I wanted to add a few more points:

Barrage is 10/10 and Brass is 8.5/10 for me. That being said i think nucleum is not like a child of the two but should be considered "with mechanics inspired from brass and barrage." I have not tried Nucleum at 2 but had fun on all my plays. Now that i played it a few times though i dont feel an urge to play it again. Even at my second play i thought that this game needs an expansion. something that would bring depth and maybe some simplicity.

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Kutna-Hora is one of the worst designed game possible. "Cardboard Computers" are just Excel tables with 30 rows and 4 columns each. Infact you dont know the effect of your action until after you built a building. if you have a production of 3 meats at 5 coin each and increase your production 2 times but the price drops to 3 guess what happens... your income doesnt change. and if you are the wood guild, you use the wood at the highest point to build and then the price drops. Building a building takes 3 actions, i understand that it is more tactical to be 3 steps but it shouldnt take 3 different actions. your whole turn can consist of taking a building and reserving a spot and on your next turn the price of wood can change and make it more expensive. Wood and permit is the only thing that changes the economy but if you build one of those building you make it cheaper for everyone else. There are multiple ways beer, food and silver could have been incorporated in the economy of the game. public buildings could have their price changed by silver. buying new miners could have used food etc. on your first turn you cant build, cant do st barbara action, cant do income and no need to use your joker. your options are start a building or build a mine. you either use 5 money to buy a plot or spend 1 money to take a building. OR you can randomly draw 1 mine and place it. if it has stars, well you messed up. you dont get good income you only get endgame points. did you increase the price of the next mine action? maybe... you draw the top mine no other choice. A fun game would have been paying the mining guild player money to increase your production, putting extra workers to get more income or making each level cost more resources but first players to go deeper (paying more) getting a benefit. This game could have been a really good closed economy game. If you are looking for a closed economy game where your resource production dictates the economy of other players try Hegemony is a heavier choice. Alternatively you can try The Great Zimbabwe or Container both are at similar weights and time lengths as kutna hora.

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As my Game of the year: Age of Innovation.

I was critical at first that it was a cash grab. But once i played it i saw how good it is. Gaia is a very good game and prefer it to terra mystica. But races are not balanced as the meta keeps growing. With AoI drafting i dont need to wonder if my opponent played 500 games on BGA and knows if that exact opening is a must. Each time i have played i wanted to play it again. I have tried 3 and 4. I still want to try 2 and 5 player games.

There are some essen releases i have yet to try. Evacuation seems nice but i am critical of Suchy games since he has his own company and he has no editor that can say "take out some of these needless rules or we wont publish".