Coffee Traders: A Heavy Roast with Donkeys, Piggybacking, and More

Coffee Traders is big, heavy, new release from publisher Capstone Games and designers André Spil and Rolf Sagel, the duo behind the heavy, economic, oil business game Wildcatters. Wildcatters was originally released in 2013 from Dutch publisher RASS Games with a new-and-improved second edition released in 2018 from Capstone Games. In Wildcatters, players are oil barons who develop oil fields, bid for oil rights, and build rigs, oil tankers, trains, and refineries, competing to deliver more oil barrels, and collect more shares and money than their opponents.

In Coffee Traders, Spil and Sagel continue with their heavy, business-driven, player interaction-filled design formula, but this time in a completely different setting with a refreshing, unique theme focused on fair trade coffee organizations. After playing multiple games of Coffee Traders with a review copy provided by the publisher, I wanted to share some initial impressions and insight on what you can expect.

In Coffee Traders, each player represents a coffee trading company from Antwerp, Belgium in the 1970s. While the game was originally designed for 3-5 players, after the demand for two-player games skyrocketed due to the pandemic, Spil and Sagel created a special two-player variant while the game was in production, with this variant being included in the game.

Your goal in Coffee Traders is to help farmers from different parts of the world partner with cooperatives, to hire contractors to construct buildings that will help improve their communities, and to have traders in Antwerp import as much coffee as possible to meet the demand. To become the world's best coffee trader and win the game, you need to have the most victory points (VPs) at the end of the game. VPs can be earned in several different ways, and in some respects Coffee Traders can feel like a point-salad game, although it's definitely not a full-on, "main course" point salad — it's more like a point "side" salad. It's also worth mentioning that all points are scored at the end of the game; there is no VP track on the board.

Table set up for a four-player game

Coffee Traders is a beautiful table hog and quite a beast to set up, especially if you tackle it on your own. There are tons of components to familiarize yourself with initially, but they're all well-labeled in the rulebook and the quality is top notch across the board — the wooden pieces, metal coins, game board, and player boards are all great. Plus, there's definitely a wow factor when it's all set up.

Inside the rulebook

The box cover, game board, and player boards are all gorgeous and well-illustrated kudos to Daan van Paridon and John Rabou. Just about everything oozes vintage coffee trading vibes. When you open the box cover, it feels like you're opening a crate of coffee beans. The rulebook, title "The Coffee Trading Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to the Industry", even has this worn-out look and feel with coffee-themed flair and realistic-looking coffee stains on various pages that will sometimes make you think you actually spilled coffee on it. I appreciate these thoughtful, thematic touches sprinkled throughout Coffee Traders.

Example of Colombia and Ethiopia cooperatives mid-game

Looking at the game board, there's no denying there is a lot going on. Fortunately, everything is well-organized and the graphic design is on point. The main part of the game board features five color-coordinated cooperatives — Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Guatemala, and Brazil — where most of the action takes place. Each cooperative also has an associated shape icon to make it clearer for players when differentiating colors is an issue. A chunk of your victory points can be earned from the area-majority scoring of the cooperatives at the end of the game.

Each cooperative has a town center that starts the game with six (tan/neutral) workers which players will place on plantations in order to harvest coffee. There are also spaces in each cooperative for plantations and constructed buildings.

Arabica track

On the right side of the board, you'll find the Arabica track, with a track for each cooperative. These are your standard euro tracks akin to what you find in Terra Mystica and Tzolk'in. There are a couple different ways to bump on these tracks during the game to gain benefits. The tracks are identical regardless of which cooperative, and they are structured so that there are advantages to focusing on a track or two and beating your opponents to the top, and alternatively, there are also benefits if you decide to diversify and work your way up all of the tracks.

On the left side of the board are coffee bars from around the world, where you can sell coffee during the contract phase. There's also an area for the three randomly0selected milestones, which you'll be racing your opponents to achieve. I find it very interesting how differently the game plays out depending on which milestones are in play.

At the beginning of the game, players place buildings, plantations, workers, and starting resources on their player boards. The player boards are awesome, and they help make set-up and the flow of the game a breeze. In addition, each player also randomly receives contracts for each letter A through E, which are placed on their player boards. Based on the number on the E contract tile, they also receive the corresponding F contract tile. Players use their F contract tile to determine which types of coffee they start with in their warehouse, in addition to where their three starting plantations should be placed in the various cooperatives. After everything is set up on the game board and all players have their player boards geared up, you begin the game.

Player board set-up for a game

Coffee Traders is played over three periods (rounds), and each period has six phases:
---• Phase 1 (Work) - Players perform actions on their coffee plantations.
---• Phase 2 (Workers) - Players send their workers to plantations.
---• Phase 3 (Trader & Contractor) - Players send traders to Antwerp and hire contractors to construct buildings.
---• Phase 4 (Harvest) - Players harvest coffee from plantations and deliver to fair trade posts and traders.
---• Phase 5 (Contract) - Players fulfill contracts and deliver coffee to coffee bars around the world.
---• Phase 6 (Refresh) - Players perform end of round clean-up.

One thing I appreciate about Coffee Traders is that each phase is spelled out on your player board with excellent iconography so you can progress through each game round simply following your player board from left to right. After you play the game once, or perhaps even after your first round if you're an iconography wizard, you barely have to refer to the rulebook. This is very impressive and incredibly handy for a heavier game with so much going on.

Phase 1: Work Phase

Each round begins with the Work phase where, in turn order, you either perform a cooperative action or pass. You have four different actions from which to choose, and any of the actions can be performed multiple times. You can add a plantation to a cooperative, send workers to plantations, breed a donkey, or get income. Each time you take an action, you track it by placing a wooden cube on your player board marking the corresponding action. Your company has three action cubes, but you also have a bonus supply that includes an additional action cube you may choose to use.

Left half of the player board

With the first action, you can add a plantation to any of the cooperatives by taking the leftmost plantation from any row on your player board and placing it on an open plantation space in the cooperative of your choice. On your player board you have level 1, 2, and 3 plantations that correlate to the quality of the coffee they'll produce, and essentially give you influence for end-game area-majority scoring.

When placing a plantation on the game board, there are a few things to consider. First, each cooperative has three rows with a varying number of spaces allotted for plantations. You can build level-1 plantations only on the first row, level-1 or -2 plantations on the middle row, and level-2 or -3 plantations on the highest row. In order to add a plantation to the middle (1/2) or highest (2/3) row, you need a connection to your existing plantation(s) in lower rows using donkeys and pathways, or you need to have a truck. You start the game with one donkey in your company supply, and additional donkeys are hard to get. Trucks are even harder to get, but they are powerful considering they can save you the effort of needing a donkey connection (three total donkeys!) to your initial plantation on the first row in order to place a plantation on the highest row.

Some plantations have a cost (coins) and/or bonus (donkeys, workers, civet cats, Arabica track advancements) associated with placing them which is noted on your player board. In addition, if you are placing a plantation in a cooperative where you currently have no plantations, you also need to add a worker from your worker pool into the cooperative's town center.

When you add a plantation to the middle (1/2) or highest (2/3) row, you also get to bump on the Arabica track for the corresponding cooperative. Plus, the first two players to add a plantation to the highest row also get an animal or wild animal token as a bonus. These tokens allow you to bump on the corresponding Arabica track and the tokens themselves are added to a track on the right side of your player board which can lead to VPs at the end of the game.

With the second action, you place workers from the town center of a cooperative of your choice onto one of each player's plantations. As a bonus, if you add a worker to at least one of your opponents' plantations from taking this action, you immediately advance one space on the corresponding Arabica track. There is a penalty in phase 2 if any of your plantations do not have a worker on them and you start the game with only two workers in your worker pool. Therefore, this action is something you'll likely do to help yourself out, but with the bonus Arabica track bump factored in when also helping your opponents, it makes it even more enticing. Sometimes you might even perform this action in a cooperative where you don't need a worker on any of your plantations to specifically bump on a particular track.

Breeding a donkey is the third, and most expensive, action you can choose. To breed a donkey, you have to spend two action cubes, instead of one like all the other actions, then you take a donkey from your personal supply (not your company supply) and immediately place it on an available pathway in a cooperative above one of your previously-placed plantations. Breeding a donkey is a very expensive action in a game where it feels like you never have enough actions or resources, but it can be essential at times considering donkeys are so important for getting more of your plantations out onto the game board, yet so difficult to get into your company supply.

The last action, income, is simple, yet also very often necessary. You have two options when it comes to gaining income: either place a civet cat from your personal supply in Sumatra on the game board, or take two coins from the general supply and place them in your company supply. Money is pretty tight in Coffee Traders, so it's always helpful to have extra coins on hand. Each of your civet cats in Sumatra will give you 1 Kopi Luwak (wild) coffee during the Harvest phase, which is very helpful when you fulfill contracts and deliver coffee to coffee bars in the Contract phase.

Once all players have passed, it's time to start phase 2.

Phase 2: Workers Phase

The Workers phase is usually pretty quick, and the goal is to make sure all of your plantations have a worker on them; otherwise you'll get hit with a penalty which increases each round.

First, all players may simultaneously place workers from their worker pool onto their own empty plantations in any cooperative. Then, in player order, players can optionally place workers on other players' plantations if all of their own plantations have a worker. If you do place a worker on another player's plantation you advance one step on the corresponding Arabica track as a bonus as mentioned in the Work phase above. I love that Coffee Traders incentivizes you to help your opponents with this bonus. It always seems to stir up interesting conversations around the table and can lead to some light, unofficial negotiations.

Indonesia cooperative with workers on each plantation

Each player starts the game with two workers in their worker pool and once they're gone, it can be rough since it's not easy to get more of them. So while there might be a rush to add a bunch of plantations, you have to make sure you have a way to get workers on them, either from your worker pool, by taking the "send works to harvest" action in the Work phase, or by making nice with your opponents and getting their help.

At the end of this phase, for each of your plantations without a worker, you have to pay any combination of one coin or one step backwards on the Arabica of your choice. The amount paid per plantation is equal to the current round number, e.g., in round 2, the penalty is two coins/steps backwards on Arabica track(s) per plantation without a worker.

Phase 3: Trader & Contractor Phase

In phase 3, in turn order, each player can perform one of three different trader/contractor actions on their turn or pass. Unlike most phases, if you pass, you can still choose to perform an action on a future turn during this phase. This phase will continue until all players have passed in succession.

Each cooperative has an Antwerp trading house section and as an action during this phase, you can pay two coins and place one of your traders on the first trader position in a cooperative of your choice that doesn't already have traders. You want to place traders into the Antwerp trading house so that your traders receive coffee in the Harvest phase.

Cooperative w/ two traders in Antwerp Trading House

and three constructed buildings

As the active player, after placing your trader, you get a stock counter, which generates coffee income in the Refresh phase and may even help you build a warehouse in the Harvest phase. Then all other players may choose to follow your trader action without paying for it. This happens in player order from the current active player. If a player decides to follow (piggyback) your trader action, they place one of their traders in the next available trader position. However, the number of trader positions is one less than the number of players, so not all players will actually be able to piggyback and place a trader. If all players but one end up piggybacking, the player who is not present in the trading house gets a coin as a consolation prize.

As an action in the Trader & Contractor phase, you can also pay two coins to hire a contractor to construct a building. On your player board, you have warehouses, various stations (washing, drying, and sorting), fair trade posts, and a hospital. Warehouses are built in the warehouse section of your player board, while the other types of buildings are constructed on the game board in a cooperative of your choice.

Each type of building has an associated icon that dictates which spaces it can be built on in each cooperative. When placing a building in a cooperative, you gain bonuses listed on your player board and some of the cooperative spaces also allow you to bump on the corresponding Arabica track. Similar to placing traders, this action can also be piggybacked, but not quite for free. The active player pays two coins and any players who choose to piggyback have to give the active player a coffee of their choice. In addition, they have to place their building in the same area as the active player. Although when the active player constructs a building in a cooperative, the piggybacking players can place whichever type of building they choose.

The last action available is to pay two coins and remove one trader permanently from the game for two Arabica track advancements. Other players cannot piggyback this particular action.

Players start the game with three traders (four in a three-player game), and it never feels like enough for what you want to do considering you have to use a trader for all three of the actions above in addition to every time you piggyback another player's action. You can't do everything, so you have to be strategic when choosing how and when to use your traders. Thankfully, you do have an extra trader available in your bonus supply that you may be able to leverage in this phase.

I also mentioned the bonus supply in phase 1 above, so let me give a bit more context on that. Each player starts the game with a bonus supply that includes one action cube, one trader, and three coins. Each round you may freely choose to use two of these three bonus items. As an example, you could use your extra action cube in phase 1 and then use your extra trader in phase 3, but then you cannot use the three coins. Alternatively, if you use your extra action cube and the three coins, you lose access to your extra trader. There is some flexibility here, though. In the last example, if you were able to put three coins back into your bonus supply from your company supply, you then would gain access to use your extra trader.

One caveat with using the three coins from your bonus supply is that they must be paid back to your bonus supply at the end of the round or you'll lose victory points, so while the action cube and trader are true bonuses with no strings attached, the three coins are more of a temporary loan. The bonus supply is always a huge help and having the flexibility of different options really helps open up an interesting decision space as you formulate your strategy each round.

Once all players have passed or run out of traders, it's time to harvest some coffee.

Phase 4: Harvest Phase

In the Harvest phase, the workers on all plantations harvest coffee and deliver it to fair trade posts and traders. Each plantation with a worker harvests two coffees for the corresponding cooperative, then the coffee gets distributed as follows: first to fair trade posts, then to the first trader, and the rest is divvied up to amongst the traders.

For example, when harvesting in the Colombia cooperative in the photo on the right, 14 coffees will be harvested since seven plantations each have a worker. There are no fair trade posts built and Green is the first trader in Antwerp, so Green would get one coffee for being the first trader, and there would be 13 coffees left to distribute to all the traders starting with Green. Green would get five total for being the first trader and the others would get three coffees from this harvest. Remember, in the previous phase you have to pay two coins to snag the first trader spot, while others were able to piggyback for free, so it's only fair that you get more coffee from the harvest.

The more you understand how the game works, the more strategic and deep phase 3 can get when you're trying to balance your available traders and your money, and gauge what your opponents might do in preparation for the Harvest phase. If you leave a cooperative open and run out traders to piggyback, you might let some of your opponents get a ton of coffee to themselves.

However, there is a five-coffee limit when distributing to the remaining traders, so in the example above, if Green was the only trader in the Colombia cooperative, they wouldn't walk away with 14 coffees; they would get only six total: one for the first trader bonus, then another five max because of the limit. It would still be a pretty beefy turn especially if they managed to score six coffees and none of their opponents got any from that particular cooperative.

When you gain coffee from harvesting, adjust the appropriate cube in your warehouse on your player board. You repeat this harvesting and distribution process at each of the cooperatives that has fair trade posts and/or traders in Antwerp; otherwise the harvested coffee is wasted. Then each player with at least four coffees in all five of their warehouses immediately receives a civet cat, which is placed in Sumatra. Finally, each player receives one Kopi Luwak (wild) coffee for each of their civet cats in Sumatra, then the cats are returned to each player's personal supply.

Now that you presumably have your warehouse stocked with coffee, it's time to deliver it, make some money, and gain additional benefits.

Phase 5: Contract Phase

In the Contract phase, players perform actions in reverse turn order to fulfill a contract or make a delivery to a coffee bar. In either case, you spend the matching type of coffee and receive some benefit(s). Alternatively, you can pass and move your turn order marker to the unoccupied space closest to the "1" space. This gives the last player in turn order a good chance of improving their turn order position for the next round.

Right half of the player board

When you fulfill a contract, spend the matching coffees and remove the contract from the game, taking the corresponding money and bonuses noted on your player board. You also get to take the top Arabica counter (if available) from the contract bonus area that matches the letter of the delivered contract which allows you to advance on the matching Arabica track. These tokens will also be added to the far right side of your player board for potential points at the end of the game.

Coffee bars

When you deliver to coffee bars, pick an open space, spend the matching coffee, then place one of your coffee bean scoring markers on the corresponding space. Then take the coin bonus listed on the space, and if you deliver to the final spot on each track, you also get to take the animal counter, which will give you a bump on the corresponding Arabica track.

When delivering to coffee bars, you can make a second delivery the same way. If you choose not to make a second delivery in the same turn, you must immediately pass and move your turn order marker.

Many of the spaces on the coffee bar tracks are also worth points. Plus, there's a mini area-control game happening in each column. At the end of the game, the player with the most coffee bean scoring markers on each track gains 4 VPS, and the player with the second-most gains 2 VPs. If your opponents are neglecting the coffee bars, it's a great opportunity for you to swoop in and stack up some points — but the bonuses you get from fulfilling contracts are especially juicy. For example, when you fulfill your contract E, you get four coins and you can get a free build action or a truck! That particular contract is also worth 9 points at the end of the game. Then if you complete both contracts in a given row, you also gain access to another bonus.

I'll also note that at any point during your turn, you can spend Kopi Luwak coffee as any type of coffee, you can trade any combination of coffee for one type of coffee using your current trade value (4:1, 3:1, or 2:1), or you can purchase coffee, so as you're earning money from fulfilling contracts and delivering to coffee bars, you can spend money and do trades to get what you need to hopefully get more contracts fulfilled and deliver more coffee to the coffee bars. Of course, if it's not round 3, you might want to hang on to some money for the next round.

Turn order is really important in Coffee Traders, so sometimes even if you do have more coffee and/or money on hand, it might be better to pass and get a better turn order position for the next round. Also, you have to consider timing when fulfilling contracts versus delivering to coffee bars. The coffee bar spaces can get filled up quickly, so sometimes it's better to prioritize them over fulfilling contracts.

It'll also depend on the milestones that you're playing with. One game I played, we had a milestone to make a deliver of value 2+ to all six coffee bars, so most players hit the coffee bars hard, racing to snag points for that milestone. On my most recent game, there was a milestone to deliver all six contracts, so most players prioritized contracts over coffee bar deliveries. It would be interesting to play a game with both those milestones in play at the same time and see how things pan out.

Phase 6: Refresh Phase

After all players have passed in the Contract phase, there are some end of the round clean-up steps you'll perform, mainly to prep for the next round, including returning your traders/contractors and action cubes to the appropriate areas on your player board, adjusting your coffee storage based on your available warehouses, receiving coffee for any stock counters you have, and refilling your bonus supply. Remember, if you took three coins from your bonus supply, you now have to return them from your company supply. For each coin you can't refill, you have to take a -3 VP token, then you'll take the coins from the general supply.

If it's not the third round, start the next round by circling back to the Work phase; otherwise, proceed with end game scoring.

End Game Scoring

Milestones

Coffee Traders includes a handy dandy score pad for tallying up VPs at the end of the game. First, you score for area majority in each of the five cooperatives. To do this, at one cooperative at a time, determine each player's total quality value based on plantations and buildings, then award 16/8/4 points for first/second/third highest quality value, respectively.

Then you score points for items (i.e., workers, donkeys, trucks) in your company supply, the topmost covered VP space on your counter track, points from the Arabica tracks, fulfilled milestones and contracts, coffee bar deliveries and majorities, and points for plantations and buildings constructed. The player with the most victory points wins.

As you can see, there are a lot of different ways to score points in Coffee Traders. While the area-majority scoring in the cooperatives initially feels like the main way to get points, it usually ends up making up less than half your total score from what I've seen so far. There are many directions you can go strategically to rack up points.

It's also worth noting that because of all the ways you can score points, it's hard to tell who's winning and where you stand point-wise in the midst of the game. It doesn't necessarily bother me, though. I think it just pushes to me focus more on simply trying to do the best I can each game. Plus, I find that the mystery makes it pretty exciting when you're tallying up points at the end of the game.

My first game of Coffee Traders was a bit bumpy since we were all new players. I think it was a result of it being a heavy game and also a game that feels different from other games I've played, but there are also a few unclear rules in the rulebook that caused confusion. There aren't a ton of videos available on the game yet, at least at the time I learned it. Thankfully, the BGG forums came to the rescue and clarified things.

After I had the first game under my belt, my future games went much, much smoother from a teaching perspective, and I also played much better from having more experience with the game. This is not meant to scare anyone off from trying Coffee Traders; it's meant solely to set your expectations.

That all being said, I thoroughly enjoyed all of my games of Coffee Traders! There are some really hooky elements such as getting rewarded for placing workers on your opponents' plantations and having the opportunity to save your money and piggyback on other players' actions. With the piggybacking, I found it important to pay attention to what other players were doing and keep a close eye on how many traders they have left to see if you can take an action that they won't be able to piggyback on. Or heck, maybe you want to construct a building in a desirable cooperative in hopes that most players will want to piggyback and they'll have to give you some coffee.

Coffee Traders often feels like a very challenging puzzle because you need to make sure you have the right resources at the right time; donkeys, money, and traders are always tight, so you have to plan and set yourself up for success. This is something that's hard to fully grasp until you play the game once, and then the more you play, the better you'll get at it.

I love the player interaction in Coffee Traders, and the fun conversations that stem from it. Especially in the first round, players need to take the "send workers to harvest" or they'll be penalized in the Workers phase and also harvest less coffee in the Harvest phase. It's nice that you get to bump on the Arabica track if you help your opponents, but you also have to spend a precious action cube to do it. Maybe it's better to wait and see if someone else takes care of it? Or if you do, make sure everyone knows so you can badger them for a favor later.

Each game also plays out a bit differently depending on how your opponents play and which milestones are out. You will constantly want to be the first player to do everything, which really keeps you engaged. Most often this happens with milestones, but it also happens with the Arabica tracks since there is a space on each track where only the first player there gets a bonus donkey, and only the first player to the top gets an extra 4 VPs. You will also want to get one of your plantations on the highest level in various cooperatives since there are bonus tokens, but not everyone can get one. There are so many things you'll feel like you're racing for, and I dig the pressure and tension it adds to the mix.

There are also some opportunities to be a bit mean, if that's your thing. With your plantations needing to be connected by donkeys, if positioned right, you can completely block your opponents out of a plantation row by placing your donkey on a pathway before them. This is even more incentive to get yourself a truck and leave the donkeys behind.

The Harvest and the Contract phases are both very satisfying. Whenever we were going through the process of figuring out how much coffee each cooperative generated, then distributing the coffee to players in the Harvest phase, it felt like we were winning a coffee lottery. Then in the Contract phase, you get to cash in on all the coffee you just stocked up and get money and a bunch of awesome bonuses. With the scarcity of the spaces on the coffee bars, the different bonuses you can unlock with contracts, and knowing when to pass for a better turn order position, the Contract phase is chock full of tough decisions.

Speaking of bonuses, with the Arabica tracks and all the various ways you can bump on them in addition to contract, building and plantation bonuses, you can set yourself up for some sweet combo opportunities. I feel like each game I played, I had an "Ooo, watch this!" moment by doing something that allowed me to bump on a track or something to receive some bonus that gave me the coin or trader or donkey that I needed to do something else.

All of my games were about 2.5-3 hours with four or five players. If I had to pick a favorite player count between those two, I'd say five simply because the board gets tighter resulting in more tension. My four-player games were great, too. I haven't had a chance to play it with two or three players, so I can't comment on those player counts, but the included two-player variant sounds interesting as it adds André the bot as a third AI opponent. The additional rules for playing with André the bot are minimal, too, which is always nice, so you don't need to constantly have your head in the rulebook.

Beyond its unique theme and cute donkeys, Coffee Traders is a big, beautiful beast that has a lot of interesting things going on that makes it feels different. If you're a fan of heavier games with player interaction, you might want to give this one a whirl.