Barrage is pretty damned good. And definitely one i'm keeping in the collection, although i think i definitely enjoy Gaia project more for a similar brain ache. Also, Beaver Tycoon is a hill i will die on. :)
Barrage is the first heavy euro I ever bought, and it's a treat. It's deep while being accessible, the water moving around the board is a really nice mechanic since it allows you to manipulate other people's productions. It's also one of the most cut-throat games I've ever played, placing a dam exactly above your opponent, snatching that conduit or re-routing the water. It's a great game, my only grip are the components: the boards felt cheap and was already initially damaged a little and reading around online it seems to be a common problem.
NOW I’ve seen your alternative theme (and Scotland won, what an evening?!). I agree that would have been an ace theme, especially with all the Root/Everdell love.
Great review, I've been wanting to play this for a while now. I bought this game because of the theme! I just liked how it looked :) Also I heard plenty of good things about it. Glad you added to that.
Barrage resonates with scythe, both mechanically and thematically. The scenery and time frame it’s an alternate 1920s With energy tycoons using Tesla technology and mechs as machineries to extract hydroelectric energy from the French Alps after the Great War. Sounds familiar? It’s like the continuation of Scythe’s The Rise of Fenris. It’s also a “manage resources” game like Scythe. Even the color palette of the game is similar to Scythe. The game even address the number of automa enemies issue from Scythe, by including many automa adversaries. Many people, including myself, argued that Scythe lacked more automa decks to simulate a multiplayer game. I’m pretty sure that the designers of Barrage are hard core fans of Scythe, and they did a great job in this one.
Interesting, Scythe was not in my mind when i played it. Gaia project/Terra Mystica for the scoring system, Power Grid for the placement of generators and networks, and worker placement was the mix i saw. Interesting comment
Barrage is the only Kickstarter that I have ever backed 'all-in'. It's a really, really great game, so good that after taking it to my Friday night 'heavy euro' games club, they voted to buy a copy for the club in the next games buying round. But...The Kickstarter was in 2019 and it took me until the autumn 2020 to have a complete, fully playable copy of my game. The KS campaign for this was a complete disaster and I would never go near another Cranio KS campaign again. I've not played Terra Mystica or Gaia Project yet and now, sadly, my brain is too fried and I am too ill to learn them. Maybe one day? Same goes really for trying out the 5 player expansion board for Barrage and the other expansion. I have three Barrage boxes sat stacked on top of my Kallax staring at me :-) Have to wait until I can meet up with four other people who aren't family too, of course!
BEAVER TYCOON! But yeah, take something like everdell, that could have been about a farming village in the south of france, but they decided cute critters would work so much better
I typically dislike when politics are brought up on nonpolitical channels but this was well done without not attacking any particular group. Good job! On that note, ever try to play a board game with someone who disagrees with you politically and simply won't drop it? It can be pretty annoying but funny sometimes. Though that did create a funny scenario once during a game of "7 Wonders". Another player was spouting off about how me, as a (certain political leaning), was unfit to run a country. I looked down and countered "You mean with all of my culture and money over here? Oh look, my military crushed yours... again. Now pass me that point token." Oh, another funny story with him: I decided to bring those knuckleheads with my family to an escape room. To be honest, I just thought it would be amusing to watch them crumble under pressure. So, yeah, he was whining because "She is unlocking all of the locks!" Yeah, because my daughter is smarter and was able to figure out the puzzles faster than him (a grown man) so she gets to open the locks. He whined that she should give him the answers but... yeeeeah, we don't play like that. She had none of it. She told him "If you want to open a lock then maybe you should figure out a puzzle! We are supposed to be getting out of here by solving them and I'm doing more than you! I'm only seven!" I wish they would have let me bring my phone into record that. I bet that company kept the video... a small child surpassing a grown man intellectually and then mocking his failures as he whined in a pretty princess room. Absolutely hilarious.
@@RandomPerson-nd2ey I like your response. It made me think it was called A Game of Thrones for a reason and I should try to work out why. I often am struck by how politicians seem to have no self-awareness of what role they're supposed to be playing when they're on the board of Westminster. The Prime Minister thinks he's the Dungeon Master but he's really one of the monsters from The Mansions of Madness v2. Rules is rules. You can't play dominoes with a pack of cards or jenga blocks.
Trust me, without the music in these vids, the whole flow is wrecked. I try to pan it back pretty far in the mix. Did you have headphones on? That can sometimes make it worse
This was my favourite euro from 2020 and I think it married theme and mechanics better than most other euros I’ve played. I really enjoyed the theme, but J is right that Beaver Tycoon would be even better.
Barrage is pretty damned good. And definitely one i'm keeping in the collection, although i think i definitely enjoy Gaia project more for a similar brain ache. Also, Beaver Tycoon is a hill i will die on. :)
Definitely feel if I had a choice I'd pick Gaia every time. Same itch but one just feels so damn good when you give it a good scratch.
Yeah, and that's not a knock on Barrage. Gaia project is just really that good :)
@@3MBG Agreed
Me too, when I saw it, man, love at first sight 🤣. Amazing game.
I play Gaia Project every time I'm allowed to
And can i just say, i am super pleased with the lighting effect showing the power moving from the Dam through the conduit to the power station.
👏👏👏
Barrage is the first heavy euro I ever bought, and it's a treat. It's deep while being accessible, the water moving around the board is a really nice mechanic since it allows you to manipulate other people's productions. It's also one of the most cut-throat games I've ever played, placing a dam exactly above your opponent, snatching that conduit or re-routing the water. It's a great game, my only grip are the components: the boards felt cheap and was already initially damaged a little and reading around online it seems to be a common problem.
The board was deliberately made that way i suspect so they could market the expansion board in a box.
Wow! This gives a great run down of the rules despite the time limit. Love the recommendations at the end too!
Great video. I have no idea what's going on, but you explained it pretty well.
Beaver Tycoon is now my favourite game, thanks for the suggestion.
Great euro, with a lot of indirect interactions. Added recently to my collection and heck, what a fun game!
Awesome review! Barrage is one of my absolute favorite games. Highly interactive but feels less punishing than Food Chain Magnate.
NOW I’ve seen your alternative theme (and Scotland won, what an evening?!). I agree that would have been an ace theme, especially with all the Root/Everdell love.
I had an idea for a dam based game years ago, my prototype was called "Those Dam beavers!". So the idea has stuck. And yeah, could be super cute.
Great review, I've been wanting to play this for a while now.
I bought this game because of the theme! I just liked how it looked :)
Also I heard plenty of good things about it. Glad you added to that.
Barrage resonates with scythe, both mechanically and thematically. The scenery and time frame it’s an alternate 1920s With energy tycoons using Tesla technology and mechs as machineries to extract hydroelectric energy from the French Alps after the Great War. Sounds familiar? It’s like the continuation of Scythe’s The Rise of Fenris. It’s also a “manage resources” game like Scythe. Even the color palette of the game is similar to Scythe. The game even address the number of automa enemies issue from Scythe, by including many automa adversaries. Many people, including myself, argued that Scythe lacked more automa decks to simulate a multiplayer game. I’m pretty sure that the designers of Barrage are hard core fans of Scythe, and they did a great job in this one.
Interesting, Scythe was not in my mind when i played it. Gaia project/Terra Mystica for the scoring system, Power Grid for the placement of generators and networks, and worker placement was the mix i saw. Interesting comment
i love your reviews.
Maybe you can get the second edition to be called Beaver Tycoon. This looks like a game I'd like to try.
Barrage is the only Kickstarter that I have ever backed 'all-in'. It's a really, really great game, so good that after taking it to my Friday night 'heavy euro' games club, they voted to buy a copy for the club in the next games buying round. But...The Kickstarter was in 2019 and it took me until the autumn 2020 to have a complete, fully playable copy of my game. The KS campaign for this was a complete disaster and I would never go near another Cranio KS campaign again.
I've not played Terra Mystica or Gaia Project yet and now, sadly, my brain is too fried and I am too ill to learn them. Maybe one day? Same goes really for trying out the 5 player expansion board for Barrage and the other expansion. I have three Barrage boxes sat stacked on top of my Kallax staring at me :-) Have to wait until I can meet up with four other people who aren't family too, of course!
Im surprisedfhis didnt make GMG! And i also think if it got reprinted they must use Beaver Tycoon
Beaver Tycoon! Lol, love it.
I'd play that reskin so much.
Power Grid sat in its box for nearly ten years because of its theme. Is it really that hard to make an interestingly themed euro game?
BEAVER TYCOON!
But yeah, take something like everdell, that could have been about a farming village in the south of france, but they decided cute critters would work so much better
It doesn't seem like a game I would enjoy. BEAVER TYCOON THOUGH. I would buy 100%
This guy gets it :)
If you like video games, Timberborn is like Banished with beavers.
I really like Banished, it was a little shallow in the end, but good fun. Will check that out.
That's all well and good but can we stay focused on the fact that there STILL isn't a beaver tycoon?
Just one more thing, have you spotted Nessie on the board?
HA! No i have not. i'll go have a look
British MPs should play games like these to understand how real life works.
Many MPs, world over
I typically dislike when politics are brought up on nonpolitical channels but this was well done without not attacking any particular group. Good job!
On that note, ever try to play a board game with someone who disagrees with you politically and simply won't drop it? It can be pretty annoying but funny sometimes.
Though that did create a funny scenario once during a game of "7 Wonders". Another player was spouting off about how me, as a (certain political leaning), was unfit to run a country. I looked down and countered "You mean with all of my culture and money over here? Oh look, my military crushed yours... again. Now pass me that point token."
Oh, another funny story with him: I decided to bring those knuckleheads with my family to an escape room. To be honest, I just thought it would be amusing to watch them crumble under pressure. So, yeah, he was whining because "She is unlocking all of the locks!"
Yeah, because my daughter is smarter and was able to figure out the puzzles faster than him (a grown man) so she gets to open the locks. He whined that she should give him the answers but... yeeeeah, we don't play like that. She had none of it.
She told him "If you want to open a lock then maybe you should figure out a puzzle! We are supposed to be getting out of here by solving them and I'm doing more than you! I'm only seven!"
I wish they would have let me bring my phone into record that. I bet that company kept the video... a small child surpassing a grown man intellectually and then mocking his failures as he whined in a pretty princess room. Absolutely hilarious.
@@RandomPerson-nd2ey I like your response. It made me think it was called A Game of Thrones for a reason and I should try to work out why. I often am struck by how politicians seem to have no self-awareness of what role they're supposed to be playing when they're on the board of Westminster. The Prime Minister thinks he's the Dungeon Master but he's really one of the monsters from The Mansions of Madness v2. Rules is rules. You can't play dominoes with a pack of cards or jenga blocks.
Brass + power grid
If i was going to list a 3rd game at the end of the vid it would have been Brass
What is the word/phrase he says at the beginning every time?
Kia ora Koutou (Hi all)
It's te reo Maori, one of our official languages.
Thnx for the review. To bad the background music is distracting a little.
Trust me, without the music in these vids, the whole flow is wrecked. I try to pan it back pretty far in the mix. Did you have headphones on? That can sometimes make it worse
I know, that eurogames is not about the theme but for me here is too dull. But i should give it a try once.
This was my favourite euro from 2020 and I think it married theme and mechanics better than most other euros I’ve played. I really enjoyed the theme, but J is right that Beaver Tycoon would be even better.