- Set-up
- About 2 min
- Reading
- None
The quick verdict
Full verdict ↓Great for Children from 7 who enjoy speed and spotting things
Think twice if You will mostly play with two: one reviewer's two-player game ran past 40 minutes
How we rate it
Learning curve. One idea: find a picture that fits the clue, fast. It sits with UNO and Connect 4 at 1 on our scale.
Luck & skill. The deal decides which pictures you hold, but quick eyes and fast hands decide who matches first. There is little planning.
Interaction. Everyone races at once, and the whole table votes on whether a card really matches the clue.
Set-up. Hand out the cover cards and deal the whole deck evenly. With 104 cards, dealing for two players takes a little longer.
Reading. The cards have pictures only; one person reads the short rules sheet once.
Learning curve: 1 = UNO or Connect 4; 3 = Catan; 5 = a heavy strategy game. These describe the experience, not an overall score.
Is Pic Flip right for you?
Great if
- Children from 7 who enjoy speed and spotting things
- Family get-togethers with three to six players, where cousins and grandparents can all join in
- Mixed-language tables: you describe pictures in whatever language you share
- A small, light card box that is easy to carry to a relative's house
Skip it if
- You will mostly play with two: one reviewer's two-player game ran past 40 minutes
- Very young children who struggle to hold and flip a thick deck of cards
- You want a game where planning matters more than quick eyes
How Pic Flip plays
Set-up: take out the six cover cards and give one to each player. Deal all the playing cards out evenly; with an odd number of players, set one card aside. Everyone shuffles their own pile, holds it face up and puts their cover card on top, so you can't see your top picture yet. Mattel's rules say not to fan your cards out.
- Time to teach: about 2 minutes.
- Reading and language: The cards are pictures only. The player who leads says a word or short phrase about one picture, such as 'it has wheels' or 'salty', and that can be in Hindi, Tamil, English or any mix your table shares. Agree on a language before you start so nobody is left out, and keep the clue short for younger children.
Pic Flip card game (2019, Mattel) -- What's Inside · Roll for Sanity
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A turn, step by step
- 1Call
Lay a card in the middle and say a word or phrase about one of its two pictures.
- 2Flip
After '3, 2, 1, go!', everyone flips through their own deck looking for a picture that fits the clue.
- 3Match
The first to play a card the others accept wins the round and calls the next clue from that card.
- 4Win
The first player to get rid of every card in their deck wins.
The full explanation: how a game of Pic Flip goes
The youngest player starts by putting any card face up in the middle. Every card has two pictures. That player picks one picture and calls out a word or phrase about it. Mattel's example is 'it has wheels' for a picture of a tricycle.
Everyone counts down together, '3, 2, 1, go!', and then all players, including the one who called the clue, flip through their own deck looking for a picture that matches the clue. The first to put a matching card on the pile wins that round, as long as the other players agree that it fits. If most players say it doesn't match, the card goes back into that player's deck and the search carries on.
Whoever just played a card picks one of its two pictures and calls the next clue, for example 'salty!' for popcorn. Play goes on like this until one player has got rid of every card in their deck and wins.
A tip from a parent who reviewed it: with a young child, a long game can tire everyone, so try dealing out only half the deck. Agree before you start how loosely a clue can be matched, because the whole table decides whether a card counts.
What's in the box
- 104Playing cards
each card shows two pictures of everyday things - 6Cover cards
one for each player, placed on top of their pile - 1Instructions
From Mattel's GKD70 instruction sheet: 110 cards, 104 playing cards and 6 cover cards. Mattel's tin version (GKD72) holds the same game in a metal tin; its exact contents were not checked.
Where to buy
How to make sure you get a genuine copyEditions and the details worth checking.
What reviewers and players say
There are few independent reviews of Pic Flip. The clearest is a parent's write-up of playing it with his 6-year-old: the boy enjoyed it and giggled through it, and the simple idea took no time to learn. But with just the two of them the full deck made the game run past 40 minutes, a small child found 110 cards hard to hold and flip, and the father got bored and suggested using half the deck. He thought it would work better with a bigger group. Mattel itself pitches it as a game children of 7 can play on their own, which builds focus and quick matching.
What people love
- The idea is easy to learn: hear a clue, find a picture that fits
- Children enjoy the race and the silly clues
- A big deck means a player who falls behind can still catch up
- Clues are spoken, so any language works
Common complaints
- Long with only two players; one reviewer suggests dealing half the deck
- A thick deck is hard for small hands to hold and flip
- Adults may tire of it sooner than children
Based on 4 reviews and discussions
- Review John's Game of the Week #1: Pic Flip (Ryan Glanzer, January 2021) · Ryan Glanzer's blog
- Reference Pic Flip instructions, GKD70 (Mattel, 2019) · Mattel
- Reference Pic Flip product details (Mattel US store, archived May 2022) · Mattel
- Reference Pic Flip in a tin, GKD72 (Mattel consumer service) · Mattel
Summarised in our own words from the sources above. We don't use Amazon reviews or ratings.
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| Why consider it | This game Call out a clue, flip through your deck, match it first | A different fit Another race to spot a matching picture, with round cards and five quick mini-games | A different fit Hunt for pictures against the clock on a big shared board | A different fit A loud, quick card game where the fastest hands win, for the same ages |
| Players | 2–6 | 2–8 | 2–6 | 2–8 |
| Best with | 3-5 | 3-6 | 3-5 | 4-8 |
| Play time | 15–40 min | 15 min | 20–30 min | 10–15 min |
| Age | 7+ | 6+ | 6+ | 8+ |
| Rules | Easy | Easy | Easy | Easy |
| Indian edition | Imported | Available | Available | Imported |
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Questions people ask about Pic Flip
How do you play Pic Flip?
One player lays a card and calls out a word or phrase about one of its two pictures. Everyone flips through their own deck for a card that fits, and the first to play a match the others accept calls the next clue. The first player to run out of cards wins.
How many cards come in Pic Flip?
Mattel's box has 110 cards: 104 playing cards, each with two pictures, and 6 cover cards. Each player gets one cover card to put on top of their pile.
What age is Pic Flip for, and how many can play?
Mattel says ages 7 and up, for 2 to 6 players. It is livelier with three or more, because the deck is shared out and each player holds fewer cards.
Can we play Pic Flip in Hindi or another language?
Yes. The cards have no words, only pictures, and the clue is something you say out loud, so you can describe the pictures in Hindi, Tamil, English or any language your group shares.
Is Pic Flip the same as UNO Flip?
No. UNO Flip! is a version of UNO with a double-sided deck. Pic Flip is a separate Mattel game about matching pictures to spoken clues.
Game facts
- Publisher
- Mattel (Mattel Games)
- First published
- 2019
- Players
- 2–6
- Barcode
- 887961824360
- Language
- Little reading – The cards are pictures only. The player who leads says a word or short phrase about one picture, such as 'it has wheels' or 'salty', and that can be in Hindi, Tamil, English or any mix your table shares. Agree on a language before you start so nobody is left out, and keep the clue short for younger children.
Sources & photo creditsThe references behind this guide.
Facts on this page come from the publisher, the Indian maker or distributor, and the sources below. Photos are credited under each one.