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Seize the Bean

Game ID: GID0281093
Collection Status
Description

You are a successful barista, so successful that's it's gone to your head, making you think you can run a coffee business better than your boss. In order to prove your skills to the world, you've quit your job to open your own café in the beautiful city of Berlin. The only problem is that all your friends — who are also successful baristas – did the same thing, too!

In Seize the Bean, players compete to be the best new café in Berlin. Reputation in both Berlin (in real life) and the game is earned from people — all the diverse customers you'll serve. You start only with your family and friends, and you have to prioritize your limited actions each turn to attract customers, upgrade your café's decor, expand your product line, and restock your resources in order to get the most reputation of all.

Before you can take actions each turn, you also have to serve a line of thirsty customers with various drink demands. As you serve them, customers offer special skills to manipulate your line, the city, or even other players. But make sure you have enough stock on hand or customers may get impatient and start leaving you bad reviews which could doom your shop. Keep them happy and you may be able to form combos with customers, upgrades and products, earning in-game reputation points (good reviews) from a central "city" pool. Be fast because once this pool of reputation is gone, the endgame is triggered, allowing everyone only a final serve step to see how well their engine works!

Year Published
2021
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 3
This page: 3
Sentiment: pos 1 · mix 1 · neu 1 · neg 0
Mentions per page
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Showing 1–3 of 3
Video qDW92bXKY-w Actual Lowell general_discussion at 8:43 sentiment: positive
video_pk 6935 · mention_pk 20540
Video thumbnail
Click to watch at 8:43
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • clever Undo-style time manipulation
  • participatory storytelling with strong theme
Cons
  • part of a larger Undo line; standalone familiarity may vary
  • narrative focus may feel light on mechanics
Thematic elements
  • coffeehouse/beans with an Undo twist
  • time-loop style narrative (Undo series)
  • story-driven sequence of events with undo-style reversals
Comparison games
  • Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • story-based decisions — players influence the storyline and outcomes through cards and events
  • time-travel narrative puzzle — undo-style mechanism where players revisit events to alter outcomes
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • it's a pro Chabal strategy game that feels very different to anything I've played
  • the Berlin map on the other side is a great bonus
  • it's a cooperative word building game where you can't see your own letters
  • it's a murder deduction game
  • it's very simple in terms of rules but it has twists
  • I can't wait to play this one again properly when it comes out
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 9uQXmbWSNmo Played Right rules teach at 0:00 sentiment: neutral
video_pk 6483 · mention_pk 19200
Video thumbnail
Click to watch at 0:00
Overall sentiment (raw)
neutral
Pros
  • Clear setup demonstration
  • Rich component design with thematic flavor
  • Multiple viable strategies via upgrades and customers
  • Engaging action economy through city actions
Cons
  • Rules and iconography can be dense
  • Long setup and teach-in for new players
  • Balance and teaching may vary with player count
Thematic elements
  • Competitive cafe management and customer satisfaction
  • Urban cafe scene in a modern city
  • simulation with competitive scoring via reviews
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • action selection — On each day you choose one of six actions by marking your player board with a meatball token, resolving actions in order.
  • City actions and upgrading — Acquire customers, products, and upgrades via city actions to enhance your engine.
  • End-game scoring and awards — End game triggers and scoring based on reviews, group icons, and various awards.
  • Hype and customer flow — Hype determines daily customer intake; customers provide good or bad reviews depending on your performance.
  • Product stocking and pantry formation — Form a pantry from photo cards; stock products to unlock effects on your actions.
  • Resource and stock management — Track resources (coffee beans, milk, sugar, etc.) and manage product and upgrade cards, forming a pantry.
  • Word-of-mouth and patience tokens — Word-of-mouth draws new customers matching your visible group icon; patience/impatience tokens track sentiment.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • you are in direct competition with them in order to win
  • you need to gather the most good reviews for your coffee place
  • the player with the most points wins the game
  • thank you guys for watching and I hope you enjoyed the game
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video uYNVXp6Q-PA Board Game Co general_discussion at 4:52 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 3114 · mention_pk 9104
Video thumbnail
Click to watch at 4:52
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
  • Charming rules
  • Rules read and learned
Cons
  • Very long time since learned
  • Never played
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • I know the games I play. I know the games I love to play. And I know the games that I theoretically want to play but don't actually play.
  • I need at least one of those two things in play - either high personal interest or good reputation
  • Designers, reviewers, other people mentioned
  • I'm going to be trying to be more mindful about reality as opposed to the desires that I have
  • These tend to be less of a priority. Like occasionally I dive into an unplayed game that isn't a review copy, but more often than not if I'm diving into an unplayed game, review copies do take precedence
  • I have so many euros I love and so many that I'm behind on
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
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