The workshop behind Brassgearyard

Brassgearyard began on a shared desk in a draughty office, where a few of us kept arguing about which browser builder deserved our evenings. Some of us grew up with model railways in the loft, others with hospital and theme-park sims on family PCs, and all of us had the same weakness for a ledger that finally balances.

We review only builders, railway games and business tycoons, because that is what we know best and play most. Narrowing the shelf lets us play each game for weeks, follow it through its slow middle and report on what it is like once the tutorial lights have gone out.

Every review is written by someone who played the game on ordinary weekday evenings, checked by a colleague who did not, and scored together. When we cannot confirm a detail in the game or on the developer’s own pages, we leave it out rather than guess. That makes our reviews a little less flashy and a lot more useful.

We are based in Britain and write in British English, but our readers come from all over. If you play any of these games, you are welcome in the yard, and your notes on what we got right or wrong are always read.