Flip Flap Flop

My wife had bought me several games at a garage sale on Saturday. One of the first things I did after opening the game boxes and checking out the components was to research the games on BoardGameGeek (BGG). As I was typing the game names into the BGG search engine I couldn't find a listing for one of them, a game called Flip Flap Flop.

BGG is a site that is heavily supported by the users, that is, the international board gaming community. It is the users who add the games, upload the images and write the reviews. As this game was not in the database I submitted it.

This morning I received an email notifying me that Flip Flap Flop had been accepted. It was the 27,771st game entered into the BGG database. I've been visiting BGG since 2003 and the sheer number of games in the database never ceases to amaze me.

Flip Flap Flop is a game for 2-4 players aged 7 and up. It was produced by Jumbo and printed in the Netherlands in 1988. It has 48 cards depicting faces with 8 different expressions. There are 6 cards of each different expression.

Note the subtle differences in expressions

Play begins by shuffling the deck and dealing the cards one at a time, face down, to each player. After all the cards have been dealt, each player stacks their cards, without looking, into a deck in front of them. Each player, clockwise in turn, takes the top card from their deck and places it face down in the centre of the table. The cards are then turned over simultaneously. Any player who sees three identical cards calls "Flip Flap Flop". If correct, that player takes the three cards and places them face down into a pile beside them. These cards are now that players cards and are out of the game.

The components of Flip Flap Flop

Any player who sees two identical cards calls "Flip Flap". If correct, that player takes the two identical cards and places them face up, one beside the other, in front of him. If later any player sees a third card the same, he calls "Flip Flap Flop" and takes all three cards. Any unclaimed cards are left on the table. Each round of play is started by the player who was second player in the previous round.

A call of "Flip Flap Flop" always takes precedence over a call of "Flip Flap". Where two or more players make the same call simultaneously, the turn player takes precedence, and after him the player on his left, and so on. A player who makes an incorrect call may not call on the following round but must play a card as usual.

When one player has six sets of Flip Flap Flop cards, the game ends. Players count their cards which include any pairs in front of them. Unplayed cards are disregarded. The player with the most cards wins.

I have not yet played this game but from reading the rules it looks like a fun family game. The pattern recognition mechanic should appeal to children so I'm looking forward to trying Flip Flap Flop with my elder daughter.