MERIDIAN, Idaho — Eric Olsen of Idaho Technical Career Academy created the game over the last few years, drawing inspiration from when he was his student's age. You can vote for his game linked on this story.
- Vote for 'Flip 7' to win the 'Toy of the Year' award!
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
Play with as many or as little people as you’d like… and get ready to press your luck!
“We actually played a lot of games when we were in high school. One of my friends came up with this idea when we’re playing a game, and if you get a pair, two 10s or two 8s or something, something would happen,” said Eric Olsen.
And when it comes to getting doubles in this game – It’s not a good thing. And if you do get two of the same number— you ‘bust’ and can’t collect any points for that round.
“If you get another 12, you are going to bust. If I get another 10, I’m going to bust,” explained Olsen.
Let’s break it down even further. The dealer will go around and give each player a card until the player feels it’s too risky, with the goal of getting as many points as possible.
“At any point you can stop. So what’s the point of the game? The first person to get to 200 points wins the game,” said Olsen.
Besides the numbered cards, there are a few action cards… there’s an add three card, a ‘second chance’ card, and a freeze card… players can even play these actions against each other.
And why is it called ‘Flip 7’?
“If you manage to get seven of those cards face up without busting, you end the round and you get a bonus,” explained Olsen.
Players will add up points from each round until someone with some ‘luck’ - or maybe even some skill - reaches 200 points.
“It’s kind of a fun twist on games you already know intuitively,” said Sean.
“It’d be really fun if you had like a really big family because there’s a bunch of cards in there. If everybody’s being really loud you can just whip out that game and be like— okay we’re playing cards!” said Erika.
From concept to hitting the shelves, Olsen tells me this game took over 3 years to create.
Flip 7 is up against 6 other games for ‘Toy of the Year.’ You can vote for them by clicking this link.
