Who doesn’t like a nice cup of boba tea? The sweetness of the tea, the chewiness of the tapioca and you can have it (mostly) however you want. But have you tried making it yourself? Yes? Well have you tried challenging your friends to see who can make 2 cups the fastest? Well now you can!

Welcome to Boba Master from Quokka Games, one of the PAX AUS 2023 Indie Showcase winners. So if you’re looking to brew up some fun, then pour over our Boba Master review for some positivi-tea.

Boba Master Review – Humble Beginnings

As I mentioned before, Boba Master is by Quokka Games, but this isn’t their first rodeo. In fact, this is their 4th! Starting out in 2021, brothers Jono and Ando came up with the idea for their first tabletop game Carry On due to the fact they missed traveling because of the pandemic. And from there, the rest is history.

They then went on to make Dirty Laundry, Yum Cha (keep an eye out for our upcoming review!) and now we have their fourth (and hopefully not final) game, Boba Master. Each game is easy to pick up, enjoy and spend some quali-tea time with friends and family. 

Boba Master Review – How to Play

Boba Master is quite simple really and doesn’t take oolong time to master. First off, grab some friends to play with, Boba Master can be played with 2-10 players. If you have less than 6, everyone picks 2 tea cards to build, or if there’s more than 5 players, everyone just chooses one.

The aim of the game is to make your own boba first. To do this, you need to pick up and play tool cards that move you from step to step. You can’t skip any steps otherwise you won’t have proper tea! Here’s the kicker though, you don’t play with cards from your own hand. Everyone starts the game with a card in their hand and the rest face down in the middle of the table.

The person who bought boba last goes first and then they can choose to either take a card from someone else’s hand, or the top of the deck. The card is then revealed to the table, used if possible and then put back in your hand so everyone will know what you’ve got. By taking someone else’s cards it’s a little more Old Maid rather than Go Fish as you’re not asking, just taking.

I wasn’t kidding about it being in the instructions.

As it goes around the table you have to chai to finish your boba first – first player to finish both cups wins. Just be careful, as while there are tools in the deck, there are also actions. These cards can force a player’s boba back a step, cause you to swap hands or even reverse the direction of play.

Just as a word of warning, and this comes from the instructions, picking on a single person IS allowed so go for gold on that but a person can shuffle their hand at any time so good luck at remembering where that step card you need is.

Boba Master Review – Playing and Art

While I did say that the game is quite easy to pick up, depending on your luck, the game can take a little bit. I played with 4 friends and we played a single round for almost an hour because we couldn’t pick up the right steps we needed at the time. That being said, I definitely enjoyed the time I had playing.

Banana for scale. The internet standard.

Part of the fun of Boba Master is its vibrant and charming the artwork. The art on the cards is so cute with little faces on the cups. You can tell so matcha love went into designing the cards! On top of that, all of these fun cards are packed in such a small box. You can literally almost fit into your pocket!

Boba Master Review – Conclusion

There isn’t much else to say really. Boba Master is a lovely, quaint game that you can easily enjoy with friends and family. The rules aren’t complicated, there’s no complex math involved, it’s just a fun game about making tea. So don’t steep on this one. Grab some friends and get brewing on your next game night. I promise you’ll be sa-tea-sfied with Boba Master.

So, why should you brew up Boba Master for your next game night?

• You like a quick game but you’re fine if it goes longer
• You like the element of luck in games
• You’re more than happy with some tea-riffic puns

But why should you steep on this one?

• You prefer games with more strategy
• You can’t handle the puns

A big thank you to Quokka games for sending us a copy for the purpose of our Boba Master review. You can find it for sale here if you want to get your hands on this unbeli-bubble game! Be sure to check out our tabletop reviews for more content and join the Qualbert Discord to chat with us about new games!