Barge
| Barge | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Info | |
| Cost |
 |
| Type(s) | Action - Duration |
| Kingdom card? | Yes |
| Set |
Menagerie |
| Illustrator(s) | Eric J Carter |
| Card text | |
| Either now or at the start of your next turn, +3 Cards and +1 Buy. | |
Barge is an Action-Duration card from Menagerie. It can provide either terminal draw or duration draw.
FAQ
Official FAQ
- When playing Barge, choose whether to take +3 Cards and +1 Buy immediately, or at the start of your next turn.
- If you choose "immediately," Barge will be discarded in the same turn's Clean-up; if you choose "next turn," Barge will be discarded that turn.
- If you play a Barge multiple times, such as with Mastermind, you choose each time whether to take +3 Cards and +1 Buy immediately or next turn, and the Barge only stays in play until next turn if at least one of the plays was for next turn (in which case the Mastermind also stays in play).
Strategy
Barge is a terminal draw card that is very comparable to a Smithy, and in many of the decks and Kingdoms in which Smithy is good, Barge is also good. Barge’s additional effect of +Buy also enables faster building, greater scoring potential, and more pile pressure than Smithy would.
The main strength that distinguishes Barge from similar cards is its flexibility. Barge gives you the option to get its effects this turn or next, with both options being useful in different circumstances. Barges drawing this turn can form the backbone of a deck-drawing engine with sufficient village support, while Barges drawing next turn provide a larger starting hand size and far greater reliability than most Smithy/Village-based engines. Most of the time, it’s best to play your Barges to draw this turn, as using the drawn cards and +Buy now to improve your deck is much better than getting that same benefit later. Additionally, playing a Barge for your next turn is not as efficient, as if you are drawing your deck you’ll need twice as many Barges. This is because a Barge played for your next turn stays in play for two turns, but only draws you +3 cards, while a Barge played to draw this turn also draws +3 cards, but will be playable next turn. The situations when it's often a better idea to play a Barge for next-turn draw include cases in which drawing immediately would trigger an undesirable reshuffle or be likely to draw Action cards dead—or of course if you've already drawn your whole deck and have no use for overdraw. It is worth noting that the amount of terminals your terminal space must support fluctuates depending on how many Barges you opt to play for next turn.
In Kingdoms without villages and where Barge is the only draw, you can use two Barges, playing each on alternating turns to draw the following turn. Doing so allows you to never draw a Barge dead, and is a good way of maximizing draw given the limited terminal space.
Barge is usually best added to your deck when you can make good use of the +Buy (usually by having a decent economy) and are less likely to draw important Actions dead (usually by having villages) and as such is often gained in the midgame.
Versions
English versions
| Digital | Text | Release | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
 |
Either now or at the start of your next turn, +3 Cards and +1 Buy. | Menagerie | March 2020 |
Other language versions
| Language | Name | Digital | Text | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dutch | Aak | Nu of aan het begin van je volgende beurt, +3 kaarten en +1 Aanschaf. |
(2020) | ||
| German | Lastkahn |  |
 |
Entweder jetzt oder zu Beginn deines nächsten Zuges: +3 Karten und +1 Kauf. |
(2020) |
| Japanese | 艀 (pron. hashike) | ||||
| Polish | Barka | Although Polish version is not released, this name is referred to in Polish Dominion 2E rulebook. |
Trivia
Preview
Secret History
