10/21/2026 – Berkshire Gamers Session Report #26-42

23 at the UNO Park Community Center in North Adams, for both a request night and to finish honoring favorite authors – this time Stefan Dorra.
Welcome to Cady’s sister, Grace, on her guest appearance.
10/21/2026 @ UNO Park Community Center
IN: Steve & Sandy, Jason & Sarah, Kenneth & Rachel, Tony & Rachel, Stuart, Sean, Armando, Tim, Zach, Matt, Nicole, Julie, Reimi, Cady, Grace, Kelby, Carol, Sean K, Chris
ON OUR TABLES:
Honoring Stefan Dorra 
For Sale 2X (led by Zach) Stefan Dorra’s 1997 classic auction card game of Real Estate and Checks that resolves in 20-30 minutes. During the game’s two distinct phases, players first bid for several buildings then, after all buildings have been bought, sell the buildings for the greatest profit possible. The original Ravensburger/FX Schmid 5-player edition (1997/98 – which we played) has slightly 

different rules

 than later English editions (6-players) as the number of buildings expanded from the original 20 to 30. Rounding rules have changed with each edition but the author prefers rounding down (by agreement, we played rounding up). The game got a makeover in 2021 with an automobile theme and an optional extra round that introduces advisors to the mix. Most seem to conclude that the advisors add an unnecessary complication to an already classic, elegant opener or closer.

Tonga Bonga (led by K-ban) 1998 game where each player pilots a ship around a small group of islands with the goal of visiting four of the five remote islands and then returning to Tonga Bonga Bay. Winning the race does not win the game, however; what matters is having the most money. Each player has room for three sailors (represented by dice) on their ship, and at the start of a round, in order players decide how much money to offer the sailors who will serve as their captain and first mate that round. (The cabin boy always works for free.) Next, in order players roll their dice, then assign one die to each other ship — never their own! If you place a die with an equal or higher pip value on a ship where a die is already present, you bump that earlier die to a lesser role. One side of each die has a seasick sailor, who doesn’t go to sea that round, so not all ships will necessarily be full. Once all the dice have been placed, in order players move their ship, ideally reaching islands before others and leaving one of their tokens there. Whenever a player lands on an island, they receive $25 from the bank, but then must pay $5 to each player who landed there ahead of them. At the end of a round, players collect the wages next to the captain and first mate spots holding their dice. A player who has visited four islands can return to Tonga Bonga Bay, collecting $10 when they dock there. At the end of that round, the game ends, and whoever has the most money wins.
Sardegna (led by K-ban)  2024 revised edition of Stefan Dorra’s 2005 area majority and hand management game, Kreta. Players use 7 character cards to deploy and maneuver pieces, claiming influence across the island’s 16 provinces by placing ships, Priests, Villagers, villages and forts. Agricultural tokens harvested in each province can provide additional VPs. In each round, Victory Points are up for grabs for the two players with the most sway in the designated scoring location. Strategy is key because players only know the next two scoring locations at any time – so the timing of card play becomes crucial. Each player’s set of character cards has unique abilities and limitations, and every move can shift the fortunes of influence. Opponents will do their best to thwart opponent’s control, scoring zones can jump unexpectedly, and one’s provinces can lose their value in a flash! The Korean publisher, Playte Games, is using a very compact ingenious magnetic box design – their ‘L’ board box for their reprints of 20+ year old classic eurogames that also include ‘Tonga Bonga’ ,’Hellas’, ‘Liar’s Dice’ and ‘Big Shot’.
Request Games
Earth (led by Sean) 2023 tableau builder with simple rules and countless strategic possibilities. With its encyclopedic nature and a near-infinite number of tableau combinations, every single game will allow players to discover new synergies and connections, just as our vast and fascinating world allows us to do! Over thousands of years of evolution and adaptation the flora and fauna of this unique planet have grown and developed into amazing life forms, creating symbiotic ecosystems and habitats.

Players create a self-supporting engine of growth, expansion and supply where even their unused plants become compost for future growth. They use their cards to choose actions (which affect all players) and gain resources. The first player to complete their Tableau triggers the end of the game. The player with the most victory points wins.

Villagers (led by Tim)  2019 card drafting and engine-building game. Players recruit villagers and build their tableau each round, making tactical decisions to optimise production chains and earn points. There are many expansions in the box that need to be explored in future sessions.
Emberleaf (led by Matt) 2025 competitive card-dancing and tile-placement board game from Frank West, the author of Isle of Cats and Race to the Raft. As a brave Emberling, each player’s mission is to rebuild their home in the heart of an ancient forest. To succeed, players explore the wilderness, gather resources, clear dangerous areas, and construct new homes for their kin. Along the way, players will recruit heroes into their fellowship, each bringing unique skills that will help empower one’s team. But beware – space in the forest is limited, and other Emberlings have their own plans.

The game features:

  • Card Dancing: Place hero cards within a player’s moving grid to activate skills and enhance their fellowship. Slide cards to trigger powerful combinations and charge them at the perfect moment for even greater effects.
  • Tile Placement: Build vibrant villages to address the diverse needs of one’s villagers.
  • Engine Building: Recruit heroes to acquire new skills and empower your existing fellowship.
  • Resource Management: Navigate the forest, clear dangerous areas, and collect essential resources.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/426513/emberleaf

Bus & Stop (led by Sandy) 2024 Saachi card game in which players compete as bus drivers bringing passengers to their desired destinations, while avoiding overcrowding. On a turn, players either pick up or drop off. To pick up, a player chooses all of the passenger cards of one color from the row waiting at the bus stop, then seats them in their bus — that is, the area in front of them, which can hold at most ten cards. Senior citizens aren’t going far, so you score them immediately instead of placing them on the bus.

To drop off, choose a group of passengers on your bus that match one of the available destination cards and then remove these passengers and place them under the card. Players score points for each card depending on how many people you delivered at once. Whenever a player drops off, everyone else can make one of their matching passengers ‘skedaddle‘, removing them from the bus and placing them in a personal scoring pile with their senior citizens.

When the bus stop can’t be refilled with passengers or only a certain number of destination cards remain, the game ends. Players then tally their score, earning 1 point for each single card and the listed points for each destination card.

Power Grid: Korea (led by Zach)  2004 Friedemann Friede (he of the green hair) classic network building and auction game that has spawned several editions and many expansions. The objective is to supply the most cities with power when someone’s network gains a predetermined size. Players mark pre-existing routes between cities for connection, and then bid against each other to purchase the power plants that they use to power their cities. However, as plants are purchased, newer, more efficient plants become available, so by merely purchasing, you’re potentially allowing others access to superior equipment. Additionally, players must acquire the raw materials (coal, oil, garbage, and uranium) needed to power said plants (except for the ‘renewable’ wind farm/ solar plants, which require no fuel), making it a constant struggle to upgrade one’s plants for maximum efficiency while still retaining enough wealth to quickly expand one’s network to get the cheapest routes.
That’s Pretty Clever (led by Tony)  2018 dice drafting game  where players choose their dice cleverly to enter them into the matching colored areas on their score sheet, putting together tricky chain-scoring opportunities, and racking up the points! The dice a player doesn’t use are as important as those they do, because every die with a lower value than the chosen one can be used by the other players, keeping everyone in the game at all times.
Hummingbirds (led by Sean) 2026 real time memory game  where players guide their birds to claim flowers that hide sand timers, then reveal those timers to check for nectar. If the sand timer has run out, collect a nectar token of the same color. The longer you wait, the sweeter the reward! But be careful: if the sand timer is still ticking when a player checks, they’ll lose one of their lowest-value nectar tokens.   
Twinkle Twinkle (led by Tim) 2025 tile-laying game where players fill their star chart with clear plastic tiles, trying to connect constellations, build belts of asteroids, collect comets, pick up planets, and study them with satellites. Take care with those pesky black holes – unless one has a perfect spot for them.

Constellations, asteroids, comets, planets, and black holes all score differently! The 10 modular scoring conditions in the box, allow for mixing and matching for 32 different setups. Whoever finds their highest score in the stars wins.

The game features an optional scoring app that allows you to point your phone at the board and watch it magically tally up your points!

Fairy Tale (led by Zach) 2004 card game where players use card drafting and simultaneous action selection to score points while interfering with other players’ ability to do so. The game consists of four rounds. In each of them, players are dealt five cards. They simultaneously select one each and pass the remainder, repeating until done. Then, they start playing cards simultaneously, playing three and discarding two. When the cards are revealed after each selection, card abilities turn other cards face-up or face-down. At the end of the four rounds there are 12 cards in front of each player. The players each score based on their face-up cards.
 
The Gang (group led) 2024 co-operative version of Texas Hold’em where players bet on how good they think their hand of cards will be relative to the other players, then try to make their predictions a reality. Early in a round, without talking to each other, each player chooses a chip indicating how good they think their hand is. Then they begin dealing cards into the middle of the table and have a chance to reassess their hands as more cards are revealed. At the end of the round, players see whether they correctly evaluated their hand. If all players did, you get to open one of the bank vaults! If not, you trip the alarm! If you manage to open three vaults before you trip the alarm three times, your gang wins!
Steve

23 at the UNO Park Community Center in North Adams, for both a request night and to finish honoring favorite authors – this time Stefan Dorra. Welcome to Cady’s sister, Grace, on her guest appearance. 10/21/2026 @ UNO Park Community Center IN: Steve & Sandy, Jason & Sarah, Kenneth & Rachel, Tony & Rachel, Stuart, Sean,…

23 at the UNO Park Community Center in North Adams, for both a request night and to finish honoring favorite authors – this time Stefan Dorra. Welcome to Cady’s sister, Grace, on her guest appearance. 10/21/2026 @ UNO Park Community Center IN: Steve & Sandy, Jason & Sarah, Kenneth & Rachel, Tony & Rachel, Stuart, Sean,…

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