Barrage fixes what I disliked about euro games in general. I WANT player interaction. I can't play most euros because I feel like I'm playing a solo game with friends.
This was one of my favorite games of 2019. It is extremely unforgiving, but no more so than most Splotter games that I’ve played. You can be out of contention on the second turn of Food Chain Magnate or Indonesia. I also don’t think it’s any meaner than Terra Mystica, especially with five players on the newer maps. I like both. I agree that it’s not for everyone. Another solid review, guys.
Not often I disagree with NPI, but I do on this one. This is a very tight, strategic game with a helping of cut-throatiness. It is easy to teach comparatively to it's weight.
First time I played this, I was blown away but did terrible, played it again right away understanding what I had to do and was extremely fun. Instantly one of my favourites all time
To be honest, as a kickstarter backer, my experience was so bad, I can't even muster the courage to even try to learn to play the game. The first time I pulled the bad components out of the game box that was broken on arrival, I was so disappointed that I've never touched them since. I'm sure the game is great, but the whole experience has been a rough thing to get over.
Your description of the issues remind me of my experience playing Kemet, and fighting over tech. So much of my turns with friend was spent thinking about how to get tech first, and contingencies for when my opponents take them before me.
Man your videos are so good. Your sense of humor is infectious and the way you look at games is really insightful. I watch even if I have no intention of considering the game being reviewed. Just feels like I’m learning about games and also getting some bonus meta editorializing about gaming and sometimes life in general
Thanks for a great review, I would agree with your assessment for Barrage, for me if I am playing a tight euro I would rather play something like Gaia project for pretty much the same reasons as you stated if you make a mistake theres other options and if you get cutoff theres other options as well. Here it just seems like you have one set of options and if you play it wrong or get cutoff it can end your game.
I use to die on this hill too, but it's not once produced someone willing to pronounce it correctly. I'm just going to have to learn to live with this game always being mispronounced. The struggle is real.
Isn’t pronunciation something that changes over time and is only “properly” pronounced when the majority of speakers use that pronunciation? In my experience I’ve never heard barrage pronounced in a way that rhymes with marriage. But I’m American and I feel British people might say it that way more often
@@Iamwrongbut sure, but in this manner, the definition is tied to the pronunciation. Barrage pronounced like artillery fire does not indicate you're building dams; rather it indicates you're probably shelling them. Not a hill worth dying on, but also detracts from the title of the game.
@@jokerES2 it’s only tied to that definition if the majority of speakers agree it is. Again, I’ve never ever ever heard anyone ever say barrage in a way that rhymes with marriage ever.
Spot on review guys. Barrage is a wonderful, thinky game that is as agonising and stabby as it is intricate and fascinating. You will spend most of the game hating the other players for their jerk moves, yourself for your dumb mistakes and the game itself for being so awful. If you love that sort of thing, then it's a blast.
Too mean for mean. Full disclosure, I didn't like Terra Mystica, but I love Gaia Project. I find Terra Mystica too constricting, its too easy to get pigeon holed. Gaia Project gives you more options so you don't get stuck and has a better theme. It's a more refined, and in my opinion better, version of its predecessor.
My general theory is that whether you enjoy TM or GP more depends on how much player interaction you enjoy in your games. While its not 100% perfect, it does seem to usually hold true in my experience so far.
@@Norm-R My issue with that is that player interaction can be especially problematic when some players have far more experience in the game than others. If all players are at the same experience level, it's fine. But it made my introduction to TM quite a punishing one. So much so that I didn't come back to it until a few weeks ago, with a handful of players who had played a handful of times, at most. This was quite different than the first time I played it, when one of the players was ALSO playing Terra Mystica on BoardGameArena *at the same time* as with us in person. And it wasn't slowing him down at all.
Agreed. I still haven't received the components that were missing from my KS copy. I was sent the incorrect replacements in the first wave :-( Never again for me too.
I was an all-in backer in the KS campaign and had an awful experience but the game itself is excellent. My Friday night boardgames club mostly plays heavy euros and enjoyed playing my copy so much that they voted to buy a copy of Barrage for the club library. I also backed the 5th player expansion which, of course with perfect timing, arrived last week just when the club hasn't met since the end of February and is unlikely to meet again until September. Barrage does also have an automa for those interested in solo play although I haven't tried it yet.
@@NoPunIncluded Efka, this a seperate expansion to The Leeghwater Project that had a separate Kickstarter campaign that has just reached backers in the last week or so.
Regarding the expansion, I have never played or taught the game without it. My groups mostly consist of relatively experienced boardgamers, so YMMV, but I think it’s a nifty addition. It cuts down on the tightness somewhat by giving you more ways to achieve certain things, but I consider that a positive.
Thanks for this review. For me this review gave me enough insight that this game wouldn't be the game for me. I really dislike games where falling of the ladder early results in painfully going through the motions the rest of the session, because bouncing back is just too difficult.
Probably the first time I really disagree with the channel. The game is really interactive and if you set up so someone can take you out of the game.. I think that is just bad greedy play. You just created an opportunity for your opponents and it would be silly not to take advantage. Really seldom you can destroy something just for the sake of it in the game. The economy is to tight for it to not punish yourself. Second. You give the game critic for "one ladder only" but I think the expansion give people other tools. I however agrees with your opinion that it washes the game out a bit (with those options).
Always ALWAYS great reviews , can you lose the music , not working it is fighting against all the narrative, but extremely well written presentation , ''vulgarisation'' the Attenborough of boarding games.
I'm wondering if the pushing tends to happen more at the end of the game or throughout the entire experience. I think that if you can be punishingly mean late game, everyone will have a good experience most of the way. If you can screw someone over for the rest of the game by turn 3, then this won't be as fun and someone might drop out early. Hell, I would probably feel mean doing it then my weakness would cost me the game.
An excellent review, and nice to get your take on it - I have been a fan of this game for a long time, but I am quite assuredly totallly rubbish at it. Agree with you that the expansion muddies the waters, so to speak. Ahem.
Hey Efka, love your videos. Recently watched most of your old reviews. I am a former video game designer, currently getting into board game design and your videos helped me a lot to distinguish flaws in board games. I also watched a few reviews from SUASD and if you and Elaine want to hear some critisism from a random stranger. Here it is: I Love your jokes and non existent puns and most of the time you express perfectly what flaws a game has. But compared to SUASD, I feel like your videos are less streamlined or categorized. How you explain certain mechanics in your reviews is perfect, but sometimes it seems out of order. Like reading a rulebook and starting on page 10. Sometimes you explain mechanics or player goals in the middle of your review, so I have to rewind the video so I can comprehend what you meant. The effort you put in these videos is insane, but maybe reconsider explaining certain aspects of a game in a more understandable order. Idk how to explain it, but in some videos I just felt lost so i had to skip forth and back a few times to get the full picture you were trying to draw. Okay that's it. End wall of text.
I watched this video awhile back but wanted to watch it again as I know a couple friends playing it on TTS lately. I played it once with a friend that had backed it and her copy had at least 1 broken wheel which for the price of this game is an extremely poor show. I've paid more for some of my KS games like Cthulhu Wars, but you get a lot more bang for your buck as it were. That being said, I didn't like this game but I'd play it over Terra Mystica as at least there's some player interaction here. It has interesting choices for certain, which really helps bring it up a bit in my estimation, but the theme and the blandness of what you actually do pushed it back down. I'd play it again if someone really wanted to, but I'd rather play something that was more enjoyable than this one.
Hm, that sounds a lot more like a huge (and mean) "find the optimal move, every move" puzzle than a game with multiple viable strategies and interesting choices. I know to some heavy euro gamers that is heresy, but I lately realized I like a random element in my games. If there's enough randomness during setup to give a fresh puzzle everyone needs to figure out anew every time, not necessarily during the game itself, but with a (mostly, eg I don't consider variable player powers/factions as random unless extremely varied, randomly assigned, and there being a LOT more options than players) fixed setup I really think some random draws or rolls are needed to prevent playing from degenerating into solving. Aside: the review is missing a crucial piece of information. How many Elaines does the board cover?
One of the reasons i didn’t like La Granja is that once you finally get the resources to build a cart another player builds next to you and immediately boots you off the board. At least in Gaia project your neighbors help you more than they hurt you. Its a better game design.
I have to be perfectly honest here. I only started the hobby in less than 6 months. I started with the SUSD reviews. Then I found your channel. I kind of stop anticipating SUSD videos, and started loading your page furiously for new videos and always refreshing your podcast to see if your once every 2 months podcasts get updated. Your reviews are now not only tighter, better produced, but with a sense of purpose that sometimes SUSD newer reviews lack. I think your channel deserves more views. Like a lot lot more. Great review. But Barrage seems like a tough euro game, and I have played a few of them before, and it’s just too much time and effort investment not just for me but specifically for my game group. Also it’s expensive
@@NoPunIncludedsome good news. Since my last comments about Barrage, I have since played more euros and have started playing slightly more mid weight to heavier euros such as Carnegie, Brass and Gugong. Just got barrage and looking forward to playing it
The 3D board is a mess and wasn't engineered as good as it could be. That being said, the 3D board does add a little bit more charm. Cranio fumbled this game, but it is a pretty good game so if you can look past a few production flaws, I think most people will be satisfied as long as you don't mind a little cut throat actions over water.
My problem with the pretty boards (3d or otherwise) was that they just weren't very readable. Part of this was the inherent system of water flows jumbled with the pipes. But the other was just that the realism detracted from readability. It was nearly impossible for me to keep straight which water flowed where, and where each of the three zones began/ended. It was something I really didn't need on top of the basic challenge of the game. So many times my poor decision was simply based on not reading the board correctly.
This is the most stupidly agressive game i've played in a long time. Both of the games i played were 3 hours of pure boredom waiting for the game to end after I was cut off both times in the first round. There is simply no way to recover from a bad start, and it will take you forever before you can start building something, and at this point, you are already miles behind the other players. Will not touch this ever again.
I feel like that whole game ruined by mistakes will pretty much encourage AP and discourage quickly playing and experimentation for fun as you can get burned really hard. Total pass for me.
Really? It's your channel so do what you like with it...but does that trans stuff need to be here? I came here for reviews, not politics. Unsubscribed.
Being trans or mentioning them isn't inherently politic, not more so then you being non trans. They're just people, living their lives and want to be accepted in society like everyone else.
Barrage fixes what I disliked about euro games in general. I WANT player interaction. I can't play most euros because I feel like I'm playing a solo game with friends.
This was one of my favorite games of 2019. It is extremely unforgiving, but no more so than most Splotter games that I’ve played. You can be out of contention on the second turn of Food Chain Magnate or Indonesia. I also don’t think it’s any meaner than Terra Mystica, especially with five players on the newer maps. I like both. I agree that it’s not for everyone. Another solid review, guys.
Not often I disagree with NPI, but I do on this one. This is a very tight, strategic game with a helping of cut-throatiness. It is easy to teach comparatively to it's weight.
Agree 100%
I also agree, one of the greats for me.
First time I played this, I was blown away but did terrible, played it again right away understanding what I had to do and was extremely fun. Instantly one of my favourites all time
I had no idea how much I would hate to hear someone say that water is milked. But man, milked water has broken my day.
P.S. Excellent video.
This was a valuable review. As a water engineer, the theme spoke to me deeply. But my group wouldn't have enjoyed the punishing aspect. Thanks!
To be honest, as a kickstarter backer, my experience was so bad, I can't even muster the courage to even try to learn to play the game. The first time I pulled the bad components out of the game box that was broken on arrival, I was so disappointed that I've never touched them since.
I'm sure the game is great, but the whole experience has been a rough thing to get over.
You really should try it
First world problems.
Production was bad, but the game is so good I can take it...
Your description of the issues remind me of my experience playing Kemet, and fighting over tech. So much of my turns with friend was spent thinking about how to get tech first, and contingencies for when my opponents take them before me.
Man your videos are so good. Your sense of humor is infectious and the way you look at games is really insightful. I watch even if I have no intention of considering the game being reviewed. Just feels like I’m learning about games and also getting some bonus meta editorializing about gaming and sometimes life in general
Thanks for a great review, I would agree with your assessment for Barrage, for me if I am playing a tight euro I would rather play something like Gaia project for pretty much the same reasons as you stated if you make a mistake theres other options and if you get cutoff theres other options as well. Here it just seems like you have one set of options and if you play it wrong or get cutoff it can end your game.
You guys are going from strength to strength at the moment. What a great review.
I know this game will forever be mispronounced, but it should be rhyme with "marriage" since it refers to the dam and not artillery fire
I use to die on this hill too, but it's not once produced someone willing to pronounce it correctly. I'm just going to have to learn to live with this game always being mispronounced. The struggle is real.
At least it wasn't titled "deluge"
Isn’t pronunciation something that changes over time and is only “properly” pronounced when the majority of speakers use that pronunciation?
In my experience I’ve never heard barrage pronounced in a way that rhymes with marriage. But I’m American and I feel British people might say it that way more often
@@Iamwrongbut sure, but in this manner, the definition is tied to the pronunciation. Barrage pronounced like artillery fire does not indicate you're building dams; rather it indicates you're probably shelling them.
Not a hill worth dying on, but also detracts from the title of the game.
@@jokerES2 it’s only tied to that definition if the majority of speakers agree it is. Again, I’ve never ever ever heard anyone ever say barrage in a way that rhymes with marriage ever.
2 Player game can be played by non-confrontational loving pairs with ease, and it is awesome!
I don't understand your comment.
Spot on review guys. Barrage is a wonderful, thinky game that is as agonising and stabby as it is intricate and fascinating. You will spend most of the game hating the other players for their jerk moves, yourself for your dumb mistakes and the game itself for being so awful. If you love that sort of thing, then it's a blast.
I'm the only one that is mad that, as almost everyone that plays this game, they put the white damns the wrong way?
Looking forward to trying this game. However, as someone who chronically under-hydrates, I may not have the instincts to be good at it.
I'd rather play Barrage then Terra Mystica. Also, I'd rather play Gaia Project then Terra Mystica. I equally enjoy Barrage and GP ! :)
Too mean for mean. Full disclosure, I didn't like Terra Mystica, but I love Gaia Project. I find Terra Mystica too constricting, its too easy to get pigeon holed. Gaia Project gives you more options so you don't get stuck and has a better theme. It's a more refined, and in my opinion better, version of its predecessor.
My general theory is that whether you enjoy TM or GP more depends on how much player interaction you enjoy in your games. While its not 100% perfect, it does seem to usually hold true in my experience so far.
@@Norm-R My issue with that is that player interaction can be especially problematic when some players have far more experience in the game than others. If all players are at the same experience level, it's fine. But it made my introduction to TM quite a punishing one. So much so that I didn't come back to it until a few weeks ago, with a handful of players who had played a handful of times, at most. This was quite different than the first time I played it, when one of the players was ALSO playing Terra Mystica on BoardGameArena *at the same time* as with us in person. And it wasn't slowing him down at all.
It was a shame Cranio mishandled the KS campaign, it made no justice for such a good game.
Agreed. I'm pretty weary of backing anything else from them, despite this being a top 10 all time game for me.
Agreed.
I still haven't received the components that were missing from my KS copy.
I was sent the incorrect replacements in the first wave :-(
Never again for me too.
I would probably back Maharaja if anyone else was doing it, it there’s no way I will ever back another Cranio Kickstarter.
I was an all-in backer in the KS campaign and had an awful experience but the game itself is excellent.
My Friday night boardgames club mostly plays heavy euros and enjoyed playing my copy so much that they voted to buy a copy of Barrage for the club library.
I also backed the 5th player expansion which, of course with perfect timing, arrived last week just when the club hasn't met since the end of February and is unlikely to meet again until September.
Barrage does also have an automa for those interested in solo play although I haven't tried it yet.
Do note that whilst the expansion does add a fifth faction, it does not allow for five players to play the game.
@@NoPunIncluded Efka, this a seperate expansion to The Leeghwater Project that had a separate Kickstarter campaign that has just reached backers in the last week or so.
ah, how did I miss this?
@@NoPunIncluded It's OK, it just means there's absolutely no confusion which expansion I was talking about :-)
There's layers to the meaness...so good.
Ive just sat through a lecture on the geopolitics of dams and this game reflects real world politics pretty well
Regarding the expansion, I have never played or taught the game without it. My groups mostly consist of relatively experienced boardgamers, so YMMV, but I think it’s a nifty addition. It cuts down on the tightness somewhat by giving you more ways to achieve certain things, but I consider that a positive.
Thanks for this review. For me this review gave me enough insight that this game wouldn't be the game for me. I really dislike games where falling of the ladder early results in painfully going through the motions the rest of the session, because bouncing back is just too difficult.
Probably the first time I really disagree with the channel. The game is really interactive and if you set up so someone can take you out of the game.. I think that is just bad greedy play. You just created an opportunity for your opponents and it would be silly not to take advantage. Really seldom you can destroy something just for the sake of it in the game. The economy is to tight for it to not punish yourself.
Second. You give the game critic for "one ladder only" but I think the expansion give people other tools. I however agrees with your opinion that it washes the game out a bit (with those options).
Always ALWAYS great reviews , can you lose the music , not working it is fighting against all the narrative, but extremely well written presentation , ''vulgarisation'' the Attenborough of boarding games.
I frequently find that any heavy euro with area control tends to be compared to Terra Mystica. They usually come up short
This is excellent game, it is brutal and unforgiving, but so interesting!
I love the game most with the expansion
I love this game, though it can be harsh. Brilliant design though.
Super well written, a pleasure to watch. Rock on NPI!
If I have to many friends and need to get rid of some, would it be better to play Barrage or Diplomacy?
I'm wondering if the pushing tends to happen more at the end of the game or throughout the entire experience. I think that if you can be punishingly mean late game, everyone will have a good experience most of the way. If you can screw someone over for the rest of the game by turn 3, then this won't be as fun and someone might drop out early. Hell, I would probably feel mean doing it then my weakness would cost me the game.
An excellent review, and nice to get your take on it - I have been a fan of this game for a long time, but I am quite assuredly totallly rubbish at it. Agree with you that the expansion muddies the waters, so to speak. Ahem.
Love the review! Keep up the good work. T-shirt coming my way.
I want it want it want it want it, gives me brass meets scythe vibes
Interesting review, I was expecting a conversion to the Oil game which was viewed so favourably. Not my cup of tea but enjoyed the review.
Hey Efka, love your videos. Recently watched most of your old reviews. I am a former video game designer, currently getting into board game design and your videos helped me a lot to distinguish flaws in board games. I also watched a few reviews from SUASD and if you and Elaine want to hear some critisism from a random stranger. Here it is: I Love your jokes and non existent puns and most of the time you express perfectly what flaws a game has. But compared to SUASD, I feel like your videos are less streamlined or categorized. How you explain certain mechanics in your reviews is perfect, but sometimes it seems out of order. Like reading a rulebook and starting on page 10. Sometimes you explain mechanics or player goals in the middle of your review, so I have to rewind the video so I can comprehend what you meant. The effort you put in these videos is insane, but maybe reconsider explaining certain aspects of a game in a more understandable order. Idk how to explain it, but in some videos I just felt lost so i had to skip forth and back a few times to get the full picture you were trying to draw. Okay that's it. End wall of text.
great review! i've been really curious about this game and you've answered many a question
I watched this video awhile back but wanted to watch it again as I know a couple friends playing it on TTS lately. I played it once with a friend that had backed it and her copy had at least 1 broken wheel which for the price of this game is an extremely poor show. I've paid more for some of my KS games like Cthulhu Wars, but you get a lot more bang for your buck as it were. That being said, I didn't like this game but I'd play it over Terra Mystica as at least there's some player interaction here.
It has interesting choices for certain, which really helps bring it up a bit in my estimation, but the theme and the blandness of what you actually do pushed it back down. I'd play it again if someone really wanted to, but I'd rather play something that was more enjoyable than this one.
Brown frogs! And Starship Enterprises! Hahaha!!!!
Hm, that sounds a lot more like a huge (and mean) "find the optimal move, every move" puzzle than a game with multiple viable strategies and interesting choices. I know to some heavy euro gamers that is heresy, but I lately realized I like a random element in my games. If there's enough randomness during setup to give a fresh puzzle everyone needs to figure out anew every time, not necessarily during the game itself, but with a (mostly, eg I don't consider variable player powers/factions as random unless extremely varied, randomly assigned, and there being a LOT more options than players) fixed setup I really think some random draws or rolls are needed to prevent playing from degenerating into solving. Aside: the review is missing a crucial piece of information. How many Elaines does the board cover?
Crush or be crushed. No hand holding. Sounds good to me!
It looks like a game I would really enjoy :)
Am I the only one thinking that the base mechanic is "inspired" to the old, underrated Dos Rios by Franz-Benno Delonge?
Love the Bessie cameo ❤️
Cool button! NPI says trans rights!
What pin is it? It looks familiar but I can't quite place it (obvs I recognise the flag, but it's a bit small to make out details).
One of the reasons i didn’t like La Granja is that once you finally get the resources to build a cart another player builds next to you and immediately boots you off the board. At least in Gaia project your neighbors help you more than they hurt you. Its a better game design.
Have you ever played Brass? I think you might enjoy it based on what you said. It's competitive with "accidental" cooperation.
Random Person i ordered it about 2 weeks ago. Now the grueling wait...
Omg your humor! Bravo! Hehe
I have to be perfectly honest here. I only started the hobby in less than 6 months. I started with the SUSD reviews. Then I found your channel.
I kind of stop anticipating SUSD videos, and started loading your page furiously for new videos and always refreshing your podcast to see if your once every 2 months podcasts get updated. Your reviews are now not only tighter, better produced, but with a sense of purpose that sometimes SUSD newer reviews lack. I think your channel deserves more views. Like a lot lot more.
Great review. But Barrage seems like a tough euro game, and I have played a few of them before, and it’s just too much time and effort investment not just for me but specifically for my game group. Also it’s expensive
Our podcast is coming back very soon. We weren't 100% happy with it and decided to take some time and figure out changes, hence the break.
@@NoPunIncludedsome good news. Since my last comments about Barrage, I have since played more euros and have started playing slightly more mid weight to heavier euros such as Carnegie, Brass and Gugong. Just got barrage and looking forward to playing it
@@JacobWrestledGod hope you have a great time with it!
@@NoPunIncludedgoing to play barrage today, finally. Fingers crossed!
The 3D board is a mess and wasn't engineered as good as it could be. That being said, the 3D board does add a little bit more charm. Cranio fumbled this game, but it is a pretty good game so if you can look past a few production flaws, I think most people will be satisfied as long as you don't mind a little cut throat actions over water.
My problem with the pretty boards (3d or otherwise) was that they just weren't very readable. Part of this was the inherent system of water flows jumbled with the pipes. But the other was just that the realism detracted from readability. It was nearly impossible for me to keep straight which water flowed where, and where each of the three zones began/ended. It was something I really didn't need on top of the basic challenge of the game. So many times my poor decision was simply based on not reading the board correctly.
Do you really think the expansion is not a good buy? It feels like it gives more possibilities
Personal alltime top ten game.
Probably one your reviews I have disagreed with the most.
We all hate water here
Sorry I think the example of meaness where white uses the water behind the blue player's dam is not valid because only blue can use that water
This is the most stupidly agressive game i've played in a long time. Both of the games i played were 3 hours of pure boredom waiting for the game to end after I was cut off both times in the first round. There is simply no way to recover from a bad start, and it will take you forever before you can start building something, and at this point, you are already miles behind the other players.
Will not touch this ever again.
Git gud
it's just too heavy and punishing for me. I wish it wasn't so tight
I love this game :)))
Bessie 🥰
"I may not be able to win the game, but I'm still IN the game." Okay then.
I hate Terra Mystica so I would probably like Barrage more.
I mean yeah probably, this is still a pretty great game.
I think they should have used the german name of this game for all of the world. Barrage just doesn't have the same power as WASSERKRAFT
That doggy tho
I feel like that whole game ruined by mistakes will pretty much encourage AP and discourage quickly playing and experimentation for fun as you can get burned really hard. Total pass for me.
Really? It's your channel so do what you like with it...but does that trans stuff need to be here? I came here for reviews, not politics. Unsubscribed.
Being trans or mentioning them isn't inherently politic, not more so then you being non trans. They're just people, living their lives and want to be accepted in society like everyone else.
How did the "trans stuff" interfere with the review in any way? If anything doesn't need to be here it would be people like you. Bye.
Bye.