Flip Six is a card game where the object is to score the fewest points by getting rid of cards. After 10 rounds, the player with the lowest score wins. The game is arranged for two-four players and the suggested age range is six years or older.
To play, each person is dealt 6 cards. Cards are placed face down in a 3 by 2 array. The remaining cards are stacked face down in the middle. The first card is turned face up. The player to the left of dealer goes first. On first turn only, player turns over tow of his cards, one on the top row and one from the bottom.
When it is one's turn, a card is drawn from either the stack of cards or the discard pile. A player then has to decide which card from you six he wants to replace. If the player decides that he does not want to replace one of the face up cards, then he has to take a chance and replace one of the face down cards, which can be risky.
The player discards what was replaced.
When there is a match, it is placed on top of the card that is already in the array and both cards can be discarded, thus lowering a score even more.
Play can end in 3 ways:
- When all a player’s cards have been turned face up
- A player has discarded all cards, or
- A player thinks he has lowest score and calls for end of the round.
Flip Six was a hit with my class of fourth grade students. It received an overwhelming, common comment of, "It's Fun!"
I really appreciated this reaction because as the teacher, I knew the children were using subtraction and strategic thinking in order to play and win.
Positive reactions to Flip Six included excitement when wondering if the card being replaced was lower than the picked card, amusement that the winner ended up with the lowest, not highest score, relief that the overall way of playing was simple, and lucid directions. The combination of all of these features allowed the children to experience the fun of playing this game. Played flowed with ease.
Negative Reactions were few. My students disliked the two-to-five player limit. They would have liked to have bigger groups, although as a teacher I feel that smaller groups result in better play dynamics. They felt that it was unfair that the dealer had to go last, and would have liked to set their own number for rounds.
I want to point out that none of the comments have to do with the structure of the game. During our critique of the Flip Six, it was almost as though the children had to create a suggestion just for the sake of discussion.
Therefore, I recommend Flip Six for use in the classroom. It is a perfect tool to use when reinforcing subtraction or visualizing movement along the number line.
