Flip 7 With a Vengeance

^{review by Alapai}

Flip 7 With a Vengeance is an abstract card game for 3 or more players made by TheOp as a spiritual successor to their game Flip 7. In it, you flip cards from the deck, trying to collect as many points as possible while avoiding flipping a duplicate card.'

As with the original Flip 7, the goal is to get to 200 points before your opponents. Each turn, you have a choice. You can either flip a card from the deck, placing it face up in front of you, or you can pass, skipping your turn until the next round. Each number card has a points value equal to its number and each is in the deck as many times as the number (ie there are 6 6s and 11 11s) with values now up to 13. There is also a single 0 card in the deck. The 0, one of the 7s and one of the 13s also have some special actions associated with them. If you flip a number card that you already had, then you bust, flipping your cards face down and you will not gain any points this round. Beyond the number cards, there are also 6 modifier cards and 2 each of 5 different action cards in the deck. Unlike the original game, the modifiers in this game are detrimental instead of helpful and the actions are more aggressive with no Second Chance cards. An additional change to the original is that passing does not stop other players from playing actions or modifiers targeting you, meaning that even if you’ve passed, an opponent can play a Flip Four on you, making you flip 4 more cards, still busting if you flip a duplicate. Once each player has passed or busted, the round ends and each player who hasn’t busted scores points equal the values of their number cards, modified by any modifiers they have. Once a player reaches 200 points, the game ends and whoever has the most points is the winner.

While I’ve played the original Flip 7 with family while visiting for vacation, this is not a version I would want to play with people who only play casually. Both games are solid, simple “push your luck” style games, but With a Vengeance is a much more aggressive version of the game and is only reserved for playing with my friends where we all are fine with being jerks to each other. What I like about With a Vengeance specifically is that it is a more aggressive version of Flip 7. The original is still fine as a game and better when playing games casually with less competitive people, but it does feel a little too casual for a game with my friends who I play more complex games with. With a Vengeance allows for the more aggressive gameplay that I want while still being a lighter game that can be played quickly before, in between or after longer games during a game night.

Unlike my other reviews this year, I’m keeping Flip 7 With a Vengeance in a box that is larger than the one it comes with. This is because I sleeve all of my games and TheOp does not assume you will be sleeving cards. As such, the box for the game does not fit sleeved cards. Well, it can at the very least hold them, but the box is slightly too small to close when you put the sleeved cards back in the box. This does mean that my box is larger than the original, but it is a sturdier plastic box and can fit sleeved cards so my game is better protected. While condensing is important to travel, protection is also important to games.

If you’re looking for a relatively simple game that is also a cutthroat, “take no prisoners” experience, I highly recommend Flip 7 With a Vengeance as a small game that fits those criteria well.

Flip 7 With a Vengeance is available now from our webstore.