Cryptid Cafe
Designed by: Lennon and Chip Cole
Illustrated by: Chip Cole
Produced by: Squatchy Games
Players: 1-5
Age: 13+ (though I think 8+ could play)
Play Time: 45 minutes
Overview:
TLDR: Cryptid Cafe is a fun and accessible worker placement, set collection game that the whole family can enjoy.
Overview: In Cryptid Cafe you, and up to four other players, are working in a restaurant competing to earn the most tips by the end of the night. Over the course of the game you'll take orders, serve customers and short cut in the kitchen line to earn as much money as possible. The game is played over 4 rounds: sending servers, sharing tips and collecting food, serving customers and clean up. Tips are earned by serving customers and lost by not serving them. Who ever has the most tips at the end of the night wins the game.
Main Mechanics:
Worker placement
Set collection
Components Review: What I received from Squatchy Games was very much a prototype (which is expected pre-production), but the art is very much polished and everything has a clear, defined direction for production. I have to start by gushing about the art... I love it. It's just fantastic. The cryptids are all wonderful and diverse, though the jackalope is obviously the best! #ibelieve As for the board, the main kraken kitchen board is large and uniquely shaped, with spaces clearly defined, which can also be said about player boards, which gives the game great table presence. The tokens will be your standard punch tokens with a deluxe wooden option. And probably the best part, the meeples will be bigfoot meeples (or 5 different cryptids for deluxe)! I'm really excited by the components of the game and can't wait to see them realized.
P.S. The deluxe copy is only $10 more, so you might as well upgrade! Go check out the Kickstarter page, which is live as of writing this!
Gameplay Review:
Multiplayer Review: Cryptid Cafe is a simple, light, and enjoyable game. It's also a great family games, simple enough to work with young players but with some depth for older players. So far we've only played 3-player games, but they've given us a good taste for the game. The majority of the strategy for me was in phase 1 when you send out your servers to collect food for your customers. Here you have to decide what food each of your three workers will collect, as well as how much and whether or not you'll be cut in line. This could become really thinky if you're the type to analyze everyone's cards and ingredients, but could also be avoided by playing with that info hidden. The rest of the round is pretty straight forward: collecting food, serving customers and taking new orders. Overall, a solid game!
Solo review: The solo variant of Cryptid Cafe is still a work in progress, though it does capture much of the feeling of a multiplayer game. In the solo variant you play against AI players, with a die deciding where they move and how they skip in line. The AI doesn't serve customers but instead scores points every time you skip in line and for any customers that walk out on you. I enjoyed the solo variant but would welcome a harder experience. I talked with Chip, and they are still playtesting and balancing the solo, which is understandable.
Final Thoughts:
I really enjoyed getting to preview Cryptid Cafe. On top of that, my wife liked it, which says something because we have a different taste in games. As stated in the TLDR, Cryptid Cafe is a game that the whole family can enjoy. It is simple and light, but fun and captures the feeling of trying to serve customers on a time limit (though not as strict a timer as a game like Overcooked or Kitchen Rush). I love the restaurant and cryptid theming and can't way to see the final product!
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