Back of House

The love of card games led me to develop Back of House for my niece and nephew. Get em started young so they'll be unstoppable on game night. Spades is a little intense for a 3- and 6-year-old, so I came up with a game based on my decade of experience working in kitchens or various restaurant chains.

The game is simple. Cooks have to fill the orders that come up. Whoever complete most orders wins. If there's a tie, the cook with the most Tips wins. That's the game.

Shenanigans happen when players force each other to go on Break, and the Kitchen runs out of food. Other than that, it's a simple game to learn and a quick time killer for moments like waiting to order or waiting for your food. Time you'd otherwise spend doomscrolling.

To start the game, shuffle the kitchen deck and deal each player 5 - 7 cards, depending on the number of Cooks (players) in the Kitchen. Place 5 cards from the Order Deck face up in a row to create the Expo Line.

During a Cook's turn, they can play a Cuisine card on another cook. A Break will skip another cook for a round, Overtime prevents a cook from going on Break, and Trash resets a cook's hand. Cooks can also either draw three (3) cards from the Kitchen deck OR fill as many orders as their hand allows. At the end of their turn, the Cook will reveal another Order card on the Expo Line. If the Expo Line is full, cooks will BURN the oldest Order (the Order closest to the Kitchen Deck). There's no hand limit to this game.

The game ends when the kitchen runs out of food. At that time, whoever earned the most Revenue (prices on the Orders) is the Employee of the Shift AND whoever earned the most Tips (prices on Food) this the Customer's Favorite. Players can that earned the most in each are on track to becoming the Assistant Manager.

The game's quicker version ends when someone plays the fifth and final Break card. The players get one final round to complete Orders before tallying their scores.

• 44 Kitchen cards: Drink, Main, Side, and Dessert cards with values ranging from $1 - $5.
• 52 Order cards: a combination of Drink, Main, Side, and Dessert needed to win the card with values ranging from $1- $8.
• 11 Cuisine Cards: special abilities the Cooks can use on each other.

• The Value Menu is worth $1 - $2
• The Regular Menu is worth $2 - $3
• The Premium Menu is worth $3 - $5

• Revenue is on the Orders and is for the Restaurant.
• Tips are on the Food and for the Cooks.

I wasn't expecting to expand the menu this early, but the ravenous crowd has devoured my offerings. Here's what's on the menu if we make our goal.

At +$1000, we'll add BBQ to the menu.

At +$2000, we'll add French food. 

At +$4000, we'll expand the Asian Fusion menu with regional booster packs.

At +$6000, Chef will figure out how to write a cookbook, including all the food on the menu. Right now the recipes are simply "vibes".

• United States: $10 - $15
• Everywhere else: $30 - $40

• October 2025: Pre-launch page up and shared on socials
• May 7, 2026: Campaign Launches!
• May 21-24, 2026: Final push for backers at MomoCon
• May 2026: Campaign Ends! Pledges are charged. I receive project funds and begin securing rewards.
• July/August 2026: I receive rewards and start organizing orders. I send out orders in tiers by location. International orders first because they tend to take longer arrive. Domestic orders immediately after so everyone should receive their rewards by November