Just Desserts

About this board game

Just Desserts is a card game for 2–5 players that takes about 25 minutes, challenging you to become the best waiter by satisfying hungry guests at a café.

Each player begins with three dessert cards, while three guest cards are placed in the center of the table. Dessert cards show one to three tastes, such as chocolate, fruit, or pastry. Guest cards reveal both what each guest craves and what they refuse to eat, making every serving a matter of careful matching.

On your turn, draw a dessert card, add a guest to the table, and choose one action. You can serve and claim one or two guests by discarding desserts that satisfy their requests without including anything they reject. Serving a guest their favorite item earns you a tip in the form of an extra dessert card.

• Draw: Take one additional dessert card.
• Dump: Discard as many dessert cards as you want, then draw the same number from the deck.
• Serve: Use your desserts to satisfy one or two guests and add them to your collection.

At the end of your turn, guests are discarded until only one guest of each suit remains waiting. The guest on top of the discard pile can still be claimed by any waiter, keeping recently departed customers in play.

In Just Desserts, the first player to serve three guests of the same suit or five guests of different suits wins. Included variants add further interaction, allowing players to steal guests by offering more sweets, make other waiters give up a guest, or hold a surprise party to claim a guest out of turn.