How to Play the Flip Over Card Game

When I was a young girl I had a game called Flip Over. Even though I knew that it was a sneaky way of making me do math, I loved this game. Even after we lost some of the pieces, we still played. Now I’ve thought of a way to play with regular playing cards.

In this post I’ll go over the Flip Over rules and how to play with cards. This game is similar to the Finders Keepers card game and is fun as well as great math practice.

This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my link.

What You Need for Flip Over

You will need a standard deck of playing card and a pair of dice. To start, remove all the face cards as well as the jokers. You will also need some table or floor space.

If you need some new cards, shop playing cards here. The Snoopy ones look really fun. Canadians can shop cards here.

Playing Flip Over Card Game

To set up the game, first shuffle the cards well. Next, lay them out on the table in rows.

Roll one dice to see who goes first. The high roll wins.

Next, the first player rolls both dice and adds the dice together. She now flips over any card on the board. She then flips over a second card and adds the cards together. If the sum is less than the dice total, she can flip over another card. She can continue flipping over cards until she either gets the total of the dice or goes over the total.

If she matches the dice total, she collects the cards and adds them to her won pile. On the other hand, if she has busted or gone over the total, she flips the cards back over and the turn moves to the next player.

The second player now rolls the dice and adds them together. This is now the sum that he is looking for. He flips over cards until he either matches the total or busts. 

NOTE: if the player flips over one card and matches the dice total, she collects the one card and places it in her win pile.

A sample play could be if the dice total is 12 a player could flip over a 10 and a 2. Or she could flip over a 4, 3 and a 5 to make the total.

The game continues with players taking turns, rolling the dice, flipping over cards and either collecting cards or flipping them back over.

Winning Flip Over Card Game

The game is over when all of the cards have been collected. Now players count the cards that they have collected. The player with the most cards wins.

Variations

There is one rule variation that you might wish to play with. When a player succeeds in collecting cards, he can then roll the dice again and try to make another match.

Fun Memories

One of the things I love most about playing games is the memories that you make. It’s been a good 30 years since I played the original Flip Over game and I still remember it. Now I’m excited for the possible good times and memories you’ll make with this card game version of the game.

For more sneaky math games check out Finders Keepers, 99 and 31. Dice also have a sneaky math element to them. Try the games Ohio, Cops and Robbers and 10,000. And check out our Family Game Shelf shop for even more fun where you’ll find tons of seasonal games and original games.