Phase 10 Flip! Card Game: Rules for How to Play

Objective

The objective of Phase 10 Flip! is to be the first player to complete all ten phases.

Setup

Each player takes a reference card and places it face up in front of themselves. Any extra reference cards are set aside.
Make sure all of the cards are facing the same direction. All of the cards’ color side (has white border) should face one way.
Choose a player to shuffle the cards. They will deal ten cards to each player. They should deal the cards so the color side is facedown. Place the remaining cards so the color side is facedown. These cards form the draw pile.
Each player should pick up their cards so they can see the color side of the cards. The wild side should face the other players.
Turn over the top card from the draw pile so its color side is face up. This card forms the discard pile. If you reveal a Flip card, ignore its ability.
The player to the left of the dealer starts the game. Play moves clockwise/left during the game.

How to Play Phase 10 Flip!

Each of your turns in Phase 10 Flip! consist of four steps:

Draw a card
Lay down a Phase if you can
Play cards on completed Phases
Discard a card

After you have completed all four steps, your turn ends. Play passes to the player on your left.

Drawing a Card

You will begin each of your turns in Phase 10 Flip! by drawing a card. When drawing a card, you can choose to take the top card from the draw pile or the discard pile. After you take a card, you will add it to your hand making sure that the card is facing the same way as the rest of the cards in your hand. For example if all of your cards are on the color side, you need to make sure your new card is also on its color side.

Choosing which card to draw — To start their turn this player can either take the yellow five from the discard pile, or they can take the top card from the draw pile. If they choose the draw pile they will take the wild four card and flip it to the other side when they add it to their hand.

What is a Phase?

During each round of the game you will try to complete the current Phase you are on. In the first round each player is trying to complete Phase one. Once you complete a Phase, you will move onto the next Phase in the next round. Say you complete Phase one in the first round. In the second round you will try to complete Phase two.

There are two different ways that you can play cards

Sets are created by playing two or more cards of the same number. The color of the cards don’t matter. For example you create a set when you play two or more 5 cards.

Playing a set of fives — This player has played a set of three consisting of three 5 cards.

Color runs consist of two or more cards in consecutive numerical order of the same color. For example you can make a color run of three by playing a green 3, 4, and 5.

Creating a color run — This player has created a color run of three featuring the yellow 9, 10, and 11.

The ten phases in Phase 10 Flip! are as follows:

Two color runs of 2
One color run of 2 and one set of 2
One color run of 2 and one set of 3
One color run of 3 and one set of 2
One color run of 4 and one set of 2
Two color runs of 3
One color run of 3 and one set of 3
One color run of 5 and one set of 2
One color run of 2 and one set of 4
One color run of 3 and two sets of 2

Special Cards in Phase 10 Flip!

Most of the cards on the color side are a specific color and have a number on them. These cards have no special ability, and just act as the color and number on the card. There are a couple unique cards in Phase 10 Flip! though.

Note: When using star cards there is no limit to how many you use. You need to use at least one number card in the Phase though.

Flip

Flip cards are only activated when the card is discarded. When a player discards a Flip card, all of the cards are flipped to the other side. If the cards were on the color side, they will flip to the wild side. If the cards are on the wild side, they will flip to the color side.

First you will flip over the discard pile after you place the Flip card on it. The Flip card you just played should be on the bottom of the discard pile. Next you will flip the draw pile so the other side of the cards are now visible. Finally all of the players will flip the cards in their hand to the other side. You will use the new side of the cards until another Flip card is played.

Playing a Flip card — The last player decided to discard a Flip card. The discard and draw piles are flipped to the other side. All of the players will also flip the cards in their hands to the other side.

Any cards played to the table as part of a Phase stay on their current side.

Stars on Color Side

Cards with a star symbol are wild. The star represents any number so you can use it as a sort of wild card. You can pick any number for the card when you play it. You cannot change the color of the card though. It has to be whatever color is on the card.

Stars on Wild Side

Star symbols on the wild side of the cards are especially powerful. These cards can act as any number and color. You can pick the number and color for the card when you play it.

Wild Side Numbers

Numbers on the wild side of the cards have no designated color. You must play the card as the number printed on the card. You can choose the color for the card when you play it though.

Laying Down a Phase

After you draw a card, you will move onto trying to play a Phase. Depending on what Phase you are currently on, you will have to try and find a color run(s) and/or set(s) from the cards currently in your hand.

Once you have all of the cards needed to complete your current Phase, you can play them out in front of you. You cannot play any cards from your hand until you have all of the cards needed to complete your current Phase. You can only use the side of the cards that are currently visible to you.

The rules don’t specifically say whether you can hold a Phase in your hand until a future turn. In some sections of the instructions it implies you have to play the Phase whenever you have it in your hand. For example it says “If you are able to make a Phase with the cards in your hand, lay the Phase down, faceup on the table.” Later in the instructions it describes a player that has completed a Phase and then says that they “may lay it down.” This implies that you don’t have to play it right away. Because the rules can be interpreted both ways, the players should agree on whether you have to play a Phase as soon as you acquire it.

Completing the third Phase — This player is on Phase three. They have created a color run of two and a set of three. Since they have completed the third Phase, they will place the cards on the table in front of them.

After you lay down a Phase, it remains in front of you for the rest of the round. No player may remove any cards from the Phase. Once you play the Phase, you receive credit for completing it even if you don’t end up winning the round. If you don’t complete your current Phase before the current round ends, you will have to try and complete the same Phase in the next round.

You can only make one Phase each round. Once you have completed your Phase for a round, you will try to get rid of the rest of your cards by “hitting”.

Play Cards on Completed Phases

After you have played your Phase for the round, you have more freedom in playing cards. If you have not completed your Phase yet, you will skip this step.

Look at all of the remaining cards in your hand and compare them to the cards already played. You can now play cards from your hand to any set or color run already played to the table. This includes sets and color runs played by yourself and the other players.

During this step you are trying to play the rest of the cards from your hand. When you play a card in this step, it is called “hitting”. You can play as many cards as you want from your hand during this step as long as you follow placement rules. You may also play cards to multiple different sets and or color runs. When adding to a set, the number of the card you play has to match the number of the set.

Adding a card to a set — Along the top is a set of three. The current player just completed their Phase so they have decided to add their 12 card to the set of 12s.

When playing to a color run, the card has to match the color of the run and it has to either be one higher or one lower than cards on the edges of the run. For example if a color run currently has a yellow 4, 5 and 6; you can play a yellow 3 or 7. Once you play one of those cards, you can play additional cards in numerical order.

Adding to a color run — After completing their Phase, this player had a green four and eight in their hand. They can play the cards to this green color run of 5, 6, and 7.

Once Flip cards have been played, the side of the cards in your hand may not match the face up side of the cards played to the table. This doesn’t matter. You can mix cards from both sides when adding to sets and color runs. Should a color side card be added to a color run that was made completely of wild side cards though, the color run becomes the color of the card that is added to the run. For example say there is a color run of 1, 2, 3 and the cards are on the wild side. If a player adds a red four to the color run, the run will now be red for the rest of the round.

Mixing color and wild sides — One of the players created a color run of 9, 10, and 11 from the wild side. Later on a player added a blue 8. Since a blue card was added, the color run is now blue. All future cards have to either be blue or on the wild side.

Discard a Card

After you are done playing cards, you will choose one card from your hand to discard. You will place the card with the current side face up on the discard pile. Should you choose to discard a Flip card, you will flip all of the cards to the other side.

Discarding a card in Phase 10 Flip! — At the end of their turn the current player discards a Flip card. The cards will now flip to the color side.

Ending a Round

A round ends once a player plays all of the cards from their hand. You can get rid of your last card by hitting and adding cards to already played sets or color runs, or by discarding your final card.

The player who plays the last card from their hand wins the round. The winner of the round and any other players who completed their current Phase moves onto the next Phase in the next round. If you did not complete your Phase before the end of the round, you will have to try and complete the same Phase in the next round.

All of the players then tally their scores for the round. The winner scores zero points for the round. Every other player scores points for each card remaining in their hand. Cards already played to the table do not score any points. You will score the side of each card that is currently in play. The number of points you score for each card is as follows:

Numbers 1-9: 5 points each
Numbers 10-12: 10 points each
Stars: 20 points each

Scoring in Phase 10 Flip! — At the end of the round one of the players had these six cards left in their hand. They will score five points each for the two 2 cards and the 4 card. The 10 and 11 card each score ten points. The star scores 20 points. The player scores a total of 55 points this round.

Each player writes down how many points they scored in the current round. After all of the points have been recorded, the next round begins. The player to the left of the previous dealer becomes the dealer in the next round. The dealer picks up all of the cards and shuffles them to form the deck for the next round. The dealer needs to make sure all of the cards are facing the same way before they start shuffling.

Winning Phase 10 Flip!

The game ends when a player completes phase ten and the current round ends.

If only one player has completed the tenth Phase, they win the game.

Winning Phase 10 Flip! — This player has created Phase ten. If they play the rest of the cards from their hand, they win the game.

If two or more players complete Phase 10, compare the points scored by each player that completed Phase 10. The tied player with the least points wins the game. In the rare case that there is still a tie, the ties players will replay the tenth Phase to determine the winner. The first player to create Phase 10 and go out, wins the game.

Variant Games

There are a couple variant games that you can play in Phase 10 Flip!.

First you can play where each player automatically moves onto the next phase each round even if they didn’t complete a Phase in the round. Therefore in each round all of the players will try to complete the Phase corresponding to the current round. After you have played ten rounds, the player with the least points wins the game.

Otherwise the players could choose to play less Phases in order to shorten the game. You can play as many Phases as you want as long as all of the players agree before the game starts. All other rules from the main game still apply.

Phase 10 Flip! FAQ

If you have any questions about how to play the game, leave a comment below on this post. I will try to answer any questions asked as best and as quickly as possible.

Components

Color Side

24 Blue cards (two each of 1-12); One card numbered 2, 6, and 10 have the Flip symbol
24 Green cards (two each of 1-12); One card numbered 3, 7, and 11 have the Flip symbol
24 Red cards (two each of 1-12); One card numbered 1, 5, and 9 have the Flip symbol
24 Yellow cards (two each of 1-12); One card numbered 4, 8, and 12 have the Flip symbol
8 Star cards (two of each color)
8 Reference cards

Wild Side

8 cards of each number 1-12 (one of each number has the Flip symbol)
8 Star cards (one card has the Flip symbol)

Year: 2024 | Publisher: Mattel

Genres: Card, Family, Set Collection

Ages: 7+ | Number of Players: 2-6 | Length of Game: 30-45 minutes

Difficulty: Light | Strategy: Light | Luck: Moderate-High

For more board and card game rules/how to plays, check out our complete alphabetical list of card and board game rules posts.

Written By:

Eric Mortensen

Eric Mortensen is an owner and head writer on Geeky Hobbies since 2014. He is an avid board game player and collector with over 3,000 board and card games in his collection. Since 2014 he has written more than 1,100 board game how to play guides.