Bartenders, grab your shakers, strainers, jiggers, and spoons! It’s close to last call and there’s still a line of patrons needing their drinks! Will it be a classic Gin Rickey or something with a modern twist like a Watermelon Mojito? Only time will tell but be prepared for your skills to be tested. One thing is for sure, however, you want to make sure you are the bartender going home with the most cash in hand at the end of the night! In On The Rocks, players take on the role of competing mixologists trying to fulfill recipes and earn the most money. In addition to making tips and slinging drinks, bartenders will need to keep an eye out for spills, customer complaints, and sabotage from their fellow contesting cocktail creators!
On The Rocks marks Michael and Christina Pittre’s debut as Pentree Games. Other than the female character art by Manny Trembly, all graphic design work and illustrations were done by Christina Pittre. Christina Pittre has also worked on the art for games such as Top Pop and LOTS: Filled In. This 1-4 player board game was crowdfunded on Kickstarter in 2019 and has since been picked up by 25th Century Games! In addition to a few upgrades, the Kickstarter campaign also added a promo pack with even more recipes. Many of these were provided by backers, but several, such as the Chai-tea-ni and Arson, were inspired by familiar board games! On The Rocks is a great collaboration from the Pittres and we hope to see more great concoctions from them in the future.
As is true when working behind an actual bar, there’s going to be some prep work for the shift. Ingredients will need to be organized by placing them all in the Shaker bag, the Coaster is set in the middle of the play area and surrounded by the empty Jigger Bowls, and the ice dice are set nearby. Three ingredients are drafted from the Shaker bag and placed into each of the Jigger Bowls. Any Spill or Premium marbles drawn during this stage are replaced and returned to the bag. Before the orders can start rolling in, the recipe cards should be sorted by type and respectively shuffled into their own face-down decks near the play area. The Tip Cards, Spill Cards, and bonus coins should also be placed nearby. Each bartender will need their bar book (a.k.a. player board) and their three lemon garnishes. Beginning with the bartender who most recently turned 21, players will choose three or four starting drinks to place face up in their bar area to begin mixing.
On The Rocks is played over three rounds – three rounds of drinks, that is! As players complete all of the drinks in their bar area, they move on to the next set of drinks. This means that players can be on different rounds at different points during the game. During their turn, bartenders will have the option to spend their hard-earned tip money for perks based on what Tip Cards they currently have stashed next to their board. Any complaints they have received must be resolved before any further actions are taken. Dice are then rolled and ingredients are drafted into the Jigger Bowls. Before any drafting of ingredients, should a player choose to, they may discard an ingredient per die from their drinks in progress to manipulate the dice roll and change the number of ingredients being drafted. The active player then selects a Jigger Bowl of their choice, collects the ingredients from it, and attempts to mix their drinks by placing the marbles onto the drink glasses per the recipe. If there are any remaining ingredients, the player may save up to three non-premium marbles on their Extra Ingredients Shelf. All other remaining marbles are discarded back into the Shaker bag. Like in real life, spills happen. If a chosen Jigger Bowl contains one or more black “Spill” marbles, the bartender will have to draw a card per black marble from the Spill deck. Spills must be resolved before more drinks can be completed by that player. Once all of a bartender’s drinks have been mixed, that player can finish their current round with a few closing steps. The first player to complete three rounds of drinks immediately triggers Last Call and the remaining bartenders will each have one more turn to wrap up any standing orders they have left.
Having spent my fair share of time bartending for work as well as for friends and family at home, I want to start by saying that the Pittre family did an amazing job emulating that experience. Bartending is fun (though sometimes stressful) and On The Rocks captures that element while providing some healthy competition and none of the real mess of spilled spirits! We really enjoyed working through the different recipes – some familiar and some not – and were even inspired to make and drink a few we’d never heard of before. On The Rocks is easy to pick up, set up, and learn. Though the theme is adult, we feel anyone could enjoy the unique mechanics as we haven’t found many games quite like it. We have played through several games now in person and online via Tabletop Simulator and On The Rocks will be served up at many game nights to come.
All photos of Pentree Games and 25th Century Games products were taken and edited by Krista.