| Min number of participants | 2 |
| Age | 14+ yrs. |
| Safety support by adult | Not required |
| Min duration | 1 h |
| Cost | Medium |
| Environment | Indoor / Outdoor |
Build industries and trade networks in the English Midlands during the Canal and Railway eras — connect cities to sell coal, iron, and manufactured goods in this deep economic network-building masterpiece.
Understand the two-era structure before your first game, since the Canal Era and Rail Era use different link tiles, different building costs, and different scoring rules, and treating them as one continuous game rather than two distinct halves leads to poor long-term planning. Track resource availability on the board itself rather than assuming you can always buy what you need, since coal and iron are shared, physical resources that other players can deplete, and a plan that depends on cheap coal can collapse if someone buys it all first. Build near your own developed industries and existing links rather than scattering buildings across the map, since Brass Birmingham rewards a connected network where your industries can sell to each other and to nearby markets, not spread-out isolated tiles. Sell goods through the market only as a last resort rather than a default strategy, since selling to another player's connected industry or through a direct link is usually far more efficient, and relying on the market drains your limited beer resources quickly. Watch your opponents' network shape, not just their money, since a well-positioned but cash-poor player can suddenly flip advantageous links or block your expansion, and focusing only on gold totals misses the real state of the game. Plan your last few actions in the Rail Era around final scoring rather than continuing to build reactively, since the game's income and victory points are calculated very differently at the end, and a network optimized for mid-game income can score poorly if you don't adjust before the final turns.
Bid meeples to claim village tiles in summer, autumn, and winter auctions, then use them as worker-placement actions — a beautifully interlocking auction and village-building game across four seasons.
Race your ten marbles across a six-pointed star-shaped board to occupy the opposite corner, hopping over other players' pieces in a colourful strategy game for two to six players.
