A cup of coffee sure is relaxing — for the customer. For the coffee shop, however, orders tend to pile up during peak hours, and it is no different today at Coffee Rush. Your goal: Complete customer orders to increase your ratings and be recognized as the best barista!

In more detail, each player moves on the ingredient board to collect the ingredients that they need to fulfill orders — and fulfilling orders boosts your rating. Orders that are not fulfilled in time become penalties, which subtract from your rating. If a player has fulfilled three orders, they may activate an upgrade that lets them acquire ingredients more easily.

The game ends once all order cards have run out or after a barista collects their fifth penalty card. The player with the highest rating wins!

—description from the publisher

BREW YOUR SUCCESS: Immerse yourself in the world of coffee-making as you race to fulfill orders and boost your rating.

QUICK & ADDICTIVE: Enjoy fast-paced gameplay that keeps you engaged and wanting more round after round.

FULFILL ORDERS: Collect ingredients strategically to fulfill orders, but beware of penalties for uncompleted orders.

UPGRADE YOUR SKILLS: Achieve three fulfilled orders to unlock upgrades that make ingredient acquisition easier.

DESIGN-RICH CONTENT: Delight in a visually appealing game with ample content to fuel your coffee-making adventure.

Gameplay

The game’s premise is very simple: score the most points by fulfilling orders. New orders keep coming in, and players must complete them before time runs out. Order cards list the required ingredients for each drink and are drawn from the orders deck blindly. The shared board on the table displays all ingredients, and players take turns moving their meeples to gather what they need. In the end, each fulfilled order scores 1 point.

Players have access to four upgrades on their boards – 3 provide more ingredients when placing and moving meeples, and one makes movements easier. These upgrades are worth 2 points each at the end of the game, and to get them, you give up three fulfilled orders, essentially trading three points for two. However, early upgrades can significantly help fulfill more orders so they can be very valuable.

Each player board has four tabs; new orders are added to the first tab and every round, orders move down one tab. Failing to fulfill an order that is on the fourth tab results in the order being removed and a negative point. However, this setback is somewhat compensated with a rush token. Rush tokens grant extra movements when gathering ingredients from the board. These tabs and the passage of time in the game are implemented well. Since it’s impossible to fulfill all orders, we frequently used failed orders and rush tokens as a strategy to help gather ingredients for other orders.

It’s important to highlight that an element of luck comes into play with blind draws from the deck, and this can be particularly noticeable at the beginning of the game. To address this, the rulebook includes a variant where all players receive an easy order during setup for added balance.

Our plays tended to run closer to 40-45 minutes, going beyond the 30-minute estimate on the box. Because players manage several orders at a time, have a limited supply of ingredients, can only fulfill three orders at a time, and may get blocked on the ingredients board by others, some analysis paralysis can occur.

The rules are straightforward and can easily be explained in a few minutes. Coupled with the stunning components, this makes Coffee Rush an excellent gateway game. It’s worth noting that there is no variable setup in this game and player interaction is very limited. These factors can make the game feel repetitive after a while.

Final Thoughts

While Coffee Rush might not be your go-to for repeated plays due to potential repetitiveness, it stands out as an excellent choice for introducing new players to board games or for laid-back game nights. It brings us enjoyment each time we get it to the table and it has earned a place on our shelf.

No. of players: 2 to 4 Players

Suitable for Ages 8 and above

Game Duration: 30-45 minutes