Flip Six

A simple card game with very complex rules?

Description

The overall goal of this game is to have the lowest score after 10 rounds of play. At the end of each round your score is determined by adding the value of all the cards in your play area.

Thus your goal in any turn is to eliminate cards or reduce their value.

This game consists of a single deck of cards. Each card has a printed number between 12 and -2, inclusively. There are four of each card between 0 and 12, one -1, and two -2s for a total of fifty-five cards.

 

Gameplay

To set up a round, the dealer hands out six cards to each player. The players, without looking at their cards, arranges them into two rows of three.

The dealer then flips over the top card of the deck and places it face up in the discard pile.

Play then starts left of the dealer and goes clockwise.

On a players first turn they reveal one card from their top row and one card from the bottom row.

The player then continues their turn as normal for the rest of the round by performing one of three actions:

• Replace a Card
• Eliminate a Column
• Discard the drawn card

 

Replacing a Card

To replace a card, a player draws either the card from the top of the discard pile or from the top of the deck.

The player may then replace any card in their play area, face up or face down, with the drawn card, and discard the replaced card.

 

Eliminate a Column

A player has the option to eliminate a column when they draw a card that matches a revealed card in their play area. The drawn card is placed over its match, then the other card in the column in placed on top of them. The three cards are then placed in the discard pile, in that order.

 

Discard the drawn card

Upon revealing the top card of the draw deck, a player may not want to use the card. They then have the option to discard it without changing their play area.

either drawing the top card of the discard pile or the top card of the deck.

Ending a Round

There are three end conditions for a round of play: all of a player's cards are face up, a player has eliminated all their cards, or a player declares the end of the round. Each other player takes one ore turn, then the round concludes and scoring begins.

 

Scoring

Each player reveals all face down cards and sums all the card values in their play area. This is their score for the round.

If the player that caused the end of the round does not have the lowest score for the round, their round score is doubled.

The player with the lowest total score after ten rounds is the winner.

Video Demo of Play

Coming Soon

Strategy & Tactics

 

Average Value and Card Reading

Given the randomness of available cards to draw from, turn to turn, there are limited long term strategies you can apply in Flip 6. There are however a few methods you can apply to increase your chances of winning.

The first and most basic strategy to grasp is understating the average value of a card. The average value of a card is 5.6. Given an entirely closed environment, if you must choose between an unknown card and a card that is 6 or higher, go with the unknown card. Card to card, this might not work out, but statistically it will work to your advantage.

This is a simple strategy that will work for most players, however serious competitors can make more informed decisions by adjusting this value as cards are revealed. This is effectively counting cards.

Remember that you can always call for the end of a round. Before your turn is over, look at your opponent's play areas and assume any face down card is the average card value. Thus if an opponent has a 2, 5, 9, -1, and two face down cards, it is wise to assume they have a total value of about 25.2 on the table. If you call the end of the game they will have one more turn in which the most likely outcome will be that they will replace their highest value card with the average, for 5.6 for a total of 21.8.

Keep an eye on the person to your left

The person to your left is always going to have the option to use your discarded card. You really can't do a lot about this, given that, in the course of the game you will “blindly” discard several cards. You should however be aware of what impact your revealed cards will have when discarded. If they could use the card you are considering discarding to eliminate a column, do the math and make sure that your play will server you better than the discard will help them.

Don't be scared of a high value card in your play area

This is more about psychology than anything else. Over the course of a round, people are going to be discarding high value cards and keeping low value cards. This activity will ensure that any card, not blindly discarded, will likely be of an above average value. This greatly increases your chances of eliminating a column.

If one of your first two cards flipped is a 10 or higher the impulse will be to replace them immediately. However, if you bide your time and use drawn cards to replace unknowns, it is very likely that before the round is over, the person to your right will discard a matching card allowing you to eliminate a whole column. Even observing this, most people will not keep a 10, 11, or 12 just to keep you from having it.

To temper your nerves with this strategy, remember that you can always replace this card in your last turn if you don't have a chance to eliminate the column.

 

Kid Value

Although the advanced tactics of this game are beyond most children, it is easy to team up with kids to have a fun learning experience.

Playing the game with a youth encourages relative number values, simple math, number recognition, and reading (thanks to the the value being written out on the card) for children in the 4-5 year age range.

You can keep your child partner engaged by having them do the physical tasks of drawing, flipping, replacing, and column eliminations.  Additionally, and even more important to the kids, if you don't care what face down card you want to replace, you can let them pick.  This gives them a deep sense of participation without significantly affecting the outcome of the game.

GlenBricker's Opinions

I really enjoy this game.  Ten rounds go by really fast once you get a hold of the basics.  Although the probabilities can inform you of the best moves to make, their is always a small thrill in flipping over a card...When you draw, is it going to be that low card you are hopping for?  When you are discarding from your play area, is going to a high one???  The game is just filled with these little surprises and gambles.

I tend to shy away from totally random games, but the randomness aspect of the game is tempered out by the significant number of rounds (10), allowing for luck to sometimes dominate rounds but skill to win the war.    

The instructions, as written are atrocious, Pin and I worked hard in our description above to make them more readable and I think we did a good job if I do say so myself.  Besides the instructions my only problem with the game is the packaging.  The box is twice the size of a deck with a plastic cradle inside.  I recommend getting a new case for this game.

At $6 this game a laughably good investment.

Pin Bricker's Opinion

I've really liked playing this game.  I did enjoy the two player more, because it was faster paced.  When we first read the rules and it said that you played 10 rounds I thought it would take forever.  A two player, 10 round, game moves quickly and is a lot of fun.  A four player game moved way too slowly for me.  Although, it did allow for a lot of conversation.  It was great to play with friends we hadn't seen in a while!

Stats

Price	$6
Age	x
Players	2-4
Length	x
Style	Single Deck Card Game, Probabilistic Determination, Simple Math, Card Draft
Randomness	Moderate, but tempered over several rounds of play
Portability	High (best with after-market case)
Stopability	High