Don Your Cowboy Hat in Flick 'Em Up: A Game of Lawmen, Outlaws, and Dexterity

Flick ’Em Up takes you to the wild west, and has players flicking discs to shoot outlaws, rob banks, and maneuver around a western town.

So put your team together, and get ready for a shootout at high noon!

Gameplay

First, players pick a playing area. You need something like a table or stretch of floor that will allow pieces to slide and that you can fully move around. You then select one of the game's ten scenarios. The scenarios give a small story, describe how to set up the game's buildings in the play area, where the cowboy meeples are placed, each team's objective, the hour to set the game's clock (the round tracker) to, any additional rules for the scenario, and so forth.

There are two teams in the game, the outlaws and the lawmen, and players divide into these teams as equally as possible.

Each game is played over a series of rounds which is tracked on the town hall clock, and during the round the two teams alternate turns. Players do not necessarily control the same cowboy meeple. Rather, a turn order within the team is determined at the start of the game and during a round the team members take turns activating a cowboy of their choice.

When a cowboy is activated, the player currently controlling it may take two actions: move, shoot, and an action inside of a building. You may take the same action twice. Many actions involve flicks, which involve using only one finger (without using your thumb).

If you are moving a cowboy, you temporarily remove the meeple and replace it with the movement disc, and then flick the disc in the direction you wish to go. If during this whole process the disc does not touch any object or figure and stays in the play area, the movement was successful and you place the meeple back where his disc ended. Otherwise, you return the meeple back to where it started its turn. You may also move your cowboy into a building by flicking it into the slot between the two building supports. If you are inside a building you are safe from attacks, and may take or drop items. Some scenarios will also have additional rules for buildings.

When shooting, you place a small grey bullet disc to the left or right of your cowboy and then attempt to flick it at an enemy cowboy. If the bullet knocks over the enemy cowboy he loses one hit point — if he reaches zero hit points, he is removed from the game. The game ends when one team has completed the objective described in the scenario.

Review

Flick ’Em Up is extremely thematic, and immediately draws you in. There’s something almost toy like about the layout of the game, creating a small town to fight across, and the components are of good quality. But the gameplay is enjoyable in its own right. There’s strategy in how each team positions and moves their cowboys around town, how they tackle their objectives, and how they try to block or circumvent one another.

The scenario book offers a nice variety of settings (though set up can take a while, matching the placement of everything with the images in the book). Sometimes both teams will be working towards the same goals while other times they will have unique ones.

While the game does list itself for two to ten players, down time on a full group of ten is going to be a little long, and two players will miss the fun team dynamic. It’s enjoyable to discuss the order you should activate your cowboys in and to come up with a plan together. With the right number though (around 6 players), Flick ’Em Up is a lovely team game that keeps you on your feet and moving around the play area.

There are two editions of the game out, one where the pieces are wooden and the other plastic. Both are well made and both are essentially the same game. Neither one lacks atmosphere or component quality.

If you enjoy dexterity games, Flick ’Em Up is a fantastic one. It uses its theme well, can be played in varying sizes of play space, and is a treat to look at.

Pros: Thematic, high quality components, scenarios offer variety

Cons: Downtime can be long with higher player counts, setup can take some time