This is a big one. We spent the last two weeks making every game feel smoother, fairer and easier to learn. Here's what changed.
♠️ Blackjack is now a real table
You're no longer alone against the dealer. Up to five players sit at the table, and the dealer hands out the cards from their own seat. Be the first to reach 2,000 chips to win. Run out of chips and you're out, but the others keep playing.
And yes: you can now play Blackjack online with friends.
🃏 Meet Cardy, your coach
New to FLUX? Cardy sits in the corner of the table for your first few games. It tells you what you can do on your turn, makes the cards you can play float up, and if you try a card that isn't allowed, it tells you why.
Want to know what a card does? Just hover it. You can turn Cardy off, or keep it on all the time, in the settings.
✨ Games that feel better
- Your turn ends on its own when there's nothing left for you to do. It never decides for you, and it never skips your "FLUX!" call.
- Cards cast shadows as they fly across the table.
- The computer players wait for animations to finish before playing.
- Drag a card and let go: it now flies from where you dropped it.
- Dealing looks right: cards come from the deck on the table, one player at a time.
- Bigger cards in the middle of the table for trick-taking games like President, Tarot and Queen of Spades.
- Choose who to attack by their face: your opponents come forward so you can pick one.
🎮 Great with a controller (and on Steam Deck)
Every action you can take now has its own button, and every button can be reached with a controller. When you point at a card, the buttons show what you can do with it. Tarot bids can finally be placed with a controller too.
We also fixed the left trigger sorting your hand several times with a single press.
🎲 Game by game
🏎️ 1K - The Race
Each player's area now looks like a little race track, with a tiny car that drives around as you add kilometers. Attacks land on your opponent's track with a big hit, and stay there until they fix it. The game is also rebalanced: the deck gets reshuffled when it runs out, so races reach the finish line far more often, and speed limits wear off after a while.
⛰️ Ascension
Oxygen and fatigue are now shown as bars, and each player has a little mountain with their climber on it. The game is rebalanced for 4 players: storms don't last forever, pushing hard makes you tired, and high up the mountain you need oxygen to keep climbing. Most games now end with someone reaching the summit.
In both games, the computer players stopped throwing away their best cards.
🌸 Hanafuda (Koi-Koi, Go-Stop, Hachi-Hachi)
Your captured cards are now neatly sorted by type, and the rules screen lists every scoring combination with its points. A deal can no longer leave four useless cards on the table, and a tied game no longer gives the win to whoever sat first.
🐑 Sheeplosion!
The Nope card finally works like in the real game: when someone attacks you, asks you for a card or steals from you, you can answer with a Nope.
🃏 Poker
The showdown is more dramatic: the winning cards are revealed one step at a time, and you can see exactly which cards made the hand.
♥️ Queen of Spades
If you can't play a card, the game now tells you why (for example, hearts aren't open yet). A small indicator also shows which suits you can play.
🔄 FLUX
Saying "FLUX!" is never required, in every version of the game. If you forget, your opponents can still catch you.
📋 Game log
Hanafuda and Rummy now have a game log too.
⚙️ New settings
- Animation speed: fast, normal or relaxed.
- Sound: on or off.
- Automatic end of turn: on or off.
- Bedside lamp: a warm glow over the table when the lighting gets dark at night.
📖 Clearer rules
The rules of all 23 games now also explain what you're not allowed to do, so a card that won't play never looks like a bug.
🐛 Fixes
- The Side Bets version of Blackjack could never be won.
- The FLUX card back changed shape with the pastel theme.
- A few buttons showed technical names instead of real words.
Thanks for playing, and for all your feedback. Keep it coming!