Brass: Birmingham - an Economic Strategy Game for 2-4 Players | #1 Board Game on Board Game Geek | Ages 14+ | Plays in 60-120 Minutes

very good

It's the top 1 game in BGG for a reason

My 17 year old and his friends seem to play this whenever they get together. And they’re enthusiastic. They’ll play it a couple hours at a time. To me, it looks complex because there are little pieces, but my kid tells me “absolutely not complex, it’s pretty easy to play, but the game play itself is great.” That’ all I know.

It speaks volumes that such a heavy (complex) game is #1 on Board Game Geek. Save a few brain cells and precious time by watching a tutorial or two on youtube before opening the box. Oh, and do your best to convince your player friends do the same.

Brass Birmingham absolutely lives up to expectations. Let me first talk about the art. The main board and player boards are probably my most favorite components. Whether you choose to play the light or dark side, I feel the look really brings this one to shine on your table. The buildings, cards, and resource components are all top notch. I love the beer barrels especially.But where the game really shines is in the play. This one really challenges you to build the best economic engine. You have an incredible number of options on your turn. For this reason, I could see this being a challenge for new players. But as you learn the game, the choices become more clear. The choice of which cards to play from your hand, and when, is absolutely amazing. You are constantly fighting over locations, routes, and resources with the other players.Planning is critical, as you realize that halfway through the game you will lose your level 1 buildings and your canals. What you do in the canal era will dictate how you will fare in the rail era. The players who plan best will start the 2nd half of the game on a strong foot. It's a great game for those who enjoy looking ahead and putting themselves into a position to succeed.While some may complain at the length of the game (it can take 2-3 hours with 4p), I find the game never tires and will always have a place at my table. This board game will NEVER leave my collection!

La caja vino maltratada por un lado, pero el equipo al cliente fue efectivo en ayudarme con una solución, ya he comprado anteriormente en Roxley, me gusta como diseñan los componentes, 100% recomendado

My son and his friends absolutely love this game. They set game nights to specifically play Brass. Highly recommend.

We are a family of board gamers, and this is easily the best in our collection. It seemed daunting at first, as there are a lot of what *look* like fiddly little rules. (E.g., if you need beer to complete a certain transaction, you need to have an appropriate rail or canal connection to it *if* it belongs to an opponent, but not if it belongs to you.) But once we played through, these rules not only started to make sense in a way that made them easy to remember, but also gave the game strategic depths that it is going to take *many* playthroughs to plumb. There is an exquisite balance between making decisions that will grow and enrich your own little industrial empire vs moves that will sabotage your opponents' efforts. And thanks to the random element provided by the card deck, no two games are alike. It's a bit like Catan, taken to 11 (though as good as Catan is, the comparison doesn't really to B:B justice).Finally, Roxley's customer service is *excellent*. We lost two of the game pieces in short order. (It doesn't help that we have two dogs who view things-that-fall-on-the-floor as treats, pretty much regardless of their nutritional value.) I wrote to Roxley asking if we could buy a "backup" set just of the game pieces – and they just went ahead and sent us one for free! These people clearly love games, and love people who love them.