Alberto Casarrubios
Spain
Madrid
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I think this game deserves an English-language review (even a crappy english like mine
 ), so there it goes:
Theme
Players compete for being the first to arrive to the first floor of the office building with the most coffee still in their cup, so to be able to have a full coffee break.
In fact, it's just an excuse, but it's fun to have a racing game with an opriginal theme instead of another formula-1 one...
Mechanics
Cafe race is a fast racing game that uses a roll-and-move mechanic with a twist: the movement rolls (d6) for all players are made at a time and then players bid to use the rolls. There's no money in café race, so what players bid is the coffee in their cups or, more accurately, the risk of losing part of it.
How is it played? The bidding is made with a d6, with the bid on its upper face. When bids are showed, the player who bid most takes the highest roll, followed by the others in bid order. Once a player makes his movement, he has to roll on 2d6 equal or higher than his movement plus his bid, or lose a coffee marker (there are 6 of these, and if you lose all of them you return to the start).
The turn when a player reaches the end of the stairs, the games end and players figure out their scores. A player gets points based on their final position and the coffee markers they have left.
There are some exceptions as 'safe places' where you don't have to roll for coffee, blocking and tie-breakers that add the little spice each game needs to be more than just a couple of mechanics pulled together.
Overall impressions
This game isn't going to be the main event of a gaming afternoon, but it doesn't try to, either. On the other hand, it's a great filler that combines many mechanics (bluffing, blind-guessing, push-your-luck) and plays fast (less than 15 minutes). A perfect alternative to For Sale, Cartagena or King me!.
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Surya Van Lierde is pure Eurosnoot and proud of it!
Belgium
Gijzegem
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I liked thisone too, allthough it clearly works better with more players. With 3 players the chances of stairs getting blocked resulting in more spilling by some other people are quite slim.
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Francisco Franco Garea
Spain
Barcelona
Cataluña
Café Race is a race game set in a business office. The players take the role of office workers going upstairs to the first floor to get a cup of coffee who then improvise a race while they are going back downstairs… with a cup full of coffee.
I translate games from English and German to Spanish for Devir and LEGO.
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Yes, you are right. I think that the game it's best with 4 or 5 players.
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With 3 players, with house rules, all can cath two characters is funny and more strategic. Now, in mi house, we like to play better with 3 players and 2 characters for player than with 6 players
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