Finding the Best Cast of Fun Characters in FlipToons
Hire a cast of fun animal characters to create a fantastic cartoon destined to become famous in the land of FlipToons.
Animals and a nod to old cartoons of yesteryear? It was pretty clear that I needed to pick up FlipToons as soon as I heard of it! This small and lightweight card game is about managing and creating a hand of cartoon characters. With different abilities and a bit of luck, fame can build up… Or not! What sorts of cartoons will come to be? Only one way to find out!
Game Overview
Game Name: FlipToons
Publication Year: 2025
Designers: Jordy Adan & Renato Simões
Artist: Diego Sá
Publisher: Thunderworks Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
With the flip of the cards, characters appear with their own ways to earn fame. However, only 6 may be hired, so it’s a clever balancing act of adding and dismissing the right cast of cartoon animals. Reaching 30 victory points before the central deck might seem easy… But that’s not all, folks!
First Play
August 3, 2025
Complexity
2
Latest Play
September 7, 2025
Expansions
1
Setup Time
Almost None
Lifetime Plays
6
Play Time
10 Minutes
High Score
34
Game Area
20" x 20"
Low Score
26
Creating Cartoons
The rules are very straightforward and involve flipping 6 cards in a grid, counting up fame, and then deciding how to spend anything that doesn’t cross the victory threshold.
Market actions involve up to 2 options between hiring and dismissing cards. This is an interesting mechanic because it’s not about building a deck, but a single hand of cards.
The order that cards come out in is important, yet it’s much easier to predict when some characters are dismissed.
I liked how easy it was to understand, and the only questions that came up involved some card interactions.
Excellent Artwork
So many animals! The illustrations are wonderful and hearken back to the old cartoons that many may be familiar with. Lots of personalities and laughs in all of the art!
Although it makes sense, there are a lot of duplicates. The rare and more powerful animals are typically unique, but some of these had 3, 4, or even 5 copies present in the deck.
The solo mode removes random cards from play during setup to create a timer, so not all of the cards are seen.
It made sense, yet I would have loved to see some more unique characters to make each card feel a little different.
My First Cartoon Show
What a lineup! A starting deck in the solo mode will always include these 6 cards, which are pretty much duds. This amazing show generated a whipping 6 fame. So great! Ha!
I imagined the audition started off with a snarky snail soliloquy, which was promptly interrupted by a musical number from a dragonfly lacking any rhythm. And then…
An organized bee surveys the situation, barks out orders, and a trio of surprised caterpillars just sort of appears.
Yeah… That wasn’t it. This group was hurriedly rushed out the door, probably right into an Acme hole in the ground!
The Winning Cast
A-ha! With some work in the casting department, I soon had myself the right sort of lineup. Note that this winning show still featured a starting card. What determination!
This show was titled On the Double. Opening shot of a bee doing some birdwatching… A flashy peacock appears, looking quite handsome. Then, a wild party turkey!
Through the bee’s binoculars, another turkey and peacock appear, but it isn’t clear if there are one or two of each.
Finally, a horse sheriff shows up to round up the birds, and the camera pans over to the bee… Who also has a double! Ha!
Just One Flip… Or Just One More Flip?
I want to highlight that my rating scale is entirely subjective and broken because it’s tailored to me. This score makes sense and speaks to a game that was fun, but is teetering on the edge of possibly not being something I’ll enjoy long-term. That doesn’t take away from the initial experience, though! I just know at a glance what a number means for my collection.
This also had a chance as a 2-player game against my husband. It had its moments, yet felt like something that was a little too light for us. I can see it being a great option for the right audience, and that’s often the underlying reason for any rating that looks low: I’m likely not in the target audience, which speaks more about me than the game itself.
But you better believe I had a lot of laughs thinking up what was going on with these cartoon characters! It was great to have had a chance to play, and sometimes, a game doesn’t have to be excellent forever to still deliver a joyful experience.
Session Overview
Play Number: 1-4
Expansion: FlipToons: Big Button Mini-Expansion
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Easy, Normal, & Hard Difficulty Levels
Outcome: 32, 32, 34, 26 (3 Wins & 1 Loss)
I liked the simplicity of the rules, although I felt like I saw most of the possible card combinations and strategies after a couple of plays. This is a fun and silly little game, though! Definitely works very well, and I had plenty of laughs. For me, it was a tad too easy to play solo and I don’t know if it will have any staying power. Still, I had a good time!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
7
Originality
Design & Theme
5
Quality
Components & Rules
10
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
6
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
6
+ Pros (Positives)
- The artwork is delightful with a nod to old cartoons with silly personalities and colorful animals to laugh about.
- Card abilities offer some interesting decisions when hiring new characters and thinking through the interactions.
- Hand management takes some careful curating to get the right cards, and offers an interesting little challenge.
- Gameplay moves quickly with easy-to-understand rules and only a few questions that may arise over abilities.
- Not a lot is needed to learn how to play and there are a few novel strategies to discover over the course of a few plays.
- Even with some card abilities that stack or expand, the overall play area is compact and never spreads out too much.
– Cons (Negatives)
- There isn’t a great deal of variety in the cards, not even accounting for duplicates, and strategies are pretty obvious.
- Flipping over cards with no way to move them around relies on a lot of luck, so some rounds are less productive.
- Although easy to adjust, even the hardest solo difficulty level may feel a bit too easy for experienced players.
- With the same starting deck, the first few choices during the early rounds can feel somewhat scripted and repetitive.
Victory Conditions
Score 30+ Points
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Win at least 1 game at the easy difficulty level.
Win at least 1 game at the normal difficulty level.
Win at least 1 game at the hard difficulty level.
Continue the Conversation
What do you enjoy the most about FlipToons? Have you had a particularly exciting final cast of characters? The variety is a bit limited yet the fun is certainly present! Although I’m not sure if this is a long-term solo game I’ll enjoy playing again, it was worth it for the laughs over the various animals. Not every game will stick around forever, yet the memories will!
0 Comments