Barrage (2019)

The reviewer highly praises Barrage, rating it a perfect score for its engaging gameplay, significant replayability through varied goals and asymmetric player powers, and high-quality components and artwork, noting it as a game they are currently obsessed with.

“If they can get back on track, we will be the happy recipients of an innovative, challenging, and very interactive design that should delight fans of meaty Eurogames.”

The reviewer enthusiastically recommends Barrage, highlighting its strategic depth and intuitive design, making it a satisfying and meaty Euro game that offers a rewarding experience for players seeking deeper gameplay.

The reviewer expressed strong excitement for 'Barrage,' particularly praising its innovative water flow and resource management mechanics, as well as its impressive art and component design, especially the deluxe edition's tiered board.

Barrage is a highly interactive and challenging Eurogame that rewards players who enjoy cutthroat gameplay and strategic decision-making, despite its sometimes punishing nature where mistakes can be difficult to recover from.

The reviewer highly praises Barrage as a deep, strategic worker placement game with significant replay value, appreciating its engaging mechanics and tight player interaction across different player counts.

The reviewer highly praises Barrage as a brilliantly designed, strategic, and brutally interactive board game that offers unique challenges in each playthrough, though it is unforgiving of mistakes and best suited for experienced players.

“Ultimately, Barrage is an absolutely fantastic game, heavy but simple to play with lots to think about and a huge amount of variation in approach. Thankfully, Cranio are addressing the component issues so we’re left with a top notch game that has quite effortlessly crept onto a possible contender for Game of the Year here at Polyhedron Collider.”

“Each game of Barrage, I have walked away thinking about different choices I could have made, different ways to capitalize on the board state, or the systems, or my Company power, or, or, or. The morning after my first game, I woke up thinking about it.”

“Barrage is superb. It will break your brain, you’ll get annoyed with the other players around the table, and you’ll find yourself making use of every last resource and coin at your disposal.”

“Barrage provides a plethora of interactive decisions that will feel different with each play.”

“Barrage stands out as a compelling and challenging Eurogame that rewards strategic foresight and adaptability. Its unique mechanics and high player interaction create a dynamic gameplay experience that keeps players engaged.”

David Rector found "Barrage" to be a fun and challenging worker placement game with strong gameplay, despite noting that some of the components were a little thin.

The reviewer describes Barrage as a complex and interactive puzzle, praising its clever construction wheel and the mix of planning and opportunism it demands, while noting it can be punishing for early mistakes and requires multiple plays to master.

The reviewer regards Barrage as a complex and highly interactive Eurogame, praising its strategic depth and engaging mechanics that reward careful planning and adaptability.

The reviewer found Barrage to be a deeply strategic and highly interactive worker placement game, praising its intricate mechanics and the satisfying challenge it presents to players.

The reviewer highly praises Barrage for its strong theme, tense gameplay, and engaging water flow mechanics, finding it a very enjoyable experience despite it being a mentally draining game that leaves him feeling wiped out after playing.

ThinkerThemer finds Barrage to be a tightly designed and punishing worker placement game with a clever water flow mechanic, though one reviewer noted it can feel linear in strategic paths compared to other favorites. Despite some challenges, both reviewers appreciate its thematic integration and agree it's a solid game that will remain in their collection.

The reviewer praises Barrage as a marvelously designed and fantastic game with a cool, unique theme and engaging mechanisms. However, he personally found its three-hour playtime too long for the level of excitement it delivered.

Barrage is highlighted as a highly strategic and engaging game, providing a challenging yet rewarding experience due to its unique water flow mechanics and diverse gameplay, making it an excellent choice for enthusiasts of economic and strategy board games.

The reviewer likely found Barrage to be a compelling and strategically deep Eurogame, offering intricate water management and worker placement mechanics that provide a rewarding gameplay experience for those who appreciate complex decision-making, while possibly acknowledging its learning curve.

Barrage is a decent, heavy worker placement game with nice components and unique player powers, but its complexity can be overwhelming for new players, and ultimately, the reviewer finds other Euro games more engaging.

The reviewer found Barrage to be a very heavy and deeply strategic game that requires extensive planning and can be quite cutthroat due to player interaction, potentially making it a bit too intense for their personal preferences.

The video demonstrates a complete solo playthrough of Barrage, showcasing the game's mechanics, water flow, and action sequences in a step-by-step manner.

The reviewer appreciates many aspects of Barrage, including its intricate mechanics and unique components, but ultimately feels the execution of certain elements falls short, leading to moments where the game becomes less enjoyable and leaving a sense of missed potential.