Please do NOT buy this game on steam assuming that in 2023 the years-old complains have been fixed. They HAVE NOT. You CANNOT PLAY this game online. DO NOT BUY. Unless you expect to play B:B against bots ONLY. You will press "log in" and either nothing will happen or the connection will time out. If you do manage to log in, you will press open game only to have it say "unknown error". I have tried to play 20+ games online and either myself or my opponents were unable to make it past round 3 in the canal era. Half the time I can't even log in. This is a well-documented problem and is NOT fixed as of 2023. Do NOT BUY. DO NOT BUY. DO NOT BUY.

Currently there are a LOT of bugs so it's hard to recommend at the moment. Mostly they are interface bugs although I have encountered a rules error too. The AI also doesn't seem very strong even on Hard - all three of my opponents opened the exact same way and by the end of the game one of them had only managed 70 points.

However... if all of the above is dealt with it seems like a good start at an implementation. The interface is mostly clear (a few odd choices especially around how income is represented) and you can always follow what's happening. Looking forward to see how this develops.

If you're only going to play single player, then the game is fine, but our group of 4 has been unable to complete an online game due to bugs. That said, for a single-player only game it is not worth the $19 price tag as there is very little challenge from the AI and they do the same opening move every single time based on "difficulty" level. Most of my games I win by a 30+ margin of victory which is pathetic for them. The main appeal when buying it was online play and we can't do it. This is one of the best board games of all time and it's a shame a develop like Asmodee didn't tackle it because it's been over a month since last dev update. If devs keep at it and get the game fixed for online, then I would change my recommendation, but I'm not hopeful due to how little engagement there's been. This game is in pre-release form and should not be on the Steam store as a full release version as far as I'm concerned.

Is there a thumb somewhere between up and down? Leaving a review mostly just to advise people on what works and what doesn't.

Pros: It's Brass. Real good board game.

Cons: Comically amateur/mediocre digital adaptation. The tl;dr is that there's a good game in here hidden within a not great app. If you like the board game enough to deal with that, maybe it's worth it. Hopefully it gets better as early access goes on, but there's some fundamental wonkiness to it.

Its minimization tray icon is the default Unity logo, which probably speaks to the amount of effort put into making this.

Can't speak for the AI or the tutorial, I haven't even touched that part. I just bought this to play with friends and randoms online. Asynchronous multiplayer is decent if you're into that. Playing live has been less pleasant to the point of being near unplayable. I've stumbled through a few games, but basically, whatever it is that updates turn status within a game while its actually open is either frusturatingly slow, broken, or both. One player takes a turn, and then we wait a minute or for their turn to register on the other players screens. Sometimes (most times), it never does, and the only way to trigger the next turn is to quit and rejoin. Also, there's no distinction within the game between playing asynchronously and live, so even if you're all just trying to hammer out a game I hope you like opening your email to get rid of the 20 turn notifications that you spawned over its course.

Frequent server errors. I've only had one game get perma busted, but clicking three times to join a server and repeatedly getting "Unknown Error" is pretty common.

If someone turn times out, the game is unceremoniously abandoned. This is pretty anticlimactic, especially given that AI does exist in the game. I'm surprised they don't just get replaced with an AI player.

Some missing information relative to the board game. In the physical version, each player gets a hint card showing the card distribution. This information isn't in the digital version, and also there's no easy ways to look at discard piles to see what's been played. You can kinda figure it out by looking in the turn log, but this seems like an obvious missing thing.

Many inexplicable UI and QOL decisions, particularly in the server browser. Why does my list of player games include everything game that I've ever completed, including abandoned ones? Why when I host a game can I not see who's joined my game until it actually starts? Why is the end of game screen an afterthought (When a game ends, you don't get any notification and aren't prompted to check in to the game to see your score or who won, you just have to dig through your completed games and find it and reopen it.). Why is there no in game chat? Why do you send out email notifications for when it's your turn, but don't specify which game it's your turn in? Open the app and find out, I guess. Why can I only see the top two centimeters of cards in my hand until I play them?

I could describe even more of each and every bug I've ever seen, but it'd be pedantic and we'd be here a while.

At least none of the bugs I've seen have been related to the game rules, which seem to work correctly. It's just everythign else.

Anyways, it might be worth a buy if you're really into the board game (I've probably got my moneys worth and will keep playing it cause I like the board game), but it's a struggle and the app does its best to get in the way of you enjoying it.

I love Brass Birmingham (The Boardgame) and reviewing an Early Access game is somewhat unfair - I based my review on both that it is Early Access and the actual gameplay experience.

1. The AI gameplay is rubbish right now and is far from developed - far too easy (even on the expert level) and predictable - Maybe it is good for beginners to learn the mechanics of the game (I can't really know since i've played 20 + times)

2. The Tutorial was good for an intermediate player that has'nt played for a while but for a total beginner I would draw the conclusion that it is far from enough to actually get to know the game.

3. The biggest flaw yet is the online experience. The queue system is broken and when you match with 3 players there is no notification that you actually started a game hence people queued will forget and not join the game that is if you even get to the game since it often gets stuck loading the content.

If you are lucky enough to actually play the game it often get stuck in between players turns, you will have to go back to the menu and join again to make the game refresh and get to your turn.

As I mentioned this game is really Early Access and will leave you more frustrated than satisfied.

If you are a big fan of Brass Birmingham and have time, you should buy it and report everything from the experience, UI to bugs and glitches thus helping the developers making this the game it deservers to be. You'd want plenty of time though since there are so many issues.

If you are a new player who are looking for a fresh, cool, complex and hella fun boardgame - do not buy this game yet, there are other better games out there.

For being an Early Access game I would say it is 2/5 - Since it is nearly unplayable, although if you would actually play a full game it is a great and fun game to play.

Honestly, overall it's very well done. Interface is great, rules make sense. I've played this game a lot in person, so I can't comment on the tutorial, but the normal games are well done. I have a couple comments though, so hopefully the devs read this, and it will help others to see what might be to be improved. However, extremely playable, polished, and an incredible deal for $12.

----- Things to improve ----
Currently there's a bug where, when needing to spend coal, I have the (incorrect) option to select coal from something further away even if an opponent or other coal is closer. In the rulebook, it clearly says you MUST take from the closest coal source, whether yours or opponents (see "Consuming coal").

That's the only issue I have - otherwise I'd also eliminate some of the unnecessary actions, e.g. when consuming iron, do I >really< need to click the iron market? Why not just auto-withdraw and eliminate the need for me to click to do it? Same thing with the loan system, why not still display the income track but get rid of the button requirement? In tutorials, I could see this being necessary, but in custom games I don't think it helps, just gets in the way.

Also, a minor issue - I was in my last move of canal phase and was unable to place more links. I was at 8/14 placed links, so it wasn't me running out of capacity. I went ahead and pressed the settings button, went back to the game, and was able to proceed just fine. Was mildly annoying but whatever, it ended up working.

All in all, highly recommend using this instead of the TTS port (which Roxley blocked).

This works on Steam Deck!

Played many hours, since early September 2021. AI got much better now. Still can't recommend it for multiplayer, which is most of fun, because the game frequently glitches, fails to save the turn or just fails to login. This started to happen since about mid-autumn 2022. Developers (or owner) just fix smth small (maybe restart servers) and issue continues after few days of regular work.

As said many time by others, online feature is brokoen. It works occasionally, but more often does not.

There have been a lot of comments about how this is very much an early and buggy release. Since downloading the Mac version and playing half a dozen games over the last three days, yes I love this game, it has been completely stable without a single issue.

The gameplay is very true to the board game and if you like that I really recommend this. The only improvers from my side is that I'd like the AI to be a stronger player on Hard setting and one outside of the developers control, it'd be great if more people could join the community and join in with the online games.