Coffee Rush

You are behind the counter of a café during the morning rush, and every order you complete raises your rating. Order cards queue up in front of you, each asking for a mix of ingredients: espresso, milk, ice, syrup. To gather them you move your barista around a small grid of ingredient tiles, picking up what you land on. Finished orders score; orders that wait too long become penalties that pull your rating down. The game ends when the orders run out or someone takes a fifth penalty. Movement is the whole puzzle. Your steps are limited, the tile you need is never quite adjacent, and three completed orders unlock an upgrade that makes collecting easier. At about half an hour and a light-medium weight, it is a family game with a real plan-ahead layer, and the theme suits our café. Good at three, and easy to teach to teenagers.