have to use the swap card in your hand before drawing a new card when you can't otherwise play. The rest of agree that's what the rules imply if not clearly state, but his continues to disagree and play by his own rules.

I love Fluxx too, but I can't get my best friends to play! I took it camping and they just weren't interested. There was nothing else to do, but they didn't want to play!