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

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.

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.

So I checked this game out because it's the second highest rated game on Boardgamegeek.com, and I have to say it does not disappoint.Ease of learning: there are a bit more rules than your more standard boardgames, but they are not overly complex, I would say anyone can get started playing in about 15-20 minutes.Value for money: while not the cheapest game, the strategic depth and beautiful artwork more than make up for it. In fact the game is so well designed and replayable, there's a competitive scene out there.Giftable: I wouldn't buy this game for people who haven't at least tried some other economic strategy board games (think Catan), but if the person have played and enjoys these type of board games, Brass is almost certainly a great gift that's highly enjoyable.9/10 - would recommend

I have a group of friends who play board games weekly. We really love the game and already played 3 times in 2 weeks which is rare because we all have busy work schedules and still try to make time for Brass Birmingham at least 2 hours game. Good token and standard cards quality.The game has high playability.

There is a reason this is #1 on BGG, unfortunately my box came damaged. The pieces and board are fine, so only singing it 1 star.Take precaution with the fulfilling company and the lack of care in shipping and delivery these days. If it’s important enough you might consider a local business instead.

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

One of the best purchase of the year, it's a great game, lot of optiones and interesting interactions.