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Café del Gatto
2023
Rules assistance for Café del Gatto
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–5 players
- 30 min
- 8+
- Complexity 1.6/5
For 2 players
Rules assistant for Café del Gatto
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Café del Gatto is a board game released in 2023 for 2–5 players, 30 minutes per game, and ages 8 and up. It was designed by Lena Burkhardt and Julia Wagner and its main mechanics are Open Drafting.
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About the game
In Café del Gatto, you want to serve valuable drinks to customers, but you're competing against other baristas for coffee and milk, so making drinks will be tricky! To set up, each player takes five glass tiles that require 1-4 "shots" to complete. Place the 36 coffee/milk tiles in the bag, then draw five tiles to fill the milk side of the espresso machine, then five tiles to fill the coffee side. Each double-sided coffee/milk tile has a value from 1-4 as well as a symbol for cold, hot, or foamy. Each player starts with 4-5 coins. Place completed drink tiles in the center of the playing area; each drink (cappuccino, latte macchiato, etc.) has tiles of varying values. On a turn, take one of three actions: Take 2 coins from the bank. Buy a tile from the espresso machine, with the cost of the tile being equal to the adjacent tile on the opposite side of the machine. If you're buying a milk tile, for example, the cost is the value on the adjacent coffee tile. Tiles in the top two rows have a 1-2 coin surcharge. Place the tile in the lowest empty matching space on one of your drink tiles, then draw a tile from the bag to refill the machine. If you buy a 1 tile, it comes with a bonus sugar cube. Serve one or more completed drinks. For each glass tile that has all its spots filled, first gain coins from the bank, earning more coins if the drink has fewer symbols in it. (Mixing cold and hot tiles isn't good!) Next, take a completed drink tile of the same type that has a value equal to or less than the sum of the tiles, gaining coins to make up the difference. You can raise the value of a drink by 1 for each sugar cube spent. At the start of your turn, you can spend 2 coins to flush one side of the espresso machine, then refill it. As soon as a player has served all five types of drinks, complete the round, then sum the value of your completed drink tiles, with each pair of sugar cubes counting as 1 point. Whoever has the most points wins, with coin serving as a tiebreaker.
Questions and answers
Café del Gatto supports 2–5 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Café del Gatto is 30 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Café del Gatto for ages 8 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Café del Gatto has a complexity rating of 1.6 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Café del Gatto belongs to these categories: Animals. Its main mechanics are Open Drafting. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Café del Gatto are: Lena Burkhardt and Julia Wagner. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Café del Gatto as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.