Café Global

In this cooperative strategy game, players take on the roles of four food industry companies that have joined forces under the name Café Global to create the world’s largest coffee house network. However, they face a serious challenge — the aggressive rival Espresso Mundo, which is expanding relentlessly across the globe. In a six-year competition, Café Global players win if the company gains greater worldwide market presence and popularity than the competition.

Each year in the game consists of two phases: a base round, in which every Café Global player takes a turn, followed by a response round simulating the actions of the rival Espresso Mundo, involving a degree of randomness.
On their turns, players create their own card tableau representing their current team of workforce, and use the team’s capabilities to produce and transport goods or expand by investing in new plantations and workforce – a vital part of successful operation. Players must also carry out coordinated market analysis and promotion, directly influencing Café Global’s market presence and popularity. From time to time, engaging in high-risk dealings might be worthwhile, but such actions undermine the joint venture's risk rating and could even lead to its downfall.

The success of the consortium ultimately depends on the jointly built coffee house network. The chances of winning are never fully predictable, but the game’s difficulty level can be adjusted from ultra-easy to ultra-hard by varying the composition of the card decks.