Page 29 - Spielbox Special 2023 – EN

Little cups of fine ingredients: That’s Coffee Rush.
exactly how much comes in. With three or four players, I receive a new card for each drink prepared by the two competitors sit- ting in front of me. That may sometimes be none at all, but if things go awry, there may well be four or five, setting the café on fire.
Thanks to four upgrade tiles, the guests’ ever-growing coffee thirst can be met slightly easier, but it all remains tricky. It’s impossible to satisfy everyone. A player receiving five negative customer ratings triggers the end of the game; alternatively the draw pile runs out. Ko-
rea Boardgames is planning an inter- national campaign on the board ga- ming market (see the interview with Leon Scheuber on the next page), and with Coffee Rush they have an ex- tremely attractively
designed and thematically consistent title that is likely to attract huge atten- tion for its components alone. Plus, it was also a pleasure to play in our first rounds. The game is supposed to be available in 2024. (ab/cs)
KTosmos (6C300)
he Stuttgart company’s collaboration with Spanish publisher Devir contin- ues this year. After The Red Cathedral by designer couple Shei S. and Isra C., their follow-up work The White Castle
is now also published by Kosmos. Up to four players have a little more than an hour to ascend the social ladder of the Daimyo’s court. That’s not exactly much: In the three rounds of a game, each play- er only gets three turns.
When the time has come, you first take a die from one of the three bridges at the edge of the board and place it on an ac- tion space, which may cost money or—if the number on the die is higher—earn you some. The action space can be on your own family tableau or on the board, where you can visit the castle of the title, the area outside the walls or the well. In addition, the color of the die determines what actions can be taken in the castle. Since the spaces in the castle are filled with different action cards in each game, you need to look carefully.
With the actions, you send warriors from your own tableau to the training ground, gardeners to the garden, and courtiers to the castle to ascend social- ly. The higher the level they reach in the
Hall 5 A107
Advertorial
Long Live the Richness of Colors!
Games that are easy to understand and at the same time exciting for families, beginners and casual play- ers are the specialty of the Swiss publisher Game Division, with a branch in Bavaria. However, the entertaining titles also delight frequent players—what’s fun transcends all pigeonholes.
In March, Game Division launched VIVA, a colorful card game in which cards have to be placed in three different houses as quickly as possible. Motifs may only land on
top of each other if at least one color matches. Unlike poker, the player is not looking for a “full house”, but for
a “VIVA”, consisting of at least one of the same colors in all three houses. Players completing it are allowed to give additional cards to their opponents, thus prolonging their paths to victory.
A special stratagem is a blocking card; it forbids everyone to deposit certain colors in the houses. Moreover, it’s advisable to avoid or provoke templates for a VIVA, depending on the game situation. Whoever doesn’t have a suitable card in stock has to draw one from the pile. In the end, the winner is the best tactician who places the last card with a matching suit on the blocking card. In Essen, VIVA can be played at Game Division’s booth A 107 in Hall 5. There will also be a prize draw for all visitors.
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