Fast Flip

Fast Flip - Focus on fruit while you flip fast.

Fast Flip reminds me of my favorite card game, Spot It!, which is one of the games I will pay full price for. BlueOrange had the U.S. rights to Spot It! until Asmodee purchased them in 2015. Up until then, Asmodee had the rights to Spot It! everywhere in the world except the United States. After the acquisition of Spot It! in 2015, Asmodee said they had big plans for the game. I have been watching for new versions since then, but have found none. In 2016 BlueOrange introduced Fast Flip. Similar, but quite different from Spot It!, Fast Flip requires more than just finding a match on a crowded card.

Each card in Fast Flip has 15 pieces of fruit on one side, and a single piece of fruit or a number (1-5) on the other side (see image above). There are five types of fruit in total: strawberry, raspberry, pineapple, orange, banana. Each round token has the same number on both sides, and each shaped token has the same fruit pictured on each side.

There are instructions for three different games included, but basically you will play with two cards per turn, one with the multiple fruit pieces side up and one with the number or single fruit piece side up. If it is a number, you will quickly scan the card with multiple fruit pieces and find which fruit is shown the same number of times as the number. For instance, in the image above the number 5 card is showing and there are five pineapples on the card next to it. If it is a single piece of fruit instead of a number (raspberry in the image above), you will quickly scan the other card and count how many times that piece of fruit is shown. For instance, in the image above, the raspberry is shown three times on the mixed fruit card.

GAME 1 - Flip It

Object: 

Be the player with the most points scored over several rounds.

Set up: 

Shuffle the cards, making sure that the multiple-fruits sides are all facing down. Place the pile in the middle of the players.

Play: 

Flip the top card so that the multiple fruit side shows, place it next to the pile. The top card on the pile will reveal either one fruit or a number. All players play, quickly scanning the multiple fruit card for either the number of a particular fruit, or which fruit is represented a certain number of times (whichever is revealed on the top card of the pile). The first player to call out the correct answer scores one point and the round is over. Flip the next card and repeat. The game ends when there is only one card left in the pile.

GAME 2 - Token Grab

Object: 

Be the first player to have four tokens at one time.

Set up: 

Place all ten tokens face up, in any order, in front of all players. The deck will be set up and used the same as in the GAME 1 above.

Play:

Play according to the rules in GAME 1 except instead of calling out the answer, grab the token that represents the answer. Keep the token in front of you during the game. Other players may grab it from you if they need it to represent an answer in future rounds. You also may keep it if you are the first to need it in a future round. Collect four tokens this way.

GAME 3 - Token Line

Object:

Be the player with the most tokens after 10 rounds.

Set up:

Line up the ten tokens, in any order, in the middle of the players. The tokens will determine which match you will be looking for, instead of the cards deciding. Prepare the deck as in GAME 1.

Play:

Flip over the top card and look at the multiple fruit side. Using the token on the far left, find the match. The first person to spot it gets the token. Play until all tokens have been collected.

All in all, I like SpotIt! much better. JMHO

Try this:

• Skip the need for speed. Play any of the games alone. Eliminate the scoring for game one and play through 10 cards needed for games two and three.
• Choose just one token and play through as many cards as you want looking for only that one thing. Get used to the game this way before playing.
• Play through just the number cards or number tokens first. Then play through all the single fruit cards or single fruit tokens second. Practicing each one alone may be easier to learn before putting them together and having to flip back and forth.
• Skip the game. Look at one card after the other, multiple fruit side, and count how many there are of each kind of fruit. Does touching each piece of fruit as you go help you stay on track and remember what you have already counted? Can you count without touching each piece as you go?
• Work on visual discrimination, figure ground, visual form constancy, eye-hand coordination, manual dexterity, process skills, executive function skills, socialization skills, play and leisure exploration and participation 

In the box: 54 cards, 10 tokens
 
If you are interested in purchasing this game or just want more information, click on the image below.

Fantasto

Match the peg size to the hole size.

After doing a little research, I found that Fantasto means fantasy. Selecta is a brand of games manufactured in Germany. Since the vast majority of my games are purchased second hand, I usually don't go looking for anything in particular. It's just whatever I happen to run across. Thus, Fantasto. I always like to find games by Selecta or Haba, because I've come to know those names are synonymous with quality. They often contain wooden pieces and are usually expensive on Amazon, maybe in part because they're imported. Another cool thing about them is that the instructions usually come in many languages (eight for this game). It's interesting to compare them and see how they're similar and different across languages.

There are three picture boards in the game. Each board measures 7" x 7". They are made of wood with some type of decal on the front that covers the whole board (see image), and a shiny coating over that. There are six holes of different sizes cut out of each picture that will match the sizes of the tokens.

There are six different sizes of tokens (the round pieces that fit into the holes in the boards - I would call them pegs), and three tokens of each size. There are six different colors and all tokens of one size are the same color. The die has one color per side.

Object:
Be the first person to fill in all six spaces on your board.

Set up:
Give each person one board. Put all the pieces in the bag.

Play: 

• Game without die
• Players take turns putting their hand into the bag and, without sight, pulling out one piece. If they need it they put it on their board. If they don't need it they put it back into the bag and their turn is over. Play until someone fills their board.
• Game with die
• Players take turns throwing the die, then attempt to draw one piece out of the bag of that color, without sight. If you need it, keep it, if you don't, put it back. Seems to me you could see if you are going to need that color, after throwing the die, and without pulling a piece out of the bag. 

Try this:

• Play with the pieces ahead of time, looking at the different sizes and fitting them into the holes. Talk about how the biggest piece is red and the smallest piece is orange, trying to focus on size and color.
• Skip the game. Just work to fit each piece into a correct sized hole. 
• Skip the game. Put either just the six necessary pieces or additional pieces into the bag. Try to pull out only one of each color and fill one board. Continue until you have filled all three boards.
• Call the color you expect to pull out of the bag before drawing a piece out.
• Place a board in front of the individual. Starting with the biggest piece and then working down in size, one by one, give the individual the pieces to place. If you go from biggest to smallest, there will only be one place each time that the piece will fit.
• Work on visual discrimination, tactile discrimination, manual dexterity, fine motor, size comparisons, process skills, executive functioning skills, socialization skills, play and leisure exploration and participation
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• In the box: 3 picture boards, 18 tokens, 1 color die, 1 little pouch