A charming game about tea

 Since I have been a tea drinker most of my life (don’t worry, I drink plenty of coffee too) and a fan of Scott Almes’ Simply Solo series, you would think that A Nice Cuppa would be a slam dunk for me. And you’d be right.

A Nice Cuppa would is about going through the motions of making a cup of tea. Selecting a tea, picking out a favorite mug, steeping, actually drinking the tea, things like that. However, you also have to deal with worries, things like work, politics or finances.

The core idea of the game is getting the seven tea cards in order. One of the most basic soliatire ideas out there. Which is okay. Lost Cities taught me long ago that fundamental mechanics are a powerful building block.

The interesting part comes from the worry cards. There are ten of them but you will only use seven of them in each game. You randomly lay out the seven tea cards and then put seven facedown worry cards beneath them. Each turn, you flip one over. So you have seven turns to get your tea in order.

Worry cards do two things. First, they cause the card above them to flip. Focused cards become distracted, distracted cards become focused. Second and more importantly, each has instructions to rearrange to tea cards. They must be followed AND you have to do them in order.

That said, if a worry card is under a focused tea card at the end of the turn, it goes away. And they are worth negative points at the end so it’s good to get rid of them.

I’ll also say that not all worry cards are made alike. Commute allows you to swap two tea cards not next to each other. Finances lets you move a pair anywhere in the line. Those are very useful for rearranging the cards. Politics, on the other hand, has you pick a pair and put them on opposite ends of the line. That can mess up your plans so badly that I understand some play testers had a house rule consisting of removing Politics.

Worry cards are a double-edged sword. They penalize you at the end of the game and they can completely throw a monkey wrench in your plan. However, they are also your best tool for actually getting tea cards in order.

A Nice Cuppa reminds me a lot of the earlier Simply Solo game Fishing Lessons. Both games involve flipping cards and have elements of programmed movement. (A Nice Cuppa admittedly limits your control over the programming) However, Fishing Lessons is, at least for me, more complicated. A Nice Cuppa feels more intuitive and relaxing.

I also have to admit that the Simply Solo game that came before A Nice Cuppa, The Last Lighthouse, wasn’t enjoyable for me. A Nice Cuppa being fun and relaxing for me was a nice return to form.

I feel the theme works well with the mechanics. I appreciate the helpful nature of tea and how life can get in the way. A Nice Cuppa is not just a good game, it’s a charming one.