The Flip the Table gang didn't get invited to too many parties in our formative years...but now, we can see what that would have been like thanks to the early 90's celebration preparation simulator Party Mania! This Nightmare-style VHS game is a race against the clock as you and your friends busily attempt to complete your chores and perfect your hair and outfit in time for the Keller Twins' huge bash. If you're lucky, one or more players will be ready in time for the party...too slow, and you'l...
Jul 06, 2013•1 hr
Some would say that, prior to the 2000's, "Mashups" were an imperfect art form. Case in point: the 1996 hoops drama Space Jam, in which basketball megastar/baseball notsomuch Michael Jordan teams up with the Looney Tunes gang for an interstellar basketball throwdown. This week, the Flip the Table panel immerses themselves in the Space Jam experience by suiting up and taking it to the hole in Space Jam: Michael Jordan's Cosmic Court. In this Plinko-based basketball simulator, four competing Micha...
Jun 22, 2013•56 min
Set condition one throughout the ship! It's time to play Battlestar Galactica...but not the good kind like you want. We're covering the Parker Brothers edition of BSG from 1978, where four alert Viper pilots engage in an exciting, tense, and dramatic training mission to drag the husk of a crippled Cylon raider back to the Galactica for inspection or something. Spin and move your way through space as you attempt to use your awesomely destructive laser weapons in a non-lethal manner to keep your f...
Jun 06, 2013•1 hr 4 min
Take a little bit of 90210, add a splash of Voltron, and sprinkle in a little kaiju mayhem, and you get the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers; the early 90's phenomenon which taught us that all problems can be solved with multicolored spandex and increasingly larger robots. This episode, Flip the Table plays the eponymous board game by Milton Bradley from 1994, where players mow through an army of Putty Patrollers to earn the right to form the Megazord and take on King Sphinx. Only the ranger who str...
May 23, 2013•59 min
One cannot master the art of Ninjitsu without the most important maneuver in the martial artist's arsenal...what the masters call, loosely translated, "Roll and Move." That's why we're playing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pizza Power game from 1987! In this game, players pick their Turtle of choice and battle an endless army of punks, Shredders and Krangs until they earn the right to enter the Technodrome and defeat the Bad Guys once and for all. However, mere basic arithmetic skills are not...
May 10, 2013•55 min
This episode, we play perhaps the most popular and well-known game we've ever reviewed on Flip the Table...it's Mall Madness! In the electronic version of this game, players take the role of shopping-obsessed teenagers racing to buy arbitrarily priced retail goods, such as sunglasses, t-shirts, and pets (on clearance, if possible). Need energy? Stop at the movie theater for a quick meal. Then, send your friend to the rest room to delay their progress. Has this electronic monument to mall culture...
Apr 27, 2013•53 min
Say your prayers and eat your vitamins! It's time to play the WWF Wrestling Superstars board game...with our special guests from Chikara pro wrestling, Billy Kumohara and Ophidian! Join us as the host of Chikara's Quiz Present Crisis Battle and the Venomous and Vile Master of Snake Style wax nostalgic about the golden age of wrestling, and find out what happens when 80's pro wrestlers escape their reality and take up fighting monsters in Tokyo. Then, we check our boots for foreign objects and ri...
Apr 11, 2013•1 hr 11 min
Leave your razors at home and get ready to scheme...this week's game is Survivor: The Australian Outback! In this game based on one of the earlier seasons of the popular reality show, we collect survival items and engage in intense table politics, sort of, as we attempt to earn immunity and avoid being eliminated at Tribal Council. Secrets will be revealed, and rice will be eaten. Find out who survived the final vote, and whether or not we're still friends after (SPOILER: No.) Plus, it's our mos...
Mar 28, 2013•58 min
It's animated anarchy at Flip the Table Headquarters as we take on two games in our first ever cartoon special! First, we play 1983's Masters of the Universe 3-D Action Game, a spin-and-mover which seeks to improve the Snakes and Ladders formula by injecting a healthy dose of Beast Man. Then we travel from Eternia to Townsville and take on Lenny Baxter and Mojo Jojo in The Powerpuff Girls: Saving the World Before Bedtime...a program movement game all the way from the futuristic utopia of The Yea...
Mar 16, 2013•58 min
Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-BANCE!!! This week, we play the Batman Forever Audio Game, our first ever title featuring an audio cassette (It's like a VHS, but you can't see anything). We follow the commands of a mysterious 1940's radio announcer as we attempt to be the first to bring Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey to justice. Will Two-Face's army of thugs stop our Dynamic Quintet? Will a phalanx of useless police officers do anything to stop this rampant epidemic of crime? Will we need a pencil to re...
Mar 01, 2013•59 min
Now you can virtually experience the warm California sun via the radioactive glow of a cathode ray tube...with VCR California Games! Join us as we roll and move our way through the bay area, participating in generic extreme sports competitions to raise enough money to go to "The Nationals" by way of watching 5 second clips of skateboarding, BMX, wind surfing, and more. Is this game totally "Nails," or is it the opposite of "Nails"? What does any of that mean? Plus, Professor Laserbooks sneaks so...
Feb 16, 2013•52 min
Set your VCRs for 1985 and prepare for a healthy dose of drama as we play All My Children, the board game based on the popular ABC soap opera! This game by TSR (The company behind Dungeons and Dragons at the time) attempts to inject a little bit of gamerly nuance into a licensed roll and mover. Were they successful in turning endless melodramatic plots into a solid experience for gamers? Flip the Table investigates. Download now!
Feb 01, 2013•47 min
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad episode of Flip the Table as Rich Sommer from TV's Mad Men joins us to review MAD Magazine: The Board Game! This 1979 classic combines the subversive wit and satire of the iconic magazine with all the thrill and excitement of an old roll & move board game. Players travel counterclockwise around the board as they do everything they can to lose all the money they have in a chair-swapping, impression-of-a-rock doing, deliberately-vague-rules-interpreting slugfest. Many...
Jan 16, 2013•1 hr 5 min
All rise! The People's Court is now in session! Join Flip the Table and returning contributors Ben and Niki Turner as we face the dreaded Judge Wapner Spinner and play this 1986 title based on the original courtroom reality show. Does this roll and move board game accurately depict the drama of petty disputes in a small claims court? Also: we seamlessly edit over a mistake in identifying where Jerry Springer served as mayor, and we engage in a special Judge Edition of the Battle of Wits. Downloa...
Jan 05, 2013•1 hr 4 min
In our season finale, join Flip the Table as we present our awards for the best and worst games we've played on the show. Which game had the most BANCE? Which was the most eye-gougingly bad game we've played all year? We'll tell you! With words! Also: listen and laugh at our expense as we valiantly struggle to pronounce your names in our first ever listener Q&A, and find out who will be crowned the 2012 Battle of Wits Heavyweight Champion of the World! It's a super-sized episode filled with ...
Dec 22, 2012•1 hr 4 min
In our last game review of 2012, Flip the Table invites you to "Experience Bij" as we play "Star Trek: The Next Generation Interactive VCR Board Game"! The Klingon warmonger Kavok has taken control of the Enterprise in this roll & move race against the clock. Can our Starfleet training overcome hammy acting and crew infighting to prevent an intergalactic war, or will the fragile alliance with the Klingons be shattered by a 60 minute VHS tape? Plus: Flip gives a full report from BGG.con, and ...
Dec 06, 2012•59 min
This week, we're joining forces with the Game Night Guys to bring you team coverage of Murder, She Wrote: The board game! It's a deduction game with a traitor element released 25 years ahead of its time. Like Battlestar Galactica, there are many copies of Jessica Fletcher (played by the immortal Angela Lansbury) chasing down a twisted murderer as they try to exterminate an entire island resort. Is this game worthy of being played after, say, "60 Minutes: The Board Game"? Plus: A Battle of Wits w...
Nov 24, 2012•47 min
If you've ever enjoyed searching your couch cushions for change, you'll be intrigued by this week's title. Electronic Talking Mystery Mansion is a 1995 deduction game featuring a boatload of tiny doll furniture, and a squawking box which leads you through a treasure hunt. You'll search every nook and cranny of the house to find the Million Dollar Prize...but watch out! The other players will try to steal your clues by talking you out of them (read: beating you in a die roll). Nearly 20 years lat...
Nov 08, 2012•56 min
Just in time for Halloween, this spooktacular episode of Flip the Table features a dark and mysterious journey into the world of Dexter, the board game based on the Showtime television series. This title lets players step into the role of blood-spatter analyst and serial killer Dexter Morgan as he stalks other murderers and deals with them by making impulse purchases at hardware stores, sailing a boat across dry land, and riding along with his Dark Passenger into the endless, maddening downward ...
Oct 26, 2012•55 min
Are you ready for some cutting-edge, video edutainment? This week, Flip the Table takes on 1990's Gone Birding! It's "A full-color video adventure in bird identification" where players watch VHS clips of birds, advancing across the board one space for each correctly identified species. However, what lies beneath the veneer of G-Rated entertainment for the whole family? Plus: the panel takes on another Battle of Wits inspired by this week's game and LangGuini from Island Officials! Who will be th...
Oct 12, 2012•46 min
For the first time, Flip the Table attempts to scratch the surface of the massive Star Wars universe with a special two-game episode! First, we take on the Funburst children's classic Ewoks Save the Trees and find out what happens when the dastardly Phlogs attack the peaceful kingdom of Candy Land. Then, it's Battle Droid vs. Clone Trooper in the card-driven arena of Star Wars: Galactic Heroes...we talk about rules variants, and what's wrong with this poor Clone Trooper's foot. Does either game ...
Sep 28, 2012•57 min
Hey! You! Do you like being frightened to death by a dead technology? Then prepare to be thrust into the "Atmosfear"-ic world of Nightmare, the 1991 VCR game! This roll-and-mover challenges you to take on the mysterious Gatekeeper as he shouts instructions at you in a strange accent. Will you beat the clock and stop the tape before the Gatekeeper dooms you forever, or will you be "BANIIIIISH TO THE BLECK HEWWWL"? Download now to hear Flip the Table's take on this cult classic, and find out if it...
Sep 16, 2012•47 min
Flip the Table has returned from the near future to bring you Robocop: The VCR Game! This roll-and-mover features real video clips from the cinematic classic. Much like the ill-fated ED-209, this one's got a shiny veneer that seems impressive; but set it at the top of a flight of stairs, and you might reconsider your investment. Would we buy this one for a dollar? Download now to find out...you have 30 seconds to comply.
Aug 30, 2012•51 min
If you've been to a thrift shop in the U.S. in the last 25 years, you've probably seen a shrink-wrapped copy of this week's title, Trump: The Game. No, not like a "Trump" from a deck of cards, or the onomatopoeia of a bag of laundry being dropped on a passer-by from 10 stories up...we're talking money mogul Donald Trump's entry into the world of board games. In this episode, the bold risk-takers at Flip the Table sit down to play the 1980's edition. Come wheel and deal with us as we try to find ...
Aug 18, 2012•47 min
For the first time ever, Flip the Table takes on 3 games in one show! In this super-sized, epic length, 65 minute spectacular, we go back in time to the early arcade boom to cover three board games based on video game classics; Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Turtles (not the good kind like you want). Plus, in the Battle of Wits, Flip challenges us to enter the game and survive pixilated peril in a special classic arcade quiz. One of these games actually gets our seal of approval...which one? Press st...
Aug 04, 2012•1 hr 4 min
What happens when you take a video game, turn it into a board game, then reintroduce video? You get the Halo: Interactive Strategy Game; a DVD board game which allows you to take on the role of Master Chief as he navigates endless menus. Does this box of grey plastic have a chance at recreating the pulse-pounding experience of one of the world's most popular shooters? Plus: In this week's Battle of Wits, the panel tests their knowledge of video game world records...so hop on your Warthog and dow...
Jul 22, 2012•53 min
As party games go, this is one...we're playing Heartthrob from 1988; the slumber party classic where players attempt to get into each-other's heads to find out which eligible bachelor they would choose to dance with, go steady with, and ultimately attempt to raise socially well-adjusted children with. It's a teen throwback targeted at exactly the opposite demographic of the Flip the Table panel. This week, we answer Chuck Woolery's timeless question: would we go on a second date with Heartthrob?...
Jul 07, 2012•50 min
Yo, Joe! On this week's program, we play GI Joe: Mission: Cobra HQ...a roll & move game of infiltration where Snake Eyes and three other Joes attempt to steal TOP SECRET files from Cobra Headquarters. The question is, does this game contain the same level of subtle nuance and deep emotional engagement as the animated series? Download now to find out.
Jun 24, 2012•50 min
It's a Chuck Woolery extravaganza as we play Lingo, the DVD board game featuring the host of such legendary game shows as Scrabble and Love Connection. Based on the GSN game show, this game seeks to capture the TV experience. Does this fusion of Bingo, Mastermind, and newspaper word puzzles succeed? The answer is just a click away...
Jun 10, 2012•54 min
It is perhaps the only board game to come with both a cardboard wrestling ring and a DVD...it's WWE: The DVD Board Game. This title casts you as the manager of a stable of wrestlers vying to collect all of the WWE titles by solving exploding Wheel of Fortune puzzles. Listen to find out if this game is a Jobber, or a Heavyweight Contender.
Jun 10, 2012•54 min
