F*&$ Brass!

Brass

The first time I played Brass, I was just confused. I took a lot of loans, aquired VAST sums of cash, and occasionally built some stuff. Eventually it was over and we were totaling up scores. I think I had fun.

Brass is a complex game. And it doesn't help that Martin Wallace could not write a set of instructions on how to escape a paper bag in less than 16 densely packed pages. I found a summary of the Brass instructions on BBG that was three pages, double spaced. It made Wallace's instructions good coaster material.

Initially the game seems so contrived, with a wild map full of restrictions, a strange deck of cards placing additional restrictions on your play, and a giant stack of industries that have different point values, tech levels, costs, and income adjustments. Yet somehow out of all the chaos emerges elegence. Once the rules become second nature (and that takes significant time), the brilliance of this game grows and grows. I've played this game over 100 times, and I'm still learning new strategies and tweaking my tactics. The mechanics when taken separately aren't groundbreaking, just clever tweaks on ideas I've seen before. But together it's like nothing I've played.

Like most games, there is luck, but like most good games, superior players can adjust their strategies to the hand they're given, rather than try to force their strategy on the hand they're dealt.

This game is significantly more satisfying online. I've only played a couple of times face to face. The server keeps track of the current score and potential score. Server keeps track of all your bits and manages turn order. No illegal plays are accidentally made. It's not played real time, so you can be mowing the grass while your opponent is paralyzed with indecision. Or playing Minecraft. A typical game takes 10 days and you just get an email when it's your turn. You can get lots of games under your belt to familiarize yourself with the different strategies. I would suggest a new player strongly resist the urge to join more than a handful of games :)

Tips:

*You have to develop past your lower level industries to the higher point ones.

*Don't get caught up in a high income, usually the one with the highest income has the lowest score.

*In most cases, the majority of your points will be scored in the first half of the second phase. Be ready with cash and developed industries to start the rail phase.

*Rails are worth A LOT of points.

Brass gets 10/10. Among the best games I have ever played, with amazing replayability. Wallace has a gift.