No numbers. No characters. No words.
FlipOut from Gamewright has none of these. What’s left then?
Two things: Colorful patterns and strategy. And it turns out that’s more than enough to produce a superior card game for families. Here’s a quick rundown of the action: You and your opponent(s) draw six cards each and line them up in the provided holders in the order in which they were selected (this is mandated, and important). The cards have patterns on both sides – some identical, some different. Here’s the catch, you cannot see the back of your own cards. Same goes for everyone else. But, you can see and play the back of other player’s cards. Each player makes two moves (or Actions) per turn. The idea is to line up matches of 4, 5, or 6 cards in a row on your holder or the back of an opponent’s. The player with the most cards in their side pile of matches wins when the common deck is exhausted.
This all might sound confusing, and kinda is through the initial round of turn-taking. After that, game play becomes intuitive, competitive, and as with my first battle against The Mrs, a little maddening – I mean, how did she keep scoring matches of 5 cards over and over again? Ugh.
The Mouse (age 4) didn’t quite get FlipOut (her and The Mrs. were a team), but the Bear, age 7, picked it up very quickly. The age recommendation on the box is 8+ and that is just about spot-on.
The instructions offer a few ways to mix it up and make the game even more challenging. The recommended add-on of being able to buy some additional (3rd) moves is brilliant because sometimes you can see Actions lining up but fall short of being able to take advantage within just 2 moves. I know that might sound complicated but it’s totally not.
FlipOut is highly innovative in it’s simplicity, even though it sounds like anything but in this review! The game play is energizing, fast paced and fun – a big time winner in the youth card game category!
Also, you also have to appreciate a game that fits back into the box snug. Just sayin’.
*OWTK received a sample FlipOut for review consideration. The opinions expressed above are honest and unbiased.
