Simulator games are often a means of doing something that you can’t easily do in real life. Play tabletop games with those non-local friends. Perfectly clean your imaginary car. Table Flip Simulator? It lets you go flippin’ nuts.
Table Flip Simulator (no, I’m not apologising for that pun) has a simple premise. You have finally had enough and you decide to literally Flip your… you get the idea. Each level starts with a short cutscene of your poor customisable avatar going through it, as the kids say. It could be facing a hard to open package, a dickish boss, a theatre full of idiots with poor cinema etiquette. At which point your character will decide they are done playing by society’s rules and they decide to flip, both metaphorically and literally.
What does this mean for you as the player? Well, that theoretically depends on the level. I could give you some examples of the various objectives, but I honestly feel like it would be a waste of time. Whatever thin lead you get to the level ends up with you standing behind some form of surface with a variety of makeshift projectiles within arms reach. You must throw these objects at whatever targets the game deems necessary and when you hit enough of them, you can end the level by “flipping the table”. Immediately after doing so, you get a slow motion replay of you performing this final flip set to a very stirring instrumental score as the game showcases everything you destroyed with this penultimate act of violence.
That’s it, that’s the game.
Now that may not necessarily be a bad thing. Whilst describing Table Flip Simulator as a “physics-based puzzler” might be a bit of a stretch, there is technically a competent game here. The physics engine is relatively consistent, and only took me a couple of levels to get to grips with. There’s also replayability, as once you initially complete a level, hints for three of the five bonus objectives for a level are revealed. Completed objectives give you “tables”, the currency for unlocking bonus levels, and destroying things gives you destruction coins to customise your avatar with between rage sessions.
Everything is presented on a traversable map, technically big enough to need fast travel points. Presentation wise the game itself is charming, with overly simplified 3D models and a cute anime aesthetic on everything that isn’t made of blocks, and serviceable audio cues throughout.
If you’re the right kind of person looking for a throwaway (hah) game, then this could potentially be right up your alley. This feels like a total cop out to say, nearly every game is going to be good to the right kind of person, but I’m going to be honest here. I am definitely not the right kind of person for this.
It could be the heat wave we’re currently in as I write this review, but I’ve jumped back in and out at varying times and the mood is still the same. I just find myself filled with an overwhelming sentiment of “is that it?”.
Heck, there’s even a fully featured level creator for if you want to dive in and make your own mini playground of destruction, which is honestly a really neat touch and is sure to tickle some people’s fancy!
The game is perfectly competent, and currently sitting at £12.49 (on Xbox, there’s some variance between platforms) it certainly won’t break the bank, but it just fails to hold my attention for more than a few moments. I’m not even sure how I’d improve it, beyond tidying up the writing a little and maybe making some tweaks to the physics engine.
Speaking of writing, in hindsight after the hints, a good chunk of the secret objectives are written into the opening story bits, so I have to give it credit there. Which again makes me think that some of the problem here is me, not the game.
If you want a bit of a “cheap” laugh for an evening or two, and the local carnival doesn’t have a beanbag throwing game anymore, I don’t think Table Flip Simulator will steer you wrong, especially if it ends up on sale.
Table Flip Simulator was reviewed on Xbox Series X, but can also be found on Playstation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Steam.