Order Overload from Oink Games is a memory game, pure and simple. It's a fully cooperative game for 2-6 players that's played over a maximum of seven rounds. Each round is incrementally tougher than the last, however, so tho' this game starts off super-easy good luck getting anywhere near level 7!
The premise is that you are all staff working in a cafe where you need to remember customers' orders. Everyone starts off with a smiley-faced token to represent them. Each round you draw order cards equal to the number of players multiplied by the round number, so in a four-player game you'll draw four cards on the first round, eight on the second, 12 on the third, and so on. One player reads out the orders on all of the cards then divvies the cards out face down to all the players. You look at the card(s) you're given but on your turn you must name an order item that's on a card held by another player. That represents fulfilling the order for that item, and you win the round when a set number of players have filled all the orders in their hand. If you call out an item that is not in another player's hand, you turn over your smiley-face token. This means you can no longer call out orders for the remainder of the round, tho' you can still fulfil orders in your hand correctly called out by other players.
Players all start with a single-use special card that they can play at any time. Variously these let them discard an order card from their hand (but not their last card) or have another player state the first or last letter on one of their order cards. We didn't find we got much help from the card that asked another player to name the last letter on one of their cards.
A common issue with cooperative games is that an 'alpha player' can take over, direct the game and reduce the other players to mere pawns. That's not something that can happen in this game: you succeed or fail as a team on everyone's mnemonic skills. Play the game a few times tho' and you'll find that people's memory seems to improve; or at least, their recognition and recall of the often subtly different items on the idiosyncratic Order Overload Cafe menu.
The rules include an option for playing a competitive version of the game but we haven't enjoyed that half as much: Order Overload is first and foremost a cooperative game.
Order Overload Cafe is actually one of a series of Order Overload games designed and illustrated by Jun Sasaki. Oink Games have also published Burgers, Insects and BoardGameGeek even lists a Spiel23 board game edition of Order Overload that was apparently only available at Oink's booth at the 2023 Spiel Essen, tho' the Board's Eye View team sadly didn't see it there. How did we miss it?!? If we eventually come by a copy we'll show it off here in 360º.
If you're a glutton for punishment you can combine two or more editions together; tho' if your memory skills are that well honed you'd be better off putting them to more profitable use by, for example, card counting at a casino. If you're a glutton for punishment you can combine two or more editions together; tho' if your memory skills are that well honed you'd be better off putting them to more profitable use by, for example, card counting at a casino.
Oink games, including Order Overload Cafe, are distributed in the UK by Hachette Boardgames.