Fika Review
28.09.2023 - 13:15
/ 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 art by the talented Beth Sobel. Her serene illustrations definitely take you into the mood of what Fika is supposed to be. That cup of mocha or slice of kladdkaka just begs you to slow down, relax and savor the moment.
However, once that moment of zen has passed, be prepared for some ruthless competition. In Fika, there are no friends. Many of the card’s special powers let you not only swap or arrange cards in your coffee shop, but in your opponents as well. So even your perfectly played hand can get dumped to zero points at the last minute by a single card play from your opponent.
And that’s the rub with Fika. It’s just too random and vicious of a game for me. The deck is only 18 cards, however, if you don’t get a hand of cards that work well together, you are going to be behind the proverbial 8 ball. If most of your scoring cards ask you to have 3 or 4 cards of the same suit, and you just don’t have that, there aren’t a ton of options to fix that. Sure there are cards that let you