Brass: Pittsburgh's staggering $9.1 million (£6.69 million) crowdfunding success has sent ripples through the board game world. In a rare peek behind the curtain, the folks at BoardGameWire interviewed Gavan Brown, CEO of Roxley Games (the developer behind the Brass series). In the interview, Brown shone a light on the dangers of bloat and the importance of avoiding a "cash grab" mentality.
"The strategy of many publishers is to create deluxe editions of their games to increase average order value," explained Brown.
However, Brown was keen to express the pitfalls at play with these lavish editions.
"Deluxe editions across the hobby have become sort of an arms race, with endlessly scaling scope, physical size, number of boxes, vac trays, and plastic in the boxes," Brown said.
"We do not pay attention to any of this. In fact, we often do the opposite. We focus on making our games as physically small as possible to respect your shelf space. We also choose materials that feel innovative and fit the aesthetics of the game, rather than just adding more plastic miniatures (unless the creative direction or game design calls for them)."
In this spirit, Brown was keen to emphasize the need to respect the game's audience and what made the previous Brass games stand out.
"Brass players enjoy playing a 3-4 hour economic simulation game about the industrial revolution, so needless to say, they are also some of the most savvy gamers in the hobby who would be absolutely uninterested in a cash grab," explained Brown.
Brass: Pittsburgh's predecessor, Brass: Birmingham, graces our best board games list with good reason. The intricate network of moving parts, tight pacing, and tense, gritty design philosophy make for a deeply absorbing and robust Eurogame experience. Though we've not tried Brass: Pittsburgh for ourselves yet, Roxley's impressive track record inspires confidence.
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