Barony Components Overview and Impressions

Barony is a game full of knights, towns, and castles, but when you boil it down, it’s a fairly abstract game for 2-5 players. Still, an impressive look is always well worth it, so abstract or not, there was a ton of potential in the Royal Edition of Barony.

The original Barony, released in 2015, was actually quite loved, both for the gameplay and the look. The buildings were really neat, some with some 3D effects that provided some depth, and while that is gone in this 2025 re-release, I think the new production outshines the old in almost every single way. First and foremost, it’s the color of the player pieces. While the hexagonal tiles used for the map are still a bit drab – how bright and vibrant can you make forests, mountains, and fields? – the player pieces are VERY vibrant, and look really good when played out on the board.

Bonus points here to Grail Games for screen printing the pieces. They all have a unique shape, so if they wanted to, they could have opted to just put wooden pieces in the box and called it a day. Instead, however, every single knight, town, and city is screen printed to further illustrate exactly what you have out on the board. The screen printing for the most part is really well done, although I’ve found a few issues here and there. Overall, though, it looks fantastic.

The game uses a decent amount of cardboard, but all of it punches really nicely without tearing or ripping. The thickness of the cardboard is fine, about standard for what is happening in the board game space right now. The artwork on the tiles, the nobles board, and the player boards is really well done, and looks great. While the scoring track looks really odd, it will make sense once you start playing the game.

I love games that are working towards eco friendliness, but so often when companies little baggies with tuckboxes, the tuckboxes are absolute garbage and all apart. Not only are the tuckboxes in Barony really solid when built, they do come with stick strips pre-installed to make the boxes even more sturdy when built. I’ve never seen this before in a board game production, and I’m thrilled to see it here. I think I still prefer to put all my pieces in baggies, but I think it’s fantastic that these excellently labeled, sturdy boxes are being considered over plastic. I feel I’m in the minority when it comes to preferring plastic bags – it’s about time I change, right?

Overall, the production quality of Barony is top notch, as you would come to expect from Grail Games. Getting it to the table has been an almost effortless process, partly due to the games simplicity, but also to the way Grail Games has labelled and stored all the components. Stay tuned to GamesReviews.com for our complete review soon!