Frog Flip!

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• What I Played at Origins
• The Faces of Origins
• Origins Overview
• Out & About in Columbus
• VivaJava The Coffee Game: The Dice Game
• Angry Dice
• Pixel Lincoln
• Bruges
• Frog Flip
• Carnival
• Star Trek Attack Wing
• Origins Wrap-up Post

Frog Flip!
Frog Flip is dexterity game that sounds so simple you doubt that it could actually be called a game, but then after giving it a try you realize it’s a ton of fun.

I was first exposed to Frog Flip at The Origins Game Fair when I met it’s co-designer Jason Kotarski. A bunch of us went out to dinner one night and the hostess at the restaurant asked why we were in town. Jason told her that we were in Columbus for a game convention and the hostess proceded to say that she loved beer pong. Jason lit up with a smile and said, “If you like beer pong then you’ll love this!” He then pulled Frog Flip out of his pocket and taught the hostess how to play!

Frog Flip is quick to set-up. You lay out the four lillypads and then stack the other cards. When it’s your turn, you must flip the frog token so that it hits whichever lillypad is indicated by the stack of cards. If the frog hits the pad then you collect the card. If not then your opponent has a chance to hit their target.

I was lucky enough to score a review copy of Frog Flip from Jason and so I’ve played it a few times since Origins. The most memorable was when I went to dinner one night with my sister and little brother. Both are in their twenties and both are more sporty than geeky. So when I showed them Frog Flip and said that we were going to play in the middle of a pub they both rolled their eyes.

The game went pretty quick and my sister ended up winning. The best part was that my brother was grouchy about having lost a dexterity game to a girl and so he asked if we could play again. We did and it was tons of fun! Both asked where they could buy the game and my brother, the college sophomore, was saying how Frog Flip would be great to have at school because it’s so much more portable and less messy than beer pong.

As my brother learned, Frog Flip looks easy, but it’s not. You don’t throw or toss the frog token. You flip it. That means there is more skill involved and because flipping things isn’t something a person does on a regular basis the token is much harder to control.

There have been tons of times when I’ve gone to flip the frog expecting it to go six or seven inches and then was shocked when it kind of just fell to the table. The reverse also happens. I’ve gone to flip it a foot and a half and then ducked after it hit a hanging lamp and bounced back at me. And that’s the heart of what makes the game fun. When playing you are constantly laughing at your own mistakes and then even though you are competing against your opponents you can’t help but to jump up and cheer when they nail a perfect shot.

Frog Flip is a lot of wholesome fun that anyone can pick up and play. If you haven’t already, make sure you check it out on Kickstarter. It’s being sold for a minuscule $14!

Note: Even though we have a fully functional good looking prototype, Lisa (my significant other) has informed me that we will be backing Frog Flip on Kickstarter. The game is that good.