The way Brass Birmingham handles the end of the canal era and forces you to rebuild is narrative game design without any narrative.

Gloomhaven party composition matters more than individual character power. Figure out your group dynamic first.

The imperial freedmen of the early empire — Narcissus, Pallas, Callistus under Claudius — wielded extraordinary administrative power precisely because they were completely dependent on imperial favor and had no independent social base.

The score working against the image is the thing I never noticed and now can't un-notice.