Roxley's Brass: BirminghamPhoto: Roxley Games
Industries and links on the boardPhoto: Roxley Games
The coal and iron marketsPhoto: Roxley Games
Beer barrelsPhoto: Roxley Games
Industry tiles in the four player coloursPhoto: Roxley Games
An industry cardPhoto: Roxley Games
Location cards decide where you can buildPhoto: Roxley Games
Video

Strategy game · Indian edition available

Brass: Birmingham

Build canals, railways and industries across Industrial Revolution England

Money and propertyRoute buildingEngine building

  • 2–4best with 2-4
  • 1–2 hrsper game
  • About 15 minto set up
  • 14+years
  • Heavy
  • Littlereading

The official edition, on Amazon.in

Indian edition
Buy on Amazon.in

This listing is the official imported edition. An Indian edition also exists, but this isn't it. Amazon shows today's price, the seller and delivery.

Paid link. We may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.

The game in a nutshell

Brass: Birmingham is a heavy economic strategy game for 2 to 4 players, set in the English Midlands during the Industrial Revolution: you build mills, mines, breweries, canals and railways, and sell goods through a network that every player shares. It suits experienced players who already enjoy games like Catan or Wingspan and want something much deeper; it is not a game for beginners, and first games run two hours or more. Our link goes to Roxley's English retail edition, an import; an Indian store also lists an English/Hindi deluxe edition.

Is Brass: Birmingham right for you?

Great if

  • Strategy groups who have outgrown Catan or Ticket to Ride and want a long, demanding game
  • Players who enjoy planning money, loans and income several turns ahead
  • Couples or friends who like heavy games for two: reviewers say it works well with two players
  • A weekend afternoon or a long holiday evening with people who don't mind a 30-minute rules teach

Skip it if

  • You are new to modern board games, or you want something for the whole family with children
  • You want a game that sets up quickly and finishes within an hour
  • Your group dislikes long rules explanations and careful, slow turns

A place on the honours list

Good company to be in.

Recognition from beyond our table.

Meeples' Choice Award, 2018 (Winner)

Golden Elephant Award, Best Heavy Board Game, 2018 (Winner)

Board Game Quest Awards, Best Production Values, 2018 (Winner)

Gra Roku (Poland), Advanced Game of the Year, 2020 (Winner)

Gra Roku (Poland), Game of the Year, 2020 (Winner)

How Brass: Birmingham plays

Set-up: each player takes a player mat stacked with 45 industry tiles in their colour, 14 link tiles, £17 and a hand of 8 cards. The board gets random merchant tiles, beer barrels beside the merchants, and coal and iron markets filled with cubes. With 2 or 3 players some cards and merchant spaces are left out. Sorting the tiles onto the mats is the slowest part.

  • Time to teach: about 30 to 45 minutes.
  • Reading and language: Very little to read during play: cards show town names and industry symbols, and the rest is icons. The rulebook is long, in English, and needs a careful teach. Roxley's retail box we link is English only; an Indian store also lists an English/Hindi deluxe edition.
Industries and links on the board · Photo: Roxley Games

Brass: Birmingham - How To Play · Watch It Played

Choose a video · Watch right here

If this creator doesn’t allow embedded playback, watch on YouTube ↗.

Your turn, step by step

  1. 1
    Discard

    Take two actions on your turn, and pay for each one by discarding a card; the cards decide where and what you can build.

  2. 2
    Build

    Build industries, canals or railways, develop, sell goods to merchants with beer, take a loan or scout for wild cards, using coal and iron from the shared network.

  3. 3
    Score

    At the end of the Canal Era and again after the Rail Era, links score for the towns they touch and flipped industries score their points.

  4. 4
    Win

    Most points after the Rail Era wins; ties go to higher income, then more money.

Read the official rules (PDF)Brass: Birmingham Rulebook · English
The full explanation: how a game of Brass: Birmingham goes

A turn: you take two actions (only one each in the very first round), and every action costs you a card from your hand. You can build an industry (the card decides where or what), lay a canal or rail link, develop (discard low-level tiles to reach better ones), sell cotton, pottery or manufactured goods to a merchant (which needs beer), take a £30 loan that lowers your income, or scout for wild cards. Building often uses coal, which must reach you through the network, and iron, which can come from anywhere; using a rival's coal, iron or beer helps them too.

Money and turn order: at the end of each round everyone collects income, and whoever spent the least that round goes first next round. So every pound you spend is a trade-off: doing more this round can mean acting last in the next.

How you win: the game has a Canal Era and a Rail Era. At the end of each era your links score points for the towns they touch, and your industries score only if they have been flipped (sold to, or emptied of coal, iron or beer). Before the Rail Era the oldest tiles leave the board. Whoever has the most points after the Rail Era wins; ties go to higher income, then more money.

Tip: the rulebook includes an introductory game that plays only the Canal Era with simpler end scoring, which is a gentler way to learn. Many groups also watch a full teach video together before the first game.

What's in the box

Industry tiles in the four player colours · Photo: Roxley Games
  • 1Game board
    Double-sided: a day side and a night side
  • 4Player mats
    one per player
  • 4Character tiles
    Also used to track money spent and turn order
  • 180Industry tiles
    45 per player colour
  • 56Link tiles
    14 per player colour, for canals and railways
  • 9Merchant tiles
    placed at random each game
  • 76Cards
    64 location and industry cards, 8 wild cards and 4 player aids
  • 4Victory point markers
    one per player
  • 4Income markers
    one per player
  • 30Coal cubes
    Black
  • 18Iron cubes
    Orange
  • 15Beer barrels
    for breweries and merchants
  • 77Money tokens
    Cardboard; the Deluxe edition uses 78 Iron Clay chips instead
  • 1Rulebook
    English

Box: 1.65 kg. Handy to know for gifting and travel.

From Roxley's product page for the Retail edition and the component list in Roxley's English rulebook (2018.11.20). The Deluxe edition has the same gameplay content but swaps the cardboard money for 78 Iron Clay chips and adds an embossed box and a moulded tray. The rulebook notes that 3 blank tiles on one punchboard are spare. We could not find a contents list for the English/Hindi deluxe edition.

Where to buy

Amazon.inImported edition

The official edition, on Amazon.in

This listing is the official imported edition. An Indian edition also exists, but this isn't it. Amazon shows today's price, the seller and delivery.

Buy on Amazon.in

Opens Amazon.in in a new tab.

Brass: Birmingham comes from Roxley Games in Canada, and the English retail edition sold in India is an import. An Indian specialist store also lists a deluxe edition with English and Hindi, but we couldn't confirm who makes it, and we didn't find it on Amazon.in. Our Amazon.in link goes to Roxley's English retail edition (ROX402), which has every piece you need to play; the deluxe versions add nicer money chips and packaging, not new rules.

How to make sure you get a genuine copyA little care before you click.
  • The box should carry the Roxley logo and credit Gavan Brown, Matt Tolman and Martin Wallace. The retail edition's product code is ROX402 and its barcode is 9781988884042; ask the seller for a photo of the barcode if in doubt.
  • Count the main pieces: 180 industry tiles (45 per colour), 56 link tiles, 9 merchant tiles, 76 cards, 30 black coal cubes, 18 orange iron cubes, 15 beer barrels and 77 cardboard money tokens, plus 4 player mats.
  • The board is printed on both sides (a day side and a night side), and the rulebook carries a version date of 2018.11 or later.
  • Look closely at the print: Roxley's art is sharp and the punchboards are thick. Blurry text, washed-out colours, thin card or poorly cut tiles are warning signs.
  • A copy sold without the Roxley name, or with different piece counts, is a warning sign.

We link to one Amazon.in listing that we've checked against the maker's own information. We don't show prices: Amazon shows today's price, the seller and delivery. Paid link. We may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.

What reviewers and players say

Reviewers we read put Brass: Birmingham among the best heavy strategy games they know: the actions are simple on their own, but the shared economy of coal, iron and beer, the two eras and the fight over turn order make every game a deep, tense puzzle that plays out differently each time. They praise the art, the double-sided board, the clear rulebook and how well it works with two. The common warnings are a steep learning curve, network and resource rules that are hard to teach, long first games of two to three hours, a slow setup and room for slow, over-thought turns. Not everyone is won over: of two Dice Tower reviewers, one scored it very highly and the other much lower.

What people love

  • Simple actions that add up to a deep, rich game
  • Every game plays out differently
  • Beautiful board and art, with a day side and a night side
  • Works well with two as well as four

Common complaints

  • Steep learning curve; the network and coal rules are hard to teach
  • Long games, especially with new players, and a slow setup
  • Players who overthink can slow the game down
Based on 6 reviews and discussions

Summarised in our own words from the sources above. We don't use Amazon reviews or ratings.

More like Brass: Birmingham

Our picks if Brass: Birmingham isn't quite right

Feature
Brass: Birmingham box Brass: Birmingham
 Catan box Catan Ticket to Ride box Ticket to Ride Wingspan box Wingspan
Players2–43–42–51–5
Best with2-4442-4
Play time1–2 hrs60–90 min30–60 min40–70 min
Age14+10+8+10+
RulesInvolvedMediumEasyMedium
Indian editionYesYesImportYes
Why look at itThis pageA lighter trading-and-building game; a good step before BrassRailway route-building in a much lighter family gameA medium-heavy engine-builder for players working up to heavier games

More money and property games

See all
Terraforming Mars box

Terraforming Mars

Race rival corporations to make Mars warm, wet and breathable

1–5 players1.5–2 hrs12+
Business box

Business

India's own property game: buy cities, collect rent, build hotels

2–4 players1–2.5 hrs8+
Monopoly box

Monopoly

Roll, buy property, collect rent, and bankrupt everyone else

2–6 players1–6 hrs8+
Monopoly Deal box

Monopoly Deal

Monopoly as a 15-minute card game of rent, raids and sets

2–5 players15–30 min8+
The Game of Life box

The Game of Life

Spin through college, jobs, family and retirement; richest player wins

2–4 players45–60 min8+

Also worth a look (not in our catalogue yet): Brass: Lancashire – The sister game: same core rules, built around cotton, coal and ports.

Questions people ask about Brass: Birmingham

Is Brass: Birmingham available in Hindi?

An Indian specialist store lists a deluxe edition with English and Hindi, but we couldn't confirm who makes it, and we didn't find it on Amazon.in. The box our Amazon.in link goes to is Roxley's English retail edition; there's very little to read during play, so one English reader can teach the rest.

Is Brass: Birmingham hard to learn?

Yes, it is a heavy game. Each action is simple on its own, but the rules on networks, coal, iron and beer take a while to sink in, and reviewers say they are the hardest part to teach. Plan on a 30 to 45 minute teach, use the rulebook's Canal-Era-only introductory game, and expect the first full game to take two to three hours.

Should I buy Brass: Birmingham or Brass: Lancashire?

Both share the same core rules. Lancashire is the reworked 2007 original, built around cotton mills, coal, iron and ports; Birmingham adds breweries and beer, potteries and manufactured goods, and more varied set-ups. Birmingham is the one that collected the awards in 2018 and 2020.

Can you play Brass: Birmingham with 2 players?

Yes. With two, part of the board and some cards are left out, which keeps the map tight. Reviewers we read say it works well at two, and that games are shorter than with four.

How long does a game of Brass: Birmingham take?

The box says 60 to 120 minutes. Reviewers report about 90 minutes for two experienced players and two to three hours for new players or a full table of four, plus 15 minutes or so to set up.

Game facts

Designed by
Gavan Brown, Matt Tolman, Martin Wallace
Publisher
Roxley Games
First published
2018
Players
2–4
Barcode
9781988884042
Language
Little reading – Very little to read during play: cards show town names and industry symbols, and the rest is icons. The rulebook is long, in English, and needs a careful teach. Roxley's retail box we link is English only; an Indian store also lists an English/Hindi deluxe edition.
Box size and weight
1.65 kg
Awards
Meeples' Choice Award, 2018 (Winner); Golden Elephant Award, Best Heavy Board Game, 2018 (Winner); Board Game Quest Awards, Best Production Values, 2018 (Winner); Gra Roku (Poland), Advanced Game of the Year, 2020 (Winner); Gra Roku (Poland), Game of the Year, 2020 (Winner)
Sources & photo creditsThe references behind this guide.

Facts on this page come from the publisher, the Indian maker or distributor, and the sources below. Photos are credited under each one.