Flip 7 for the New Year

We always get together with the Leggs for New Year's Eve, and there's always a game going when we get there.  Tonight it was Flip 7, a fairly simple card game that I've seen mentioned on Facebook a few times recently.  Like any card game, you either get cards you need or you don't, but the fun is what happens along the way.  We had six players and the rounds went quickly.

The basic idea is that players take turns being dealt a card, and they can "hit me" or "hold" like in blackjack.  There are number cards ranging from 1 to 12 and bonus/extra cards like Freeze (your hand is done), Bonus Points (+2 to +10 and a x2), Take 3 (take 3 more cards from the dealer) and a safety card that can save you from going bust once.  There are supposed to be one 1, two 2s, up to twelve 12s in the deck, and if you get a number card you already have, your hand is busted.  So it's interesting that the cards have obvious levels of risk and rarity, and there were some attempts at card counting, but in the end, it's just chance.

The more cards you have, the less you want to take more cards.  There is a rule where if you get seven different number cards without going bust, you get a 15 point bonus.  Through the first few rounds, seeing how you can bank 30 or 40 points in a hand rather easily, risking real points for the measly 15 point bonus sounded like it would never be worth it.  The game is played until someone hits 200 points.  

On the last round we played, the 15 point "Flip 7" was explained better: apparently, it also ends the round and all players take whatever points they have showing.  Still not worth the risk.

Even if you could calculate the odds of every card that might be coming your way, it won't tell you which card you will actually get.  One player decided to just take a hit every time and see what happens -- he still scored in the middle of the pack.  I just tried to bank 3 or 4 cards each time, and fared about the same.  The winners did not seem to be doing anything differently, except for getting better cards.

This game really brings out the OCD in players.  There were funny skirmishes when one player tried to show another player the best way to add up the numbers (by grouping them by tens), considering our group had decades of RPG and teaching history together.  And a player kept straightening my cards.  Leave my cards alone, worry about yours.  I played the rest of the game with my cards as crooked as possible.

I used to be a terrible sore loser, but over the years I've come to let the cards fall as they may and enjoy the little moments between.  There are so many levels of gaming behavior.  Gaming is such a phenomenon.

I did start to get a bit bored, and saw that the eleven on its side could be an equals sign, so my new "strategy" was to see if I could form a proper equation before going bust.  The answer is ... yes.  8+2=10.  That's a win!

Flip 7 is a keeper.

Some of the rules arguments on BoardGameGeek are pretty funny: "No fair, the round froze before I got any cards ..." and such.  But surprisingly few house rules were suggested for a card-flipping game like this one.

Random note: I saw a post on facebook that the zero card had a unique serial number printed on it, in case you have to call customer support for missing or misprinted cards.