Captain Flip

• Designers: Paolo Mori and Remo Conzadori
• Publisher: Play Punk
• Players:2-5
• Age: 8+
• Time: 20 minutes
• Played with review copy provided publisher; also played with publisher’s copy at convention

Ahoy, Captain! Hoist your flag, recruit a crew, and fill your coffers with shiny, gold coins.  Captain Flip is a game of obvious simplicity explained in less time than a cannonball shot. On your turn, draw a tile from the bag. You like it? Keep it! You don’t like it? Flip it! Then place it on your board to form your crew.  With its nine characters and four boards with different tactics, Captain Flip offers an immediate, fun, and subtle gaming experience.

To start, the players decide which of the four boards they will play on; and each player puts an identical board in front of them.  Then take the 72 double sided tiles and mix them in the bag.  The bag will contain 16 instances of each of the 9 characters in the game. 

Player turns are simple. First – draw a tile from the bag, and slap it on the table so that you can only see one side of the tile.  Then, choose to keep this character or flip it over to the other side.  If you flip it, you have to keep the character on the reverse!  Now place this tile on the lowest empty space of any column of your board.  Finally, apply the immediate effect of the character.  Finally, if the tile is in the topmost space of a column, it might trigger an effect as well (seen in a box just above the tile’s space).

Some of the immediate character effects:

• Cartographer – take the map tile, if you have the map tile at the end of your turn, gain a coin
• Navigator – 2 coins per Cartographer on your board
• Cook – 1 coin per character in the Cook’s row
• Gunner – gain 5 coins, but if you have 3 or more gunners on your board, you are eliminated
• Monkey – take 1 coin and flip one adjacent tile, applying the effects of that flipped tile as well
• Parrot – draw and play another tile

Once you have placed your tile and resolved it, the next player goes.  Play continues until one player has completed four of the columns on their board.  At this point, finish the current round so that all players have the same number of turns.  Now, apply the endgame effects of the characters:

• Parrot – lose one coin per parrot
• Swabby – take 1/4/9/16/25 coins for 1/2/3/4/5 columns with Swabby’s
• Carpenter – take 3 coins if there is no gunner in their row or column
• Lookout – take 4 coins is there is no character higher in its column

The player with the most coins wins.  Ties broken in favor of the player holding the treasure map; otherwise the game ends in a tie.

My thoughts on the game

This is one of those games that can be taught in about a minute.  Sure, the nine characters each have their own rules, but if someone knows the game, the effects of each tile can be explained as the tiles come out – and there is a very helpful player aid that concisely explains all the effects.  As you cannot predict what is on the opposite side of the tile, there’s no need to know anything other than what you can see.

Of course, as you move through the game, you might need a bit of memory to help you along.  You’ll likely flip over some of your tiles before placement, and remembering what is on the opposite side can be quite useful.  A well placed monkey might reveal a tile that becomes useful later on in the game!

I like the four different boards included in the game – not only do they help keep the game fresh… or more likely allow you to play two or three games in succession; you can also tailor the board selection to the group you have playing.  Each has a different feel and level of complexity, and I have enjoyed all four of them.  I suppose you could even have an hour-long Captain Flip fest and play through all 4 and see who has the best cumulative score.

Games here only take 10-15 minutes now.  Each individual turn is generally quite fast, especially once you’ve played a few times and you’ve memorized what each of the characters does.   The icons on the tiles also serve as good reminders.  

Captain Flip is a game that relies a lot on luck, leans a little bit on memory, and always triggers a laugh or two when a player is surprised (good or bad) by what is found on the opposite side of a tile when it’s flipped.  The game is easy-going and always enjoyable.  The fact that players can get started in just a few minutes is a huge plus.   Captain Flip is a game that often hits the table for multiple plays.  When introducing it to new players, they more likely than not ask to play again as soon as we’re done.  

For this ease of teaching, short playing time and wide accessibility, it is a worthy nominee for the 2024 Spiel des Jahres (German Game of the Year award), and would serve as a great introductory/gateway game to our hobby.

Thoughts from other Opinionated Gamers

Joe Huber (5 plays): When I saw that Captain Flip had been nominated for the Spiel des Jahres, I looked into it – and was interested in playing it.  I don’t often pick up a game just because it looks interesting, but it was inexpensive enough, and I wasn’t certain enough of when I’d get to try it, so I did – and I’m certain I’ll get my money’s worth out of it.  As Dale notes, there’s a temptation to play again, which is always a good sign with a shorter game.  My only real concern about the game is the lack of interaction, though the Kraken (B) board does add some.  I’m not convinced this will be a long-term keeper for me, but I like the game, and expect to be happy to play it long after it has left my collection.

Josiah Fiscus (2 plays): This is the kind of game that could be on the shelves of Target before too long. It plays in about 20 minutes and takes just a minute or so to teach. It has lovely illustrations and makes an excellent family game. More serious gamers will probably also enjoy it as a filler, though it’s not likely to become a true favorite due to its simplicity. I’d be happy to be proven wrong on that though, perhaps discovering after more sessions that this game has the replayability of the very best fillers like For Sale or King of Tokyo.

Erik Arneson (2 plays): Solid, fun, and a game I’d definitely like to play again. Captain Flip was surprisingly engaging and is likely to be among the games I give to my family for Christmas this year.

Ben Bruckart (7 plays): I’ve played this at 3 and 4 player counts and found it to be quick and easy fun. The rules take no time and the decisions are pretty clear. I like the four different maps for replayability and generally play 2 or 3 maps in a sitting. I am always rooting for someone to blow up and it finally happened. I find this to be a really enjoyable family weight game. 

Ratings from the Opinionated Gamers

• I love it!
• I like it. Dale Y, Joe H, Mark Jackson, Josiah Fiscus, Erik Arneson, Ben Bruckart, John P, Jim Brown
• Neutral.
• Not for me…