I’ve been wanting to play this solo game for quite some time, but the physical box is too expensive for what the game offers. I was excited to see an app version!
Unfortunately, the app has several bugs. First, it offers you three ways to play 1x, 3x, and expert. The expert option is locked, but they give you no information on how to unlock it. I’m assuming that you have to complete the achievements. Secondly, the achievements aren’t always recognized. I’ve met the requirements for a few of them while playing, but they weren’t awarded. Third, when you place a flavor token in the right hand column for an effect, it locks you out of the left hand column (immediate effects).
In regards to design, the game has several user design issues. First, there are no prompts when playing that makes it difficult for a first time player to understand what to do. Secondly, the Roasting button is really hard to use. Your finger tends to cover up the options they show you when you start to drag it. There was plenty of room for them to just show 2 small buttons (roasting, roasting and cupping). Secondly, it’s a pain to constantly click on the coffee recipe to remember the flavor tokens and roasting level. They could easily identify these things on the main screen. Thirdly, when clicking to see what’s in the bag, your finger covers up the disk play making it hard to see the token counts. Fourthly, when playing the wild/joker token on a wild space it’s impossible to see the three token choices, let alone actually select the one you want. Fifthly, they ha ent updated the game to work on modern iPhones. The top of the screen is cut off by the phone’s speaker. Lastly, it’s sad that I can’t just select a coffee recipe and play with that. I’m assuming that’s part of the “expert” mode, but I may never know.
That said, I really like the game! I just wish the interface was more intuitive and less buggy.