Coffee Rush Review

Fill that coffee machine and steam that milk, Coffee Rush has opened for business and the orders are coming in thick and fast. But don’t let the quality slip, we have plenty of competition and reputation is everything! Pour yourself a cup of your favourite beverage, sink back into you most comfortable chair and join me as I review, Coffee Rush.

2-4 Players 30 Mins Age 8+

Designer: Euijin Han

Artist: Siwon Hwang

Publisher: Korea Boardgames

Espresso

Coffee Rush is a 2-4 player competitive grid movement game in which players are running their own coffee shops by trying to keep pace with a gradually increasing influx of drink orders. Players take turns moving their barista meeples around a grid depicting different ingredients.  Players can move up to three spaces on their turn, collecting any ingredient they move through or land on.  Players can move through and collect from spaces containing another meeple, but they cannot end their turn on an occupied space.

Collected ingredients are placed one three cups provided to each player and are used to fulfil orders by ensuring each drink has exactly what it needs.  The ingredients themselves are split into two categories, basic ingredients are coffee beans, milk, ice and steam, while the specialty ingredients are chocolate, water, caramel and tea leaves. Basic ingredients have three spaces each, while each specialty ingredient is represented only once on the board, so acquiring them is more difficult.  However, obtaining these ingredients can be made easier by upgrading your staff by spending three completed order cards to flip one of four upgrade tiles on their player board.  These upgrades can improve grid movement or increase the amount of ingredients gathered.

To further improve the chances of success, players can complete specialty orders, which reward them with rush tokens.  These rush tokens can be used to move one extra space on the grid each turn.  Multiple rush tokens can be used on a single turn to fill particularly tricky orders or to complete an order that is about to expire.

Completed orders cards are flipped and paced on the top left of the players board to become a ‘like’. Likes are Coffee Rush’s victory points and, as mentioned earlier, these likes can be spent to flip an upgrade tile on the player’s board.  At the end of each round, unfulfilled orders slide down one space on the players board and after four rounds, any order that remains unfulfilled is placed on the bottom left of a players board and becomes a ‘dislike’. Additionally, for every order a player fills, the two players to their left add an order to the first space of their player boards, this is how players gain new orders and is the driving force behind the competitive aspect of the game.  After a couple of rounds, the orders will start coming in thick and fast, so think ahead and be prepared.

Play continues until the game end is triggered either by one player racking up five dislikes or when the order deck runs out.  Players then score their game by totalling their likes, one like for each completed order, two likes for each upgraded ability and minus one like for each dislike.

Latte

Coffee Rush features clean, uncomplicated mechanics and the rulebook is concise and easy to read with only a couple of minor quibbles (more on that later). The game plays well at all player counts, though I feel it shines at two if you’re looking for a shorter game experience.  Games with up to four players still proceed at a good pace, but might go a little longer than people expect from a game of this weight.

The game emulates the theme of a busy cafe, ratcheting up the tension each round by adding more orders to players’ queues. Eventually players will become overwhelmed and the dislikes will quickly mount up. Utilising the game’s systems, such as upgrades and rush tokens will be essential in the mid-to-late game when orders begin to creep en masse to the end of the queue. The systems are tight and players will need to make the most of every space they move and plot out their route, hoping another player doesn’t end up occupying a much needed space.  The idea that the cafe relies on likes and social media reputation to drive its business brings Coffee Rush into line with modern sensibilities, for better or worse, and provides a more relatable spin on the traditional victory points.

The game is well priced and, for my money, I can’t think of many games that pack such a premium feel into such a small retail package (let me know any you can think of in the comments below, I’d be keen to check them out!). The components are excellent and enhance the experience without detracting from the gameplay, not to mention, they’re just fun to manipulate and make a satisfying clink when dropped into the plastic coffee cups, it’s the little touches like these I appreciate.

Coffee Rush has proven a popular choice in our home, and even my wife, who isn’t a big board gamer has declared it to be one of her favourite games to break out with the family.  The theme and playing pieces have a lot to do with that, I’m sure.  However, my wife also won our first game, cementing it as a must-play in her opinion. This speaks to the appeal of Coffee Rush, non-gamers will be drawn in by its looks, but end up staying for the gameplay, since, at its core, it provides a fun puzzle and a rewarding experience.

Decaf

As I mentioned earlier, while we love Coffee Rush in our house, there are a few minor quibbles.  Firstly, while the game is quick and snappy at two players, it can drag a little at four, this could have been due to the lack of familiarity with the game, and over multiple play throughs I’m sure this would improve. The absence of solo play hurt a little, as this is the perfect concept for a solo experience. There is a fan-based solo mode on Board Game Geek now though, so that may be the way to go.

The rulebook was also a little unclear in a couple of places, for example the rules about collecting 2x ingredients didn’t make it clear if it was a must or may rule which, in a game where every resource matters and the space for them is limited, can make a difference. Also, do different rules stack, or is it either or? I couldn’t find a straight answer in the rulebook. Hopefully these edge cases will be cleared up as more of the player base discovers the game, or maybe I’m being pedantic with a light family game? In the end, we agreed on a way through these situations that best seemed in keeping with the spirit of the game.

The least of my concerns, but perhaps worth noting, is Coffee Rush's low scoring.  For instance, in two of our games, the highest score was 6 while the lowest was 3, again, your experience may vary, but the lower scoring may leave some players feeling underwhelmed after all their careful planning and effort.

Green Tea

As for the art and components, Just check out images of the game for yourself to see the detail and care that went into the creation of every piece.  From the box cover, to the cards and player boards, Coffee Rush gave me the urge to head off to a cosy cafe somewhere and order a coffee.  The art work is beautiful and the components themselves are a real centrepiece on the table.  even between turns, players were admiring every little coffee bean and ice cube and playing with their little cups.

The overall quality gave a bespoke, premium feel to a standard retail game.  No complicated Kickstarter nonsense here, just buy a copy from your local store and you’ll  be getting the same experience as everyone else.  That’s not a bad thing by the way.

Nightcap

At the end of the day, Coffee Rush is a fun little cafe simulator with bespoke components and thematic gameplay.  Ideal to break out with a group of friends at the start or end of a game night; much like the coffee you offer guests to cap off an evening, Coffee Rush provides the perfect book end to any game day.

Thanks for hanging out today, I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts on Coffee Rush. Does it sound like a game you’d enjoy? Or do you prefer your games decaf?  Let me know in the comments below, or feel free to join our Above Board Facebook group. Until next time, put your feet up and take care.