In Tokyo there is a coffee shop where you can enjoy your drink and maybe a snack while hanging out with some capybaras. As you probably already know, capybaras are large South American rodents well-known for their chill vibe, making them an excellent companion to relax with at a coffee shop. Well, the capybaras found out about this place and decided they needed their own Café, where capybara can get their own cup of Joe or maybe some tea and a snack while they work on their novel.
Café Baras is published by Kids Table Board Games and designed by Roberta Taylor with art from Cindy Monroy. It plays 2-4 players in 20-40 minutes.
In Café Baras you get to play as one of these aspiring entrepreneurs trying to set up the best café to meet the needs of your capybara clientele. Because really, how many capybara cafés does one town really need? To do this you are going to need to expand your menu offerings and populate your café with charming decor, comfy furniture, and even bring in some local entertainment to liven up the place and attract customers. If you do a good enough job, you will even bring in the coveted “regular customer” that can make or break a new establishment.
Café Baras is a 2-4 player competitive game that uses set collection and order fulfillment as the game’s main mechanisms, using dual use cards that contain menu items and decor / entertainment options as well as the orders that prospective customers are looking to buy. You start the game with the ability to sell a cup of coffee and a little bit of seed money. You take turns adding a card from your hand to your café’s tableau or serving a customer with the offerings you already have. If you find a customer who really loves a particular sweet, snack, or beverage, they will buy every one that you have. If you have everything they want AND their favorite style of decor, they will become a regular at your café, earning you extra game end points. Attract 3 of them (4 in a 2 player game) and this will trigger the end game.
You get points for your leftover cash, café cards that have either fixed value or other set collection bonuses (like a point for each unique type of tea), and your regulars. Finally, big points await the aspiring shop owner that can attract one or more special guests that may be looking for something special in their favorite café, like a shop with 2 different entertainment options or 2 very specific menu items.
Once players get their rhythm, the turns go quickly and so the advertised 30 min playtime is about right, though it will scale up a little with more players. You may need to account for the extra time players will take checking out the cute capybara art. Since the game components are a stack of cards and some coin chits, this game could be repackaged into a smaller box, like the photo cases from John Purdue’s Boardgame Barrio project or tossed into a Quiver. If you like coffee shops, love capybaras, or need a quick, cute family-weight game, you should check out KTBG’s Café Baras!
Thank you to Jason E. for this guest review! Jason enjoys playing board games with his friends and family and is a good friend to channel. We appreciate your insights!
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