Coffee Rush: Review
Information:
Mechanics: Grid Movement, Contracts, Set Collection
Player Age: 8+ Player Count: 2 - 4 PlayersTime to Play: 30 Minutes
Game Designer: Euijin Han
Player Age: 8+
Game Designer: Euijin Han
Introduction:
Being a barista can be a real rush, especially when the orders are flooding your order board. Players are trying to fulfil orders by collecting the correct ingredients to fill one cup. Players are attempting to fulfil each order card before it falls off the board after the fourth level, as any orders that fall off will count as a negative point. The game will end once one player has five of these failed orders.
Game Anatomy:
Order Cards:
Each order card has a coffee drink and art, with 2-4 ingredients to collect on the right-hand side. 
Each order is worth one point at the end of the game if fulfilled and a negative one point if the order is missed (removed after the fourth round on your board).
Ingredients:
There are eight ingredients you will be using in different combinations to fulfil the coffee drinks. Each of these ingredients are uniquely shaped for a great table presence. Two trays are also included for storage and presentation on the table.
Worker and Board:
There is one central four-by-four grid board with the depicted ingredients spread throughout the board. Some of the more rare ingredients only appear once and are represented by a yellow banner. Each player will have one worker (two in a two-player game) that will stay on this grid and move around throughout the game, collecting the ingredients they move through and land on.
Player Board and Upgrades:
On each player board there is a pathway containing space for four rows and four different upgrades. By discarding three completed orders players can reveal one of the four upgrades, unlocking its ability for the rest of the game. Starting at the top and moving down, the upgrades create the following effects; when moving onto a location with another worker they gain one extra ingredient of that type, the player's worker(s) can move diagonally, the four locations at the corner of the board will give two of the same ingredients, and the yellow banner locations award two ingredients instead of one.
Rush Token:
A rush token is gained when completing an order with a specialty banner at the top of the card. Any number of these tokens can be spent during a turn to add one extra movement.
Setup:
- Place the board, ingredients, and rush tokens in the middle of the table.
- Give each player their board, unflipped upgrades, worker(s), and three cups.
- Determine the first player, probably the last person to make a coffee and give them the starting token with the 'Open' side face-up.
- Shuffle the order cards and deal each player two one in the first row and one in the second row. The first player will receive one more card in the first row.
- In an anti-clockwise order, each player will place their worker in one location on the board as long as it doesn't share the location with another worker. Once this is done everyone will receive the respective ingredient of where their worker is and place the ingredient into one of their plastic cups.
How to Play:
Each turn you are trying to gain numerous ingredients to fulfil the orders in front of you. To do this your turn is broken into upgrades, movement, pour ingredients, process order and end of turn.
Upgrade:
At the start of your turn, you can discard three previously completed orders to upgrade one of your four upgrades. Flip it over and gain the new benefit for the remainder of the game. This is a great way to optimise ingredient gained from certain locations.
Movement:
Moving one space at a time (orthogonally adjacent), each space grants you the matching ingredient that you’re moving through or land on. Players may move three spaces or less on a turn, and can move through locations with opponent workers but they cannot end their movement on that location.
Pour Ingredients:
All the ingredients you gather during the move step go into an unsorted pile. In this phase, your ingredients get poured into one of the three cups. The ingredients can be spread out into these three cups in any combination (according to coffee orders). Any leftover ingredients are discarded and, if needed, you can pour out any cup, discard those ingredients and start anew. Once an ingredient has been poured into a cup you cannot move it to a different cup.
Process Order:
As long as you have the exact ingredients in a cup you can fufill one of the order cards and discard the ingredients. This means you can complete a maximum of three orders in a turn.
For every order you complete on the turn, the next two players clockwise must add that amount of order cards to their line-up pushing the coffee rush onwards to the next players.
End of Turn:
At the end of your turn, all the order cards move down one row on the right-hand side. If an order moves off the fourth row, that order card will move to a negative point pile. For every card you move as a penalty you also gain one rush token.
End of Game:
The first player token will flip to the closed sign on two conditions; there are no order cards left in the deck or one player has received five negative order cards. When the closed sign is flipped over every player will have one last turn to equal the same amount as the first player. Each upgrade is worth two points, each completed order is worth one point and every missed order is worth negative one point.
Final Thoughts:
- Amazing components, the game is upgraded from the get-go.
- Fast-paced game.
- Have to plan for the row that is about to be negative points as well as the row behind it.
- Feeding the other players order cards based on your success.
Coffee Rush is a game I instantly had to play again after the first game ended. The rules are so easy to learn that they almost feel too light but once the game began I felt a constant rush of planning. This involved how to move around the board successfully and trying to not only complete the row about to finish, but also having one foot in the next row to keep ahead of the rush. As players gain more success, the game becomes increasingly accelerated. The game also comes with amazing components that add to the table presence; coffee cups, unique ingredient tokens and great containers to hold them. If you are looking for your next fast-paced game, with challenging decisions that feels rewarding when resolved then look no further. You won’t need caffeine to play this game, the infectious energy of gameplay is enough to keep you wired.
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