Why is Brass: Birmingham world’s #1 board game?
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27.06.2023
Yeah, Lancashire is better.
Just started this video and it’s great.
I agree with your points as to why it first got close to the top spot, but in terms of what actually pushed it to #1 I feel like there was a concerted effort to just dethrone Gloomhaven.
The important note is this is the #1 game according to BGG users who rank games – which isn't at all like saying it is the #1 board game. Sequels (improvements?) to previous games result in fewer lovers with more intensity – i.e. less scores with higher averages. There's a joke in there somewhere.
I honestly don't know what this video was trying to say about the game other than "the theme fits". Interesting, but left me head scratching
BGGs popularity rating system is deeply flawed. Tons of people go around giving 1’s or 10’s for games they’ve never played before based on any number of preconceived notions they have.
You should only be allowed to post a rating for a game if you provide a photo of you playing the game with government issues ID and a copy of todays newspaper in the picture.
Lovely game – agree it's the best non-campaign board game – maybe Feast for Odin.
And videos like this are the reason I'm a patron. Thanks for an excellent video!
The more I learn about Birmingham, the less I want to play it.
I’ve played too many bleak economy Eurogames!
who would win in a fight, the sword that sealed the darkness or the oppressive industrial machine of capitalism?
It might be the people I play with but, I don't remember playing Brass: Birmingham and finding myself being presented with worse and worse options. I am usually predicting when coal and iron will be in more or less demand and plan accordingly. I have won a number of times with the other players saying, "It looks like focusing on iron and coal is how to win." or "Focusing on links is how to win."
I usually tell them that I did not pick any strategy. My strategy was to maximize what I could do with what I had. Some times that means I am supplying almost all of the coal and iron. While other times I am building a lot of rail. It is exploiting a niche that the other players are not or only exploiting.
I have absolutely no interest or knowledge of Zelda, that content was an absolute waste.
I have no interest in playing this game but the fact that users who like this game and hate GH banded together to knock Gloomhaven down 2 spots kind of poisons this as being an achievement. I'm sure the game earns its accolades from some but the #1 spot on BGG means less to me now.
Lancashire is better game. Agree
If your not taking a loan on your first turn you probably are playing it wrong 😛
If only the first plays were that simple 😂
So, if you were to find a safe city in the Underground Layer of Zelda, would you consider that to be some sort of Gloom Haven?
Very wrong !!! Notingham is also known for the warhammer world… well in fact it s in Lenton but still. 😊
4:44 So, Wile. E. Coyote then 😂
It's simple. Brass Birm is number 1 because it's the best designed game out there. It just took this long for enough people to realize it is.
Welcome to Notts! Brought me great joy to find that you are local! Shame I haven't bumped into you in any of the local game stores! Love your unique style. Big fan.
Both Brass Birmingham and Tears of the Kingdom build on the efforts of a predecessor (Lancashire and Breath of the Wild), adding what can at first seem like slight tweaks but that lead to what are considered massive improvements to the systems. They are slightly more complex than their predecessors and therefore considered a richer experience. But are they better?
Great review
thanks for this video, I really enjoyed it
Zelda … wow … I didn’t see that coming.
And still, my favorite video game saga and my favorite board game being part of the same review (although I’m more a Lancashire guy). Amazing.
Great video 👏🏽
The video and the critical insight I didn’t know I needed but far out is this a satisfying analysis
I don't think I've ever ran out and bought my own copy of a board game as fast as I did when I played BB for the first time in a boardgame cafe. But even so, I'm puzzled to see it in the top spot on BBG.
This was a top tier review. Well done Efka and Kudos to Elain for the research.
While I love NPI’s cultural analysis and background info, I do feel like they misrepresented the feel of the gameplay. One of my favorite things in all games is the endless challenge of making strategic decisions with randomness. The card distribution in this game make the puzzle of playing so fascinating. And unlike many other Euro’s it’s heavily dependent on other players actions while still avoiding direct conflict. I see possibilities and challenge, not a slow creep of hopelessness
Still my favourite and does not get to the table as often as I would like so I have not had time to form a coherent strategy 😢. And I also live in a place on the board, Redditch. Its alright….. 😂
Brass is a game so good you play it twice every time you play it once. Seriously though, I like brass but it out-says it’s welcome for me.
I love Brass (Lancashire); I have yet to play BB. And I feel a slight twinge of conscience as I create my industrialist hellscape. All that aside, it seems like you could have said "What has Brass Birmingham to do with Zelda? Must I paint you a picture?" Another fun & insightful video from NPI.
Great timing! Just last week I checked BGG’s top 100 for the first time in a long time and… Brass Birmingham was at the top? Wasn’t it just at #4? Didn’t it come out in 2018 (5 years ago)? Suffice it to say, I was confused. Thanks for explaining a bit about the game (beyond just a review), it helps to understand why others would push it up to #1.
I can say with confidence that Brass Birmingham is my favorite game.
I do not get the appeal of this at all.
I still don't get why Zelda was mentioned, or the other tangents- not NPI's best video.
Your videos have truly gotten better and better over the years, and have become really engaging to watch! Thank you for all the work you put into these!
I only played Brass Lancashire and I agree the design is clever and I see why lots of people may like it… But I'm definitely not the target audience
Absolutely amazing video, y'all!!! A joy to watch!
The immersive sim-ness of TotK also links it to a board game-like motivation for trying out new things, exploring the implications of a relatively transparent set of rules. With Brass being quite open and obtuse, there's also the sense that there's always something I haven't seen yet, some approach I could try in the future
Interesting video, however I'm surprised you did not mention the fact that large number of Brass fans organized a movement which started giving Gloomhaven (at the time number one on the list) 1s to make it go lower in the ranking. That had a funny result of Brass dethroning the GH and moving it into 3rd spot. That's true love when you like a game so much you start acting like a true adolescent moron in the name of it's praise…
i lived in Nottingham a decade ago, the poverty and social degradation was brutal. it wasn't the people's fault, but a city that doesn't have much of a purpose any more.
Huryle is a haven against the gloom? Am I right? I’ll let myself out.
I just can't get over the theme of this game. I dont like roleplaying polution and worker exploitation
You are a genius at this, kind person.
When you come for a Brass review and instead watching Zelda and history about Robin Hood and woods around. 11/10
Congratulations on finding an excuse to talk about Zelda on your board game channel
I don’t think anything has ever made me happier than the last five words of this video 😂
For me, the theme is really important in a game and this is extremely uninteresting to me. The same for wingspan
I hate to say this given the Robin Hood revelations, but Nottingham Forest are not in Nottingham either. The City Ground is in West Bridgford.