Brass Birmingham is a strategy and economics game that tells the story of competing entrepreneurs in Birmingham during the Industrial Revolution, between 1770 and 1870. The plateau represents a map of the Birmingham area during this period. The present cities can accommodate certain types of factories. Each player has a personal tray of factory tiles, including coal mines, steelworks, cotton mills, ports, and shipyards. Cities must also be linked together. During the first half of the game, players will use canals, and in the second half, they will gradually replace them with railways.

In Brass Birmingham, victory points correspond to industrialization. Canals and rails earn victory points, while factories earn points only when they can produce, and mines earn points only when they can deliver extracted resources to the factories. To win the game, players must score the most victory points, which are counted at the end of each phase.

Your goal will be to grow your business by producing and exporting cotton, pottery, and manufactured goods. You will also need to build breweries, as beer will be used as a bargaining chip for exports. The resources requested for export change with each game.