Flip 7 with a Vengeance

• Designers: Eric Olsen and Alyssa Swatek
• Publisher: The Op 
• Players: 3+
• Age: 8+
• Time: 20 minutes
• Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/4vaZLFd
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Flip 7 is back – With a Vengeance! All of the fun of the original game, plus new player interactions and special take-that cards!   Flip over cards one by one without flipping the same number twice. Sound easy? Think again! This isn’t just any deck of cards… In Flip 7: With A Vengeance, there’s only one 1 card, two 2’s, three 3’s, etc., plus a bunch of special cards that can cut your points in half, steal any card, or force an opponent to draw four cards! Are you the type of player to play it safe and bank points before you bust, or are you going to risk it all and go for the bonus points by flipping over seven in a row? Press your luck meets strategy in this addictive card game where no one is ever really safe. The hard-boiled sequel to the award-winning, instant classic, Flip 7.

Shuffle the deck and appoint someone as the Dealer, that player takes the deck into their hands. The player to their left goes first.  The dealer flips the top card of the deck over.  The active player now has the chance to hit or stay.  If they hit, a new card is flipped up and added to all the previous face up ones.  If a card is flipped up that matches the number of another of your cards from earlier in the round, you bust.  Flip all your cards face down.  If they stay, they take no more cards; turn the leftmost card sideways to show that you have stayed. 

If you manage to get seven different number cards face up in front of you (all with different values), then you Flip 7!  The round ends immediately and you get a 15 point bonus.

There are a number of special number cards which bend the rules

• The Zero – your hand is worth 0 unless you can Flip 7, and then you score normally
• Unlucky 7 – discard all other cards in front of you other than the Unlucky 7
• Lucky 13 – you are allowed to have one other 13 card in your area without busting

There are also action cards which allow you to mess with the other players in the game

• Swap any two face up cards
• Force a player to accept the next one or even FOUR cards!
• Steal any face up card on the table
• Force a player to discard a card of your choosing

Anyone who is still alive (i.e. not busted) now scores the cards in front of them.  Sum up all the number cards and then divide or subtract any modifier cards from your total.  Add in the Flip 7 fifteen point bonus if applicable, and then log your score on a scoresheet.

The game is won by the first player to 200!

My thoughts on the game

The original version of the game, Flip 7, was a huge success – I have seen it played all over, and I can find the game for sale in stores wherever I go.  The game itself is quite simple, decide to hit or stay, see what happens, very likely laugh at someone else’s misfortune or cheer for their great luck, and then repeat.

This new version adds in a few new twists to make it even a bit more interactive.  There are plenty of action cards that allow you to manipulate play.  A Swap card can be particularly nasty as you might be able to make two different opponents bust because of a swap.  You could steal a particularly juicy card from someone, or you could force a player to take the next 4 cards off the top of the deck – surely pushing them towards a bust!  You can also cause a player to take a penalty on their score or possibly even half it!

The question that I hear a lot when I bring this game out is: Why would I play this over the original?  Well, this version does feel a bit more interactive with a lot more take-that action.  So if you like to play games where you get to mess around with the other players, this is for you.  If you want to be a bit more solitary in your risk/reward calculations, play the original.

That being said, it’s not particularly mean-spirited, and this version is still appropriate for all occasions and all gamers.  It’s still a game that can be explained in about 3 minutes with a few test rounds/examples.  Sure, there are a few more special cards that you will need to explain, but really – you can realistically explain them when they are flipped from the deck, because their existence really shouldn’t affect your decision to hit or stand on a particular turn.  

I am generally less a fan of take-that games or games with take-that actions in them than most, so I’ll stick to the original.

Until your next appointment,

The Gaming Doctor

Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/4vaZLFd