Flipology
Flipology Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components and Gameplay Overview
There are 82 cards in total.
- 76 of these represent an animal or an environmental element. These cards have a point value and, more often than not, an active effect that is triggered when the card is flipped face up. The number is shown upside down and in white to help opponents see it when the card is on the table.
- There are also 6 Clearing cards which are used to replace any animals that get eliminated during the course of play.
- The lioness tile goes to the starting player, who uses the counter tokens to keep track of rounds of the game by placing a token on the tile at the beginning of her turns.
In both versions of the game, you will be dealt a number of cards which you arrange face down in a horizontal row in front of you. You may peek at any of your facedown cards at any time. On your turn you must flip any one of your cards and apply its effects (if any). Over your turns you are trying to flip as many of your cards face up as possible to be able to score their points at the end of the game (with the exception of the sloths, which score negatively if faceup at the end of play).
Directions for Nature, the Basic Game of Flipology for 2-6 Players
Set Up
- Determine the starting player. This can be the person who most recently pet an animal or you can use a random method. Give the starting player the lioness tile and three counter tokens to place on top of the tile, one at the beginning of each round.
- Remove the Clearing cards and place them within reach of all players.
- Decide if you wish to remove or include the Moon card. If you are learning the game, we suggest leaving it out.
- Shuffle the remaining cards. Deal each player nine cards face down.
- Players look at their cards and select seven to arrange in any order in a facedown horizontal row in front of them. They discard the two leftover cards.
Overview of Play
Beginning with the starting player, each player will take one turn. Play proceeds clockwise and the game ends when every player has had three turns. Then players total the points on their cards. The winner is the player with the highest score, unless the Moon is faceup in any player's row, then the player with the lowest score wins.
Taking a Turn
- On your turn you must flip a single card in your row (face up or face down). Reminder: you can peek at your facedown cards whenever you like.
- If you have flipped a card face up and it has an effect, you must apply it. Note that any cards to the left or right of each other are considered adjacent, including the cards at the ends of the rows of two players who are sitting next to each other. (All of the rows can be construed as forming one circle.)
- The Monkey flips two cards faceup; if they both have active effects, you must choose and apply one effect only.
- Do not apply effects of cards flipped up by the Wind, Rain or Sun cards.
End of Game Scoring
Your score is the sum of the points of all faceup cards in your row (excluding sloths) plus any points on any facedown sloths in your row. Subtract points on any faceup sloths. The highest-scoring player is the winner, unless the Moon is faceup in any player's row.
Tiebreaker
If two or more players are tied at the end of the game, count the total number of different faceup animals in each player's display. The player with the most unique types of animals wins.
Example (illustrated in the source): At the end of the game, Tim has four faceup cards in his row. They total 15 points so he is tied with Rachel. He has two unique animals, the parrot and the hawk. Rachel, however, has three unique animals, the dog plus two different types of frog, so she is the winner.
Nature Variant
- Remove the Moon card.
- Play a number of three-turn rounds.
- Keep a cumulative score.
- The first player to reach 50 points is the winner.
The Animals
Here are the animals you might meet on your journey:
Animals with Active Effects
A dog is worth 5 or 6 points and lets you flip one card adjacent to it. If you use the dog to flip an opponent's card, you (not the opponent) apply the effect described on that card, if any.
(Illustrated in the source: a player has flipped a Dog, which allows them to flip one adjacent card. The player chooses to flip the card to the Dog's left, a Quokka. It has no effect to apply but will score 8 points if it remains faceup.)
A snake is worth 3 or 4 points and allows you to flip any other card in its row.
A frog is worth 4 or 5 points and allows you to flip one card two spaces away. If you position the frog at the end of your row, the card it flips will likely belong to an opponent. If you use the frog to flip an opponent's card face up, you (not your opponent) must use the effect on that card, if any.
A monkey is worth 2 or 3 points and allows you to flip the two cards adjacent to it. (If you are playing the Great Tree variant, you might have a choice of cards, because any card above or below the monkey is also considered adjacent.) If you flip up two cards that both have active effects, you must perform one of the effects only.
A hawk worth 3 or 4 points allows you to flip a card in an opponent's row and take its action, if applicable. If playing the Great Tree variant, you can play the hawk on yourself, provided it is used on a card in a different one of your rows. The hawk can never be used on a card in the row it has come from.
A mole is worth just 1 or 2 points but when it is flipped face up, you can exchange it for any other card in play, whether faceup or facedown. Decide which card you want, then put the mole in its place and put the card where the mole was. If the mole was swapped for a facedown card, the card remains facedown.
A parrot is worth 4 points and allows you to mimic the active effect of any player's faceup animal or hunter. For example, the parrot can pretend to be a dog and flip a card adjacent to itself. If you use it as a mole, you exchange it with any other card in play.
A hunter worth 2 points allows you to remove any card in play (including facedown cards) and put it in the discard pile. Put a Clearing card in the empty space.
Example (illustrated in the source, "This example demonstrates how to affect an opponent's row and how effects can cascade"): The three right-most cards of the active player's row are two facedown cards and a Monkey; she flips the Monkey over, at the end of her row. The Monkey flips the cards to its left and right: a Snake on its left, and the left-most card of her opponent's row, a Frog, on its right. She must choose whether to use the Snake's or the Frog's effect. She uses the Frog to flip another of her opponent's cards, two spaces away: a Sloth. Unluckily for her opponent, it is now faceup.
Animals with Passive or No Effect
A cat is worth 4, 5, or 6 points and once flipped face up, cannot be flipped face down via the effects on other cards. It can be targeted by a flip effect but remains face up. It can still be exchanged for a mole or destroyed by the hunter.
There are six unique animal cards with gold borders that have no effect but score 8 or 9 points if faceup at the end of the game.
A sloth is worth 6, 7, or 8 points, but only if it is facedown. If it is flipped face up at the end of the game, subtract its points from your total.
Environment Cards
Clearing cards are used to fill the empty space left when the hunter removes a card. They can be flipped up or down like any other card.
Rain, worth 3 points, allows you to flip one card in every row, your own and all of your opponents'. None of the cards' effects can be used.
Sun, worth 3 points, allows you to peek at any three facedown cards. Then you can choose to flip one but you cannot use its effect, if any.
Wind, worth 3 points, allows you to flip all the other cards in its row. None of the cards' effects can be used.
Moon, worth 7 points. If it finishes the game faceup in a player's row, the winner of the round will be the player with the fewest points.
Directions for the Great Tree Variant for 2-4 Players
Set aside the Clearing cards and the Rain card. The Rain card cannot be used in this variant. Decide whether to remove the Moon card as well.
Each player is dealt five cards face down. They look at their cards and arrange them face down in a horizontal row in any order.
Determine the starting player. This can be the person who most recently touched a tree or you can use a random method. Give the starting player the lioness tile and two counter tokens to place on top of the tile, to mark off the two turns each player will get in the first round.
As in the basic game, on your turn you must flip one of your cards and resolve its effect, if any, then play passes to your left.
Adjacency now counts vertically as well as horizontally (but not diagonally) so cards from the previous rows below can be flipped by card effects such as the dog's or monkey's. As in the basic game, your opponents' end cards are adjacent to your end cards.
Once everyone has had two turns, the round ends and players are dealt another five cards which they arrange face down in a horizontal row above their previously played cards, in any order they wish.
The player with the highest score showing begins the new round and takes the lioness tile and two counters. If the previous starting player is in a tie for the highest score, the starting player doesn't change.
The players then take two turns each, one at a time in clockwise order, flipping only cards in their current (top-most) row. Effects can cascade through previously played rows, however.
After the second round, players are dealt a final set of five cards to arrange face down above their other two rows. As above, re-determine the starting player according to the highest score showing and give that player the lioness tile and two counters.
Regrowth: When cards are dealt, starting with the starting player, players may choose to discard their entire hand and draw five new cards, shuffling their discards back into the pile. Players can only use this option once per game.
After all players have had two turns, players count up the score for all three of their rows to determine the winner. As in the Nature variant, if there is a tie, the winning player is the one with the greater number of different faceup animals.
Gameplay example for the Great Tree (illustrated in the source, "Alice's cards at the beginning of the second round"): Alice takes her first turn and flips the right-most Dog, which she uses to flip the Parrot. The Parrot mimics her Dog and flips the card to its left, a Snake. She uses the Snake to flip the Hawk, which can flip a card in her first row, so she uses it to flip the Quokka.
Game credits (designer, artist and production credits, and the publisher's contact note) are omitted.