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I'm always on the look out for what I call “End of the Evening Activities” (a.k.a Rules-lite quick games) which is how I ended up picking up Flip 7...despite it having “The Greatest Card Game of All Time” printed on the front of the box. To paraphrase Jack Black and Tenacious D, This isn't the Greatest Card Game of All Time...this is just a tribute.
If you are going to create “The Greatest Card Game of All Time” you might as well crib from the best. Which is why this Tribute feels an awfully lot like Black Jack with some Jack Black insanity thrown in. It uses a custom deck of cards with the “Basic” portion of the deck that consists of the numbers 1 to 12 with the number of cards in the deck corresponding to the physical number on the card (Twelve 12's, Eleven 11's, etc...). Each of these cards are worth the as many points as are printed on the card. Every player is dealt one card face up and then, going clockwise around the table are given the chance to be dealt another card. They can take a “Hit” (Huh, it's seems like everyone is going to use the phrase Hit Me, how odd) or “Stay.” The goal of each hand is to NOT have two of the same numbered cards in front of you, if you do, you “bust” and get zero points for the round. (This isn't the Greatest Card Game of All Time...This is just a tribute...to Black Jack).
You are playing to 200 points over multiple rounds where one and one means bust but two and one makes three (Yes, there is only a single one in the game but I'm beating the Tribute lyrics to death here). The secret sauce is that * whispers * It's Gambling. Okay, it's gambling with fictional points but it still manages to have that rush of gambling. There's something about staring down the barrel of a loaded deck and saying “We may fall on our faces but, if we do, we fall with dignity.” The titular “Flip 7” is “shooting the moon” by having seven non-matching, non-special cards out in front of you. If you manage this feat, you earn a whole whopping 15 bonus points...and, yet, somehow you'll still be tempted to risk it all with six cards in front of you.
Adding the Jack Black craziness to this Black Jack are some custom cards. The weird part is that these can be played on any active player including yourself. If you get a Second Chance card, you can play it on yourself and, if you get a duplicate card, you can discard it and the duplicate card that would have busted you to continue on. And you may be thinking, “Well, that's the nature of push your luck games.”
Then the Freeze Card will come out (The Player who receives this card banks all of their points and is out of the round). Hey, look! I pushed my luck and you get punished with not being able to play this round! Isn't this the greatest card game of all time! (No, this is just a tribute). Or the Flip Three card which requires the person who receives it to take the next three cards and reveal them on at a time. Who knew removing player agency was one the Greatest Things of All Time.
There are also some special cards that, while not adding to the 7 cards you need to reveal to get the 15 bonus points, will add points to your total, ranging from +2 to +10 points. But the card you really want to see if the X2 Special Card which doubles your current total when you Stay and don't bust.
Sure, it sounds like I'm being harsh on the game but it's a hell of a lot of fun. It even plays well with custom drinking rules (Hey, now it's “The Greatest Drinking Game of All Time”). If you are looking for something for between 3 to 9 players (the stated 3 to 18 players requires two Greatest Cards Games of All Times) and will provide hours of fun, Flip 7 is that game. Be thee The Greatest Card Game of all time? Nay, tis' but a tribute but it... Rocks!
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