Flip 7
Designed by: Eric Olsen
Flip 7 is a race to be the first player to reach 200 points – but can you do so without busting?
The game consists of a deck of cards. Most are numbered: there is a single 1, two 2s, three 3s and so on all the way up to the twelve 12s. Mixed amongst them – shuffle before playing! – are some special cards, that we’ll come to later. For now, everyone is dealt a single face-up card to begin, and then play moves clockwise around the table from the dealer, with each player announcing if they want to twist or stick.
Twisting means you’ll get the next card off the top of the deck, and your round score will be the sum total of these cards: a 4, 7, 10 and 12 for example would be 33 points. The risk is that if you twist and you get a duplicate of any of your cards, you bust for that round, and score nothing. So sticking avoids that issue – you bank the points you have but draw no further cards this round.
The special cards mix things up a little – some are Modifier cards are just points, but they don’t have duplicates and so cannot bust you. Some are powerful – the x2 card doubles your score, assuming you don’t bust, and the Second Chance card allows you to bust once without being knocked out – you discard the Second Chance card instead (and the card that busted you). The Freeze card can be played on another player: they cannot draw further cards this round, but will still score what they’ve harvested so far. And the Flip 3 card can be played to yourself or any other player: draw three more cards, and hope you don’t bust.
A round will continue either until every player has stuck or busted, or a round will end instantly if anyone manages to draw a seventh number card without busting If you manage that, you also score 15 bonus points. As soon as anyone hits 200 points, they win!
Sam says
The biggest catch, of course, is that the higher numbers are better for your score, but they’re also more likely to bust you if you keep twisting, as they make up practically half the deck. I enjoy Flip 7 whenever I play it, but I don’t tend to seek it out because – curmudgeon alert – I feel that Pairs, which preceded it – (specifically the Port variant, which comes with the basic deck) does this a little better, and for what it’s worth, offers other games with the same pack of cards. Pairs doesn’t have the special cards at all, but whenever we’ve played Flip 7 they get a mixed reception. The Flip 3 can be funny, but the Second Chance and Modifier cards actively dilute the bust/don’t-bust drama the game has set up, and the Freeze feels kind of arbitrary. But I won’t turn down Flip 7, because the micro-drama of that flipping risk is always fun.
-
Take That!
The Freeze and Flip 3 cards can be used against other players, so there's an occasional sharp edge
-
Fidget Factor!
Low - everyone's twisting, and the number that makes up everyone is getting smaller each round
-
Brain Burn!
Low to lower
-
Again Again!
It's a solid party game, very easy to introduce to pretty much anyone
