I’ve been in the gourmet coffee business most of my adult life. As a longtime barista, the idea of the game Barista from Discovery Bay Games intrigued me. When I picked it up and examined it for the first time, I smiled at the faux burlap print that covers the box. (The newest edition comes in a black and blue pinstripe box.) As a coffee fanatic, I have a small collection of the burlap bags that green coffee is shipped and stored in. Then I opened the box and began examining the game pieces, and was pleased to see an accurate selection of drinks depicted on the cards and dice.
Starbucks may have been the first big company to make wide use of the drink marking boxes, but it is by no means the only company using them. While the customer may not understand the importance of drink calling in order, it helps assist the barista improve the accuracy of the drinks, especially during peak periods. That the creators of the game took the time to include proper drink calling in the gameplay thrilled me to no end. Baristas around the world should rejoice and purchase this game to play with their friends, and offer it along with their other in-store games for customers to play.
The gameplay is simple and easy to catch on to. The object of the game is to be the first barista to accurately “build” the customer’s drink. Along the way, you can slow down and trip up your fellow baristas, quite literally if you draw a “spill drink” card to lay on them. Some of the cards are similar to Uno, with wild cards that can be anything, steal cards that allow you to take an ingredient card from another player’s hand, or a re-roll that lets you change one of the drink dice. Each time you win a hand, you receive 2 golden “tip” tokens. The first player to get 5 tip tokens wins the game. With a 2-player game, we modified the tip rule for game win, increasing 5 coins to 10 to lengthen gameplay.
Another fun twist on the gameplay is betting with your tips in what is called a “Barista Challenge”. If you already have at least 1 token, you can bet it against any other player that you will have more correct ingredients than them at the end of the hand, even if you don’t win the hand. If you win the challenge, you get a tip coin. If you lose the challenge, you lose a tip coin.
One point of confusion in the gameplay is setting down matching ingredients. The instructions say that you can set your matched ingredients face down on the playing surface so you are only holding the unmatched ingredients in your hand. The cards that are set down are still considered to be part of your hand, though, so when another player gets a steal card, these cards would be the obvious targets to take. The instructions don’t specify if they can be taken or if they are safe. We chose before a few games not to lay down cards, so as to randomize success when the steal card is played.
The box has a molded insert that neatly and securely holds all of the game pieces, and is small enough to store on an average bookshelf. The large dice are easy to read and the cards are thick, coated, and seem to be highly durable for many years of fun gameplay. While the demitasse cup is the right size for a dopio espresso macchiato, it’s actually for shaking up the dice. Perfect for any coffee lover, Barista is fun, fast-paced, and educational for anyone who drinks coffee and never knows how to order their drink.
The game includes:
52 Playing Cards
4 Drink Order Dice
1 Tip Token Bag
20 Tip Tokens
1 Espresso Cup Shaker
The deck is made up of different coffee cards:
Drink — Cappuccino, Mocha or Latte
Size — Short, Tall or Grande
Milk — Nonfat, Breve or Soy
Shots — Single, Double or Triple
Wild — A wild card can represent any element of a specific drink order.
Roll — Player must re-roll one Drink Order Die.
Change — Player must change one Drink Order Die.
Take — Player must take one card from another barista.
Spill — Player can choose to spill one opponent’s drink.
Barista is distributed by Discovery Bay Games, and is available from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or one of Discovery Bay Games’ many other Retailers.