GamerDad.com
Matt Carlson
August 2005
USA

LetterFlip is essentially a hybrid of BattleShip and Hangman. Players try to guess each other's series of words in a race to be the first to guess them all. The game is just as portable as Battleship and plays in about the same amount of time. While one could simulate the game by playing two simultaneous games of Hangman, the LetterFlip mechanisms make the game more fun as well as more portable. A stack of preselected word cards help to make sure that each opponent has a set of words of approximately the same difficulty. It is not my favorite game, but is a fun, short diversion appropriate for a quick game in an evening or a game or two while on a car ride.

Each player takes one LetterFlip board and draws a card of words. The boards consist of one marker for each letter of the alphabet that can be flipped down to keep track of incorrect guesses. Each letter also has a small sliding marker that can be moved upwards to represent the occurrence of a letter one, two, or three times in a word. The word cards contain a list of four words, one each of 3, 4, 5, and 6 letters long. The cards are two sided, with one side containing slightly more difficult words.

Players flip all their letters and begin guessing letters of their opponent's three letter word. Correct guesses are rewarded with the frequency of that letter within a word, but not its location. A player continues guessing letters or guessing the actual word until they make an incorrect guess. Shorter words can be somewhat of a hunt based on luck since there are often many possible words that can be made for a given one or two letters. However, longer words provide an additional challenge since it is sometimes difficult to find an appropriate word for a given set of letters. For added challenge, players can set a time limit for each guess.

I enjoy the game as a light diversion, but since the early game is so fraught with random letter selection the game has a bit too much chance for my tastes. The longer words have more letters and typically fewer possible solutions so a good word-smith has an advantage in the later part of the game. My wife enjoys the game so I play it occasionally, but I prefer something where I have a bit more control of the outcome. Of course, one can always play the game by making up your own words and use the letter trays to keep track. This is a solid kid's game for car trips and other occasions and I would gladly play it over most of the other children's fare available. 

This can be a fun game for the younger set to help them think about letters and words. The manufacturer's age range of 10+ can be adjusted lower by playing the easier side of the cards and perhaps leaving off the six and/or five letter words. The letter trays are fairly sturdy. They can come apart, but this is actually a minor advantage since the letters pop out and can be easily snapped back in rather than just breaking from too much stress.

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