Fika Review

boardgamequest.com:

We review Fika, a two player card game published by 25th Century Games. In Fika, players are trying to earn the most points to win a best two out of three round structure.

Fika is a Swedish term that is often translated as “a coffee and cake break”. According to my googling about it, it’s an important part of Swedish culture. A time to stop and socialize… to pause your day. It’s as important to the Swedes as the Belgium techno anthem “Pump Up The Jam” is to musical history.

Today, we are going to look at a new card game for two players called Fika. You and your opponent are operating rival coffee houses trying to attract the most customers… I think. If this is truly what Fika is about, it’s actually kind of mean. But more on that later.

Fika is played out in a best-two-out-of-three series. In each round, players are dealt a hand of 6 cards. Every card has a suit (one of 3), a number (from 1-6), a special power you can activate when played, and a way it scores you points.

Each turn, players select one card from their hand and place it face down to be revealed simultaneously. The player with the higher number gets to place their card first. Cards are played into one of your 5 coffee shop locations. The special powers they grant will let you move cards around, swap cards from the market, or move groups that increase scoring.

After 5 cards have been played by both players, the round ends, and scoring cards are evaluated. Each card has its own scoring condition, and they range from having sequential cards in your shop, to cards with the same suit, to being near the coffee drinker group. Whoever has the most points wins the round. Win two rounds and you win the game.

The first thing you will notice about Fika is the amazing