Flipping good fun

There’s some games that are so simple, fun, accessible and cheap they seem to fall into my collection without me realising they’ve appeared there. My decision to add them almost doesn’t happen, they are the official no brainer, why wouldn’t I purchase it? It’s harder to find a reason not to than just pick a copy up, with classic examples being Love Letter, Skull, Anomia and No Thanks. Flip 7 from The OP Games is another example of this, a handful of rules and a setup time only matched in its simplicity by the aforementioned Anomia, you take the stack of cards from the box, shuffle them and put them in front of your designated dealer.

The game of Flip 7 is so simple it almost makes you cross you didn’t think of it yourself, there’s just enough of something though to give it flavour and a spot all of its own out from the crowd. What you have here is rather close to Blackjack where the dealer will come to each player in turn and just ask them if they want another card or to stick where they are, Hit or Stay as the manual, sorry, leaflet states.

So what are you trying to achieve here? Well this is where the Blackjack comparison moves away somewhat. You’re not trying to get close to or hit a particular total in each round, you’re trying to amass as many points as you can, with an overall target of reaching and exceeding 200 points which will be achieved from several rounds of play. As the round progresses each player will collect cards in front of them that equate to points in their pot, however, if they bust they lose the points, whereas if they decide to stick they’ll bank those points and as you imagine banked points are then safe for the game. 

What makes the decision of whether to hit or stay interesting and mildly thinky is the structure of the deck. Comprised of cards numbered from 1 to 12 which represent points, the quantity of each card in the deck is matched by its value, so there are three 3s, there are eight 8s, twelve 12s etc and so herein lies the quandary, high value cards are great points wise but if you ever receive a card that is already on display in your pot, whallop you’ve just busted so those high value cards carry an extra layer of risk.  It’s a neat system and as mentioned mildly thinky, you won’t agonise, it’ll be a snap decision but a fun one. 

This might sound fun albeit slightly thin, however fear not as the deck does actually contain a few other surprises which come in the shape of action and score modifier cards. Action cards appear in three different types, two of which provide additional consideration. The Freeze card is played on another player who is then automatically our of the round banking their points, so feel free to target that player who is running away points wise to slow them down. 

Another called the Flip Three can be played on yourself or an opponent who then immediately has to draw three cards to add to their pot. This can obviously go well or badly from how you look at it, gifting an opponent three cards could send them off into the distance with a huge score or could well bust them, alternatively playing this on yourself can be great or disaster! The final action card is the Second Chance offering you an extra life to avoid busting.

The score modifier cards simply offer bonus points to your pot and there’s even a x2 score multiplier card lurking in the deck which can send you sailing off towards that 200 point target. One question which might be lingering is regarding the name of the game and why Flip7? Well this refers to a bonus for anyone who manages to flip seven different cards in a round, excluding action cards and modifiers. The bonus here is the round ends immediately and that player receives an additional fifteen points. Again a lovely little twist to add a little more drama.

So there you have it, a neat easy to teach and fun to play card game that seems to sit well with all sorts of crowds. It won’t provide entertainment for hour after hour but very easy to whip out after a take away with friends or to fill a gap in a games session. Nicely produced, bright coloured artwork and good quality cards all in a shiny box, which is possibly a little oversized for what is just a deck of cards and may result in some people getting rid of the box and storing the cards in an alternate way which is a shame as the box does look rather nice!