Play coffee shop
The Queen of Cups's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| How clear & compelling is the game's central idea? | #1 | 5.000 | 5.000 |
| How elegant, useful, and intuitive are the game's mechanics? | #1 | 4.400 | 4.400 |
| How cohesively designed do you think the game is overall? | #1 | 4.800 | 4.800 |
Ranked from 5 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Judge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous and shown in a random order.
- Barista therapists for magical creatures are the sorts of heros everyone needs more of. Focusing on kindness, routine, and making sure people get a warm scone is a great relief. I especially find the storytelling possibilities lovely, and this game's deliberate and natural focus on safety. Including a debrief at the end of a game is common in LARPs, and adding it to a tabletop is a welcome sight. The card mechanics are intuitive and flexible. Sometimes Tarot games can have too much of a focus on the preconceived notions that the players have about the cards. Instead, this game does a wonderful job recontextualizing the deck into the world of a coffee shop. I love this game.
- I thought this game was absolutely delightful, in just about every regard. I'm not overly familiar with tarot, but I found the use of the tarot deck and the simple fact that you'll likely be seeing the same cards again (certainly, over a long enough time period) , makes the fantasy of running a coffeeshop and encountering regulars, and becoming a real part of a community really come alive. The way character creation perfectly entwines characters into this mix (by representing them on cards as well) is also super interesting and evocative! Plus, there are really great guidelines for running scenes and ending the game session. Finally, I thought the principles were a really awesome addition to the game, and great for making the themes shine through.
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Comments
Well done, reminds me of some halcyon times. I especially like how there is no pressure to actually resolve any of the customers' problems, and the collaborative supportive nature of the whole thing.
High cozy quotient.
The premise of this game is nice, the way it plays the mundane and fantastical off each other seems like it can achieve something that might not be there in either a purely mundane or purely fantasy game. The way that the scenes play out seems to lean a little more toward the freeform than is my personal taste, but I can see how people would enjoy the "everybody grooving to the same vibe" style of play.
I absolutely LOVE this game! The theme is adorable, and it comes through very well in the mechanics and description. I am definitely bringing this game to every convention I go to as a pick up game.
I'm really happy that the Tarot mechanics blend nicely into the rest of the rules. The Tarot enhances the feeling of the rest of the game instead of feeling tacked on.
The only criticism I have is that the Queen of Cups session-end mechanic seems hard to use. I don't see any time where I would want the game to randomly end short, and I would much rather the Queen of Cups be kept out of the rest of the deck and the table can decide when they want to end. I would only ever use the optional "You may search the deck for the Queen of Cups, with your group’s consent, anytime you would like to call an end to the session." That just feels more appropriate for the laid-back feel of the rest of the game.
Overall I'm super excited to try this game out and would love to see this filled out into a full fledged game.