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“The greatest card game of all time”? My my! The OP has set a lofty bar with their claim on this one! Is it really? Well, it might not be the GREATEST, but it is indeed a lot of fun. And that’s all that counts!
Flip, Flip……Bust?
Rules for Flip 7 are flipping simple haha! The deck is full of numbered cards, and the number value represents how many of each of those cards are in the deck e.g. 9 x 9s, 8 x 8s etc. Every turn you get a card and, like Pontoon of old, you either hit (flip over another) or stick (stay with what you have). If the card you flip makes a pair with any of your previous card you bust, and your points for the round is zero. Otherwise, you continue on and the next turn you’ll be deciding between hitting and sticking again.
Importantly, your round score will factor in the effect of any bonus cards you acquired that round, but those cards won’t count towards your card total. And that’s important because, if you flip over 7 unique numeric cards, you end the round for everyone and you get all the points (plus bonuses which you can order to your advantage). A round will also end if everyone has either bust or stuck.
There are also special Flip cards which, take that style (or maybe that should be give-that style!), you can play on other players forcing them to flip over multiple cards immediately or to be frozen out of the round (potentially preventing them from gaining any more points or maybe ending the round before you are ready). Or even perhaps saving yourself from busting if you bank a Second Chance card.
The game ends as soon as somebody tips 200 points!
Final Thoughts
Flip 7 is a really fun twist on Blackjack style games, and it gets better the higher the player count. The more folks hitting, sticking, and playing cards on each other, the more “aaaarrrghgghhgh” moments there are as players bust at the hands of lady luck or each other!
And push-your-luck is the heart of this game. The temptation to keep gunning for the elusive 7 card set is ever present even though it is super hard to get. Your brain says don’t do it, but your heart says try. And as intrinsically hopeful creatures, we hear ourselves saying “hit me” before the logical part of us can keep our excitement in check. I almost scored a perfect zero in one game, but someone saved me from myself and froze me during a round when I had a solitary 12 point card! Haha
Knowing how many of each card is in the deck is helpful if you have a speedy math brain as it will help you work out the likelihood of a paired card coming your way. What you can’t predict is other players’ actions, however, nor who they are going to play any special cards on. You might be the target, or you might not. If the special cards are in your possession, forcing someone to pick up more cards Uno style might seem like a fast track to bust-ville for them. But what if they complete their 7 card set as a result of your generosity? You’ll have scuppered your chances to gain more points as the round ends with them. Flippin’ Nora!
There are shades of blackjack, Uno, Ten, and a host of other card games in Flip 7, but the way it combines those elements into a game that feels familiar yet fresh is pretty neat. I can’t really agree with the OP’s claim that it is the GREATEST card game of all time, and push your luck isn’t new. But we are having a blast playing it.
I can definitely see it becoming a staple of large family and friend gatherings because it’s so easy to pick up and play. Taking seconds to learn and suitable for pretty much everyone, it’s an uncontroversial and convenient choice of game for big groups. Our son is a Cub Scout and having taken it to a meeting last week, he and his troop have been loving it too. And with Christmas coming up, I can definitely see this making it into our bag as we head to the pub with friends. It’s flipping fun and, as I said at the start, really, that’s all that matters!
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