Flip 7 Review
Advert: this game was gifted by Asmodee via Mason Williams PR, this has not affected our opinion.
Boasting to be the ‘Best Card Game Ever’ is quite the claim and immediately makes me think: “well I will be the judge of that!” Spoiler alert: it isn’t, but to find out just how good it actually is you’re gonna have to read on…
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Setup
Decide on the first player to be dealer. Shuffle the deck of cards. Set up is complete! It is so quick, it barely required its own section in the review!
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Gameplay
Players will have the opportunity to take a card, or pass. A bit like in Black Jack, you will stick or twist. Just like in Black Jack you can go bust, instead of counting to twenty-one constantly, you just don’t want any duplicate numbers.
In the deck there is one value, one card, two value two cards and so on, up to twelve value twelve cards. So the chances of duplication are higher if you already have a higher number. However, you score points at the end of the round depending on the value on the cards you have played, so those higher risk cards carry greater rewards. There is also a single zero card.
There are some special cards in the deck. Some grant straight-up points, or multipliers, should you survive, but these do not count towards your seven number card goal. More about that in a moment.
There are also three cards that offer powers. The first is a Freeze card that you can give to any player, which basically ends their round early. The Second Chance card helps, should you ever go bust, by discarding the card dealt along with this card. Finally, there is a Flip Three card which again can be played on any player, forcing them to flip three cards.
Play continues until everyone has either bust or passed, or if someone flips seven number cards.
For those that survived the round, the numbers on the cards will be converted to points. Plus if a player flips seven, then they get 15 bonus points as well. Then a new round starts, the deck is only shuffled if it ever runs out, not at the start of each round. Play continues until at the end of a round a player accumulates 200 points or more. This triggers the end of the game and the person with the most points wins.
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What it’s like
Flip 7 is almost entirely pure luck, but with just a sprinkling of probability. It is a card game that will benefit those that can card count, or at least memorise what cards have been played. Seriously though, who wants to be that person with a game of chance? Not me! Perhaps that is why I regularly bust!
It is a card game that is easy to teach, and one of those you can almost teach while playing the first round. The rulebook states that you shouldn’t shuffle the discard pile back into the draw deck until it runs out. I must confess, I quite like occasionally shuffling them after each round as this hinders card counting and ups the luck and risk factor again. For me, the luck element is the main appeal of this one. I like hearing the players groan and cheer in equal measure as the cards fly from the dealer to each player.
Rounds go by quick and before you know it someone will have accumulated enough points to win!
One thing that winds me up is that it says it can be played up to 99 players, that’s ridiculous! I wouldn’t want to play this more than twelve, and realistically not more than eight people.
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Table Presence
If ridiculously oversized boxes are your idea of fun, then Flip 7 will make you smile. The box has more air in it than most balloons! The ridiculously big box is at least very shiny, I just cannot understand why it isn’t smaller, I have seen that it might be in America.
The cards themselves have a nice colourful appearance while remaining clear. I admire how they join up as you lay out your tableau in front of you.
The rulebook was nice and clear and remained concise. I find the lack of a score pad frustrating as you are constantly adding up to see if anyone achieves 200, that would be so much easier if a pencil and pad was included… it might’ve helped fill the box a bit more!
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What the kids thought
Max (10): I really like seeing other people go bust and the excitement of deciding whether to stick or twist. It’s a good game!
George (14): I think Flip 7 is a simple and risky game, I enjoy trying to get all 7 cards to get the bonus points but I almost always go bust, It is an exciting game and I will always be happy to play it in the future!
Harrison (17): Flip 7 is a quick and fun party game that is super simple and easy to pick up and play. Despite the lack of any real strategy the concept of sticking and flipping is good fun. Overall, it’s not my favourite game in the world, however, I will happily play it whenever it is suggested and know I will have a good time.
Final thoughts on Flip 7
I was a trifle surprised Flip 7 got a nomination for the coveted Spiel de Jahres award. Especially as Cities, Castle Combo and Agent Avenue only got recommendations. However, it resides alongside Bomb Busters and Krakel Orakel as one of the three main nominees.
Don’t get me wrong, I have lots of fun time playing this one. It has hit the table a lot with various player counts and works well with newbies and seasoned gamers alike, so perhaps I shouldn’t be bemused at all.
Flip 7 is exactly the kind of gateway game that should be recommended to those new to the hobby. Certainly ahead of many of the titles that get banded about as good entry level board and card games that aren’t. This has that mass-market appeal yet still retains enough interest for the gamer as well. Kudos to it for striking that balance so well. However, the fact remains that the box is not correct. Flip 7 is not the ‘Best Card Game Ever’.
Summary
There isn’t much to Flip 7, but the simplification doesn’t hinder it delivering plenty of push-your-luck fun at the table.
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Artwork and Components
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Complexity
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Instructions
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Interaction
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Value for Money
Overall
Pros
- Easy to learn
- Light push your luck fun
- Plenty of groans and cheers when played
- More fun than it deserves to be
Cons
- The oversized box for the contents
- The bad luck of the cards
- It doesn’t play up to 99 very well
- Not the ‘Best Card Game Ever’
Need more games?
If you already own Flip 7 and enjoy it, or are looking for other inspiration, you might also like these similar games:
- No Thanks!
- Cockroach Poker
- Castle Combo
- Bandido
Buy Flip 7
If you want to buy Flip 7 after reading our review click on one of our affiliate links below (note there has been no affiliate links until this point)
Reviewer’s Note
For clarity: we don’t get paid for our reviews. However, we were kindly gifted this game by Asmodee via Mason Williams. We have tried not to let this affect our review in any way.
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