12/18/2024 – Berkshire Gamers Session Report #24-51
-
- 13
23 for our final 2024 session at the UNO Community Center for a request night and to honor games that BGG users have rated as 8.0+
There will be NO SESSIONS on Christmas Day nor on New Year’s Day. Enjoy the time off celebrating the holidays with family and friends. We will resume with sessions on Wednesday January 8 (Sean will lead) with the theme being – games you received over the holidays. Our January 15 session will feature games received from our holiday prize table.
Thanks to all our table leaders and members for making 2024 our best year ever. We will publish a statistical summary of group attendance, table leaders and games played by year’s end. Thanks Sean for compiling our stats.
12/18/2024 @ UNO Community Center
IN: Steve & Sandy, Sean & Wendy, Tony & Rachel, Tim & Khalid, Edward & Tim, Armando, Matt, Chris, Quinn, Amy, Landon & Leo, Anna, Julie, Reimi, Nicole, Rob, Danny
ON OUR TABLES:
8.0+ Games
Heat: Pedal to the Metal (led by Sean)
2022 car racing game that uses deck building and push-your-luck in a unique combination to simulate the stress of a Grand Prix race. Our sextet raced on the Italy course. Once all are re-familiarized with this very hot game we would like to add the advanced features for customizing one’s racecar as well as exploring the other tracks and expansions.
Scythe (led by Matt) 2016 engine-building game set in a 1920s era, alternate-history where each player controls one of five factions of Eastern Europe, all of which are attempting to earn their fortunes and claim their stakes in the land around the mysterious Factory. Players conquer territory, enlist new recruits, reap resources, gain villagers, build structures, and activate monstrous mechs.
Request Games
Die Mauer – the Wall (led by K-ban) 1997 German simultaneous action selection and bluffing game where each player has a matching set of pieces, Walls, a Tower and a Gate, and tries to clear their hand first. Each turn, one player is Master Builder, and all players secretly choose a piece in their fist. When revealed, if the Master Builder chose uniquely, that piece is added to the wall, but if any player chose the exact match, they get to build instead.
Walls can go next to anything, but Towers or Gates may only sit next to walls.
Players have the option of an empty fist too. If the Master Builder is the only empty fist, a free selection from remaining inventory is chosen. If one other player had an empty fist, they secretly convey a piece of their choice to the Master Builder. If more than one empty fist matches the Master Builder’s choice, no-one builds.
Play continues with the next player being the Master Builder until somebody clears their hand. Pieces held lose 15 points for Towers, 10 for Gates and the # of turrets on each remaining wall piece. Low score wins after a set number of rounds. We played 3 rounds 6-handed to much laughter.
https://boardgamegeek.com/
Fika (led by Rob) 2022 Swedish two-player card game where players are street café owners trying to outearn their competitor, by skillfully arranging the cards in their own café and manipulating those of their opponent, so that they can be the first to win two rounds.
Middle Ages 3x (led by Armando 2x, K-ban) 2024 set collection and drafting game played over 16 rounds that reimagines Mark Andre’s (Splendor) “Majesty: For the Realm”, using the drafting system that was popularized in KingDomino and interlocking tiles instead of cards. Players draft fields, farms, villages, forts, markets, barracks, churches, and palaces. Each tile features its own scoring system as well as income, yet is linked to others. Players can see available rows of tiles to draft, as well as events 3 turns ahead.
Rebirth (led by Tim) 2024 Reiner Knizia tile laying game with a double-sided mapboard (for both Scotland and Ireland). Each turn, players draw a tile from their supply and place it strategically on the board. These tiles represent your clan’s contribution to rebuilding the land. The game rewards strategic foresight and clever tactical play, with tougher decisions emerging over the course of a relatively short game that tends to elicit repeat plays. Points are scored for chains of food farms & energy farms, residences, castles controlled, as well as private goals achieved through cathedrals.
TransAmerica (led by Sean) 2001 game of route building that comfortably handles up to 6 due to lightning quick turns to connect one’s 5 cities before the other players. We still haven’t added the ‘Vexation’ expansion that adds 3 player colored tracks for sole use of that player… to add to the tension. There was a sequel, the 2005 TransEuropa edition, set on a map of Europe and adding ferries to the mix.
7 Wonders Architects (led by Tim) 2021 stand-alone addition to the 7 Wonders family. Instead of pick, pass and play, cards are drafted from decks situated between you and your two neighbors. Up to 7 players receive an unconstructed Wonder at the beginning of the game and must collect resources to build their society, develop military might to navigate conflicts, oversee resource management, research science improvements, and collect civil victory points as they race to leave their mark on world history.
PalastGefluster (led by Armando) 2007 single deck card game where a player’s goal is to play six different character cards to their tableau, while other players are trying to get them to bust, as playing a duplicate character card gives everyone else at the table a point. Each character card has an ability to exchange cards with the deck or other players, or return cards to their hand. A hidden gem. The Japanese import edition was used.
Sushi Go (led by Rachel) 2015 Phil Walker-Harding closed drafting game where players pick a sushi card and add it to their tableau and pass the rest to their neighbor….rinse, lather and repeat until all cards dealt are played. Each type of Sushi scores differently. Great introduction to this genre’ especially as it leads to 7 Wonders and Isle of Cats.
Happy Holidays and a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous 2025 for all our Berkshire Gamers
Steve
23 for our final 2024 session at the UNO Community Center for a request night and to honor games that BGG users have rated as 8.0+ There will be NO SESSIONS on Christmas Day nor on New Year’s Day. Enjoy the time off celebrating the holidays with family and friends. We will resume with sessions…
23 for our final 2024 session at the UNO Community Center for a request night and to honor games that BGG users have rated as 8.0+ There will be NO SESSIONS on Christmas Day nor on New Year’s Day. Enjoy the time off celebrating the holidays with family and friends. We will resume with sessions…