Flip the Table
Most board game shows focus on the latest-and-greatest, or time-tested classics. We have taken it upon ourselves to comb our local charity shops and salvage stores for the other stuff...join us as we review cheesy, weird, and obscure board games for your entertainment.

Let the wondrous, futuristic technology of magnetic tape transmitting images into a cathode ray tube transport you into the world of Isaac Asimov's Robots! In this deduction game, players take the role of futuristic gumshoes solving an attempted murder. Pay close attention to the VHS tape as well as randomly drawn clues to figure out whotriedtodunit. Was it a filthy "Earther," filled with discontent about their living conditions and a hatred of the sun, or was it a smug "Spacer," living in their ivory tower in the stars with their better robots and their extreme germophobia? Plus, in the Battle of Wits, we try to figure out which Asimov plotline is real, and which is a futuristic fantasy.

Direct download: FlipTheTable057.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:24am EDT

Hi, therrre! Even a note from Epstein's Mother won't excuse you from listening to this week's Flip the Table, as we explore the extended canon of the Welcome Back, Kotter board game. Ben and Niki join us as we roll and move our way through a dirty Brooklyn classroom, trying to string together a single sentence while under the watchful eye of a loveable, mustachioed mentor/poker player. Will this title inspire us to achieve greater things and transcend our sweathog status, or will we be children left behind?

Direct download: FlipTheTable056.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:37pm EDT

Happy 2nd BANCE-iversary to Flip the Table! We're kicking off our 3rd year with one of the biggest IPs in the world of gaming as we take on Pokemon...but not the good kind like you want. In Pokemon Master Trainer, players race to accumulate tiny, adorable monsters as they build up power for the final battle at Indigo Plateau. Collect all 3 of a Pokemon's evolutionary levels and enjoy a massive bonus. But is it enough to take down Team Rocket in the end, or will you be left crying like a kid with a prematurely unplugged link cable? Plus, in the Battle of Wits, the panel struggles to name a single Pokemon correctly. 

Direct download: FlipTheTable055.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:19pm EDT

In the early eighties, Steven Spielberg brought to life a pop culture phenomenon with a few simple ingredients...namely, a Speak & Spell, a saw blade, some Reese's Pieces, and a yearning for home. However, if you blend a bit of Roll & Move into the mix, you get the E.T. board game by Parker Brothers. This blockbuster tie-in pits players against each-other in an epic duel of helpfulness as they compete to assist E.T. in building his communicator device and fleeing Earth's horrible, smog-filled atmosphere. It's a co-petitive title which requires significant blind-luck skills, and a dash of ESP...but does the experience take us to the sky on its magic bike, or does it deserve to be buried in the desert?

Direct download: FlipTheTable054.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:41pm EDT

The game show boom of the early-to-mid 2000's featured lots of push-your-luck, big money shows...but only one was hosted by Danny Tanner. Contributing Flipsters Ben and Niki join us for a look at the 1 vs. 100 DVD game, a party game where one lucky player competes for huge stacks of DVD cash while everyone else tries to spoil it for them. Answering questions keeps you in the game while you try to outlast "The Mob" on your way up the ladder. Is it fun enough to keep playing until your inevitable defeat, or should you just take your pretend money and run? Much like any prime time game show, we'll drag the answer out over two commercial breaks...

Direct download: FlipTheTable053.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:15pm EDT

For the first time since our very fourth episode, it's a Chuck Woolery themed Flip the Table as we take on the game you've played all your life...but never quite like this! TV Scrabble is the 1987 board game based on the TV game show, which itself was based on the 1948 board game (give yourself a minute to parse that sentence). This game brings the rotating sets and Woolerific game show action home as players solve crossword-style clues to score points, while avoiding the dreaded "Stopper." But can a game two generations removed from its source material manage to please board game fans and game show fans alike? Woolery!

Direct download: FlipTheTable052.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:39pm EDT

Take a trip with us to the 90's, where the world's most dangerous criminals were often pursued and captured  by young children. In "Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego?" players travel the US searching for stolen national landmarks, obtaining a warrant, and arresting criminals with extremely punny names. This board game version swaps the cumbersome nature of reading an encyclopedia for the streamlined simplicity of multiple choice questions...but can our panel of gumshoes stop VILE with their knowledge of elementary-level geography, or will Carmen Sandiego escape yet again? Plus, in this week's battle of wits, Professor Laserbooks presents an old favorite with a new twist...

Direct download: FlipTheTable051.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:22pm EDT

In this special double-episode, we're replacing all our limbs and taking on two games of Bionic proportions! First, we step into the track suit of Steve Austin (The other one) in The Six Million Dollar Man game, where we'll spin and move our way into brick walls until we prove which OSI agent is the real deal. Then, in The Bionic Woman, we'll travel around a sort of 70's fantasy landscape rescuing children for big points! Does this Bionic hardware stand the test of time, or has it become obsolete government property?

Direct download: FlipTheTable050.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:42pm EDT

Enjoy this special edition gold-colored mp3 as we pick up our wooden swords and embark upon The Legend of Zelda! This board game features multiple players controlling a single Link as he travels the vast overworld of Hyrule and flips over random enemy tiles until he defeats Ganon or someone dies. Does the panel have sufficient hearts to survive this journey, or will they be left with a dead battery and a corrupt save file?

Direct download: FlipTheTable049.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:06pm EDT

We're taking off our shoes and ascending the twisty pipe-slide as we prepare to descend into The McDonald's Game from 1975! This super-rare, super-retro title pits Ronald, Grimace, Hamburglar, and Birdie against each-other in a hamburger-slinging game of listening, memorization, and quick-thinking. We race to complete each-other's orders to score points...and strategically decide when to intentionally mess them up. This game will definitely make you hungry, but will it make you happy? Flip the Table investigates.

Direct download: FlipTheTable048.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:24pm EDT