Flippin Burgers 🍔 is a ridiculous game of speed, stacking and catching in mid-air. It meets pretty much all my criteria for a light, fun, family game, even I’m not a huge fan of snatch-type dexterity games: I tend to like stacking games, but not grabbing ones. However, I really enjoyed this. So I need a game that will appeal to the ages of the kids in the family – 8, 13, 16 – and my avowedly non-gamer wife. As for preferences, my kids are a mixed bag (on so many levels) – the eldest LOVES snatch games but is dreadful at stackers (he’s never going to do well in pub jenga), the middle is pretty good all round but gets very frustrated and the youngest just likes the silliness of it all. It also ticks the tipsy gaming box: this is a game that is highly entertaining down the pub, if a bit of a recipe for disaster.
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Gameplay is simple but effective. There are 3 stacks of cards, representing burgers of increasing complexity (more ingredients) and worth more points accordingly. Spread all the ingredients out on the table, start the time, grab a card, build the burger, and then flip it from the back of the table into your hand. We found the illustration for the actual flip is a bit confusing – in fact, we were doing it right initially (off the edge of the table) but found we were hopeless, so started over – and younger (or less competent) players are allowed to catch with two hands. Still, we were soon having a hilarious time! The first to ten points wins, so there’s the balance of simplicity of the stack and flip, but slower overall, to the risk of a mega meaty monstrosity.
YOU WANT IT YOUR WAY?
The product design of this game is just delightful. The components are chunky and clear, and to scale! That’s a heck of a beef patty. There are some lovely touches – the fried onion rings, for example, look exactly as if they are the sliced raw onion components – though the bean burger is perhaps a shade too close in colour to the regular patty; the pickles and jalapeños are also, if I’m being picky (pickle picky), quite similar. It all comes wrapped in gingham waxed paper, with a menu of all the options and all packaged in a whopper (ahem) of a burger box. This attention to detail really is second to none, and really adds to the charm of the whole thing. It really does look good enough to eat!
HOLD THE MUSTARD
The game wears its heart, or at least ketchup, on its sleeve: it’s not trying to be anything particularly heavy. That being said, I’d love to see a competitive Cook-Off (burger off!) where both players are competing simultaneously, or an Overcooked-style co-op mode – anything to add a bit of direct interaction. It can get a bit frustrating, also, but that’s easily rectified by adapting to your group’s needs. Still, it’s a whole lot of flippin’ fun!
