What deserves proper critical attention? Is there criteria by which we should filter games for consideration? Ultimately this is down to the individual critic but there is of course a temptation to dismiss lighter fare. There are some who would dismiss Flip 7 as a trifle, not worthy of consideration. I picked it up recently in the hopes of playing it with my family over Christmas. That didn’t happen, but it has become a go to this year like The Gang did for me in 2025.
Flip 7 is designed by Eric Olsen with art by O’Neil Mabile and published by The OP Games.
Flip 7 will sound almost insultingly simple when I explain it to you. The only component is a deck of cards the majority of which have a number on them from 0-12. There is a single 0 and a single 1 in the deck. After that every card appears in the deck a number of times equal to its value: 2 twos, 3 threes, 4 fours, and so on. There are some special cards in there but the core of this is the numbers.
One of the players will deal a card face-up to each player at the start of a round. Then going clockwise each player will be offered a choice: stick or twist? If you stick you’ll bank the value of cards in front of you. On a twist you’ll get a new card. Over multiple rounds you are trying to hit 200 points or more. The player with the most points at the end of the round anyone gets to 200 is the winner.
On getting a new card you can go bust if the card dealt matches any of the cards you currently have in front of you. This means that the higher value cards you want for the points are also riskier to have as they are more likely to bust you.
This seems like a simple enough proposition, gently pushing your luck to eke out a few points each round. That would work if it weren’t for those pesky other players. Each one of those miscreant has the power to derail your cold, calculating path to victory. By pushing just a little harder than you, gambling their previous points for potential victory they increase the tension.
Ok there are some special cards that can turn the screws or loosen them off. Second Chance means you can take a hit without busting out. Freeze allows you to force someone out of the round, banking what they already have but no more. Finally Flip Three makes the player who is targeted do just that: take the next 3 cards, stopping if they bust. All 3 of these can be played on any player, including the one it was dealt to.
Now at first glance this seems simple. Second Chance you keep for yourself of course. Freeze you would use to push the leader out of the round. Hang on a moment though. What if they keep pushing and bust? Then they have zero points rather than some points. That Flip Three might be dangerous for you, but what if it catapults you into the lead. Maybe you can use it to push someone else out of the round? Maybe it will shove them further ahead?
All of these decisions exist because much of the play of Flip 7 exists ‘above the table’. If you aren’t familiar with this idea it is the concept of the interplay between the players that emerges from the mechanisms of the game. It is different for every group of players, spurned on by the conflict taking place on the table.
It is here that Flip 7 really shines. Every player will have their own definition of risk, pushing luck as far as they dare in the pursuit of victory. No group will have players with exactly the same risk aversion and so an uneasy tension exists above the table. As players push while others stick, those static watch on in horror as points climb. They think ‘next round I’ll go higher’. Those busted out think they’ll be more cautious, but then as the cards build and the elusive 15 point bonus for having 7 number cards on display, they throw caution to the wind once more.
More than this though Flip 7 draws us in because it gives us all a chance to be a game show host. Like a lot of games the role of dealer is passed round. In doing so the timbre of the game changes. One person will be bold as brass, another tempting us with cards soft and seductively. Each player brings their soul to the performance and every time it is a fascinating thing to watch and participate in.
There is one final trick that Flip 7 pulls off. At the start of the game the probability of getting a 12 or a 6 is reasonably set. Every card dealt changes this probability of course. Yes a good card counter will likely be able to do really well. Anyway. As the deck dwindles, you can see the above table tensions change.
Then you are out.
When you have no cards left to deal you shuffle the discard and reset the deck. Alongside the new deck the probabilities reset. This leads to moments of rushing if you have high cards, hoping to take advantage of the dwindling deck. Then you come screeching to a halt as the deck flips. Or do you?
Flip 7 is a game it is easy to ignore. For me it evokes a classic feel and reminded me strongly of Can’t Stop by Sid Sackson. It has that same ‘just one more go’ feel every time you are offered a card. As the cards build you are tempted by that 7 card bonus. Every card dealt is a moment of victory or defeat waiting to happen. The choice is yours, but the pull of temptation is up the other players at the table. So would you like to hit or stick?
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