Last modified February 3, 2025 by jarjar

Barrage is in my top 3 board games. This worker placement game stands out for its innovative mechanics of water management, a precious resource that flows through our dams to generate energy, read here victory points. This game perfectly embodies the innovation that I look for in the world of board games.

On the other hand, Barrage is a difficult game, which does not forgive, and very possible that a player called Mick, without any hesitation and pity, builds a dam right in front of yours in order to siphon all the water that passes through it, making yours totally useless. It's in the spirit of the game, you have to deal with it!

GAME FACTS
>> The game was originally designed by Tommaso Battista, who was inspired by real hydroelectric power plants in northern Italy, particularly in the Alps region.

>> Battista collaborated with Simone Luciani (Lorenzo il Magnifico and Grand Austria Hotel) to refine the design.

>> The development process lasted almost 4 years.

>> The game encountered some production challenges when it first launched via Kickstarter in 2019. The first printing had component quality issues, including the player boards warping, which created controversy in the gaming community.

Game report of October 16, 2024

So we start on the 4-player Nile map, which is abundant in water and offers us a new water usage mechanic, irrigation. A very interesting mechanic, especially if several are interested in it, it allows you to choose a small tile in exchange for a drop of water, giving small bonuses. Once the pile is empty, victory points are revealed and reward those who have gone there most often. Unfortunately, in our game, only 2 of us took advantage of it, limiting the amount of victory points distributed by this mechanic.

It's Marie, who, despite a low electricity production, manages to escape with the victory, by selling her machinery at the end of the game, collecting more than 30 victory points easily. Jeff and Mick don't finish very far. Jeff, who made several productions and took advantage of his character's power (Franz de Lasse). While I finish dead last, with very poor management of my dams, probably one of the worst games to date for me.

TECHNICAL SHEET
Number of games played: 8
Best setup: 4 players
Level: experienced player
My best score: 108

MY APPRECIATION
I loved :
>> A truly beautiful game, with lots of options.
>> A competitive and tense atmosphere!
>> This water flow mechanism is very original.
>> Very interactive, you have to constantly monitor your opponents.
>> Great replayability thanks to its many tiles, extensions and cards now available.
>> A very well rendered theme.

I liked less
>> Long games (but you don't see the time passing).
>> Very punitive, not easy to get back on track.
>> You need to have experience to really appreciate this game.

A box, the legendary box, to store the base game with all the expansions, and two new companies is in preparation following a Kickstarter campaign launched last August.

RULES POINTS
>> Neutral dams cannot be modified
>> To drain drops, it must be done from its dam to one of its power stations
>> Electricity production comes from a single dam (and not two)
>> One dam per player per pool maximum
>> Technology tiles, we start by going through all the level 1 tiles, then 2 and 3.

A great game, original, very thematic, beautiful, very tense with a multitude of options. Truly a masterpiece!

FUN FACTOR 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂