Power Grid (board game)
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- This article is about the board game. For information on electrical infrastructure, see electric power transmission.
| Power Grid | |
|---|---|
 In Power Grid, players compete to build up electrical networks from scratch and be the player to power the most cities at game end |
|
| Designer | Friedemann Friese |
| Publisher | Rio Grande Games |
| Players | 2 to 6 |
| Age range | 12 and up |
| Setup time | approx. 20 minutes |
| Playing time | 120+ minutes |
| Random chance | Medium |
| Skills required | Auction, Resource Management |
| BoardGameGeek entry (more...) | |
Power Grid is a multiplayer German-style board game invented by Friedemann Friese and published by Rio Grande Games. It is also well-known with its original title, Funkenschlag, published in Germany by 2F-Spiele.
In the game, each player represents a company that owns power plants and tries to supply electricity to cities. Over the course of the game, the players will bid on power plants and buy resources to produce electricity to provide power to the growing number of cities in their expanding network.
Contents |
[edit] Components
- 1 board (map, scoring track, resource market) on both sides (Germany and U.S.A.)
- 132 wooden houses (22 each in green, yellow, red, blue, lilac, and natural)
- 84 wooden tokens (24 coal (brown), 24 oil (black), 24 garbage (yellow), 12 uranium (red))
- money (in Elektro)
- 5 summary cards: order of play/payments
- 43 power plant cards (42 power plant cards and 1 >>Step 3<< card)
[edit] Rules
The game comes with a double-sided board with a map of the United States of America and Germany on either side. After a map is chosen and placed in the middle of the table, each player selects one area. There are six areas, each of a different color: red, teal, brown, yellow, purple, and blue. The players collectively choose the areas, the only restriction being that the areas must be adjacent. (The players may begin building their networks on the first turn in any of the colored areas.)
The players each choose a color and take the wooden houses in that color. Each player places one on the Scoring Track (which relates to how many cities this player has connected) and one on the Playing Order track. The Resource Market is then prepared based on a grid found on the back of the booklet, adding the wooden tokens representative of four fuel sources: coal, oil, garbage, and uranium. The number of tokens placed on the Market depend on the number of players in the game. Players also receive $50 in Elektro (the game's currency) to start with.
The Power Plant Market is then laid out. Power Plants are depicted on 3"×3" cards and are numbered 03 to 50. Each Power Plant card indicates the initial cost, the type of fuel it needs to run, the amount of fuel it can store, and how many cities it can power. Eight cards (03 through 10) are laid out for the Power Plant Market in a two-by-four grid to start the game.
The game is then played over a number of rounds. In each round, five phases are followed:
- Determine the Player Order
- Auction Power Plants
- Buying Resources
- Building
- Bureaucracy
[edit] Phase 1: Determine the Player Order
The colored player tokens on the Playing Order track are rearranged based on the number of cities that player has connected. The player with the most connected cities is placed on the first spot, and the remaining player token are placed in descending order of connected cities. Ties are resolved by the player with the higher-numbered power plant going first. (On the first turn, the player order is random.)
[edit] Phase 2: Auction Power Plants
During the first turn, every player must buy one power plant. After this phase during the first turn, player order is redetermined. After the first turn, purchasing a power plant is optional. But each player is limited to three power plants at one time. If an additional power plant is purchased, a power plant owned must be discarded to get back to the three power-plant limit.
The leading player starts the auction phase, selecting a power plant for the auction and making the opening bid. The opening bid must be at least the number listed on the Power Plant card. In clockwise order, each player who hasn't bought a power plant this turn has an opportunity to bid or pass. If he elects to pass, he is out of the bidding for that Plant. Once the Plant is purchased (everyone else has passed), then the cost of the highest bid is paid to the bank, and the player places the Plant in front of him. The highest remaining player who hasn't bought a power plant this turn opens the bidding for the next plant, and so on, until everyone has purchased one plant or passed on buying this turn. If, when it is a player's turn to chose a power plant to bid on, he may pass but he is then not allowed to purchase a power plant during that turn.
As power plants are purchased, they are replaced from the draw pile. During Steps 1 and 2 of the game, only the lowest-numbered four power plants (of the eight displayed) are available for purchase. During Step 3 of the game, only six power plants are displayed but they are all available for purchase.
[edit] Phase 3: Buying Resources
Starting with the player in LAST place on the Playing Order track, and working backwards, players purchase the resources that their Power Plants can use or store. Players pay the cheapest going rate on the Resource Market. Because of the reverse player order in this round, players that are behind (have the fewest connected cities) pay less for resources. As the resources are purchased, players place them on their Power Plants. They can buy as many as the icons on the Power Plant card indicate, times two. That is, a Power Plant can store an extra set of resources.
[edit] Phase 4: Building
During this phase, a player seeks to expand his power network. This phase is also played in reverse player order, thus, players that are behind have better choices for purchasing connections to cities. Each city is divided into three sections and labeled "10", "15", or "20". At the beginning of the game, players will place their wooden buildings on the "10" section of a given city. This costs 10 Elektros. The player can branch out into another city, paying the connection cost (the number on the pipe connecting the two cities) plus the 10 Electros for setting up in that city. Later in the game, the sections marked "15" and "20" can be used as part of a player's network (Steps 2 & 3 respectively), but in the initial Step 1, only one player may occupy any given city.
If at any time, a player has equal or more cities than the lowest-numbered power plant displayed (available for purchase), then the lowest-numbered power plant is removed from those available for purchase and is placed in the discard pile. The power plant is replaced with the card from the top of the draw pile, then the available power plants are sorted from lowest to highest.
[edit] Phase 5: Bureaucracy
Every player "fires" their power plants, consuming the resources that were purchased and earning the player money. The player's plants produce the electricity for the number of cities that it can support, assuming the player has that many connected cities in his network. For example, the #10 Power Plant card can power two cities with two coal. The resources used are removed, and the player is paid in Elektros based on a provided scale. The more connected cities that are powered, the more money the player earns.
During Steps 1 and 2, the highest-numbered power plant is removed from those displayed and placed at the bottom of the draw pile. During Step 3, the lower-numbered power plant is removed from those displayed and is put in the discard pile. The removed power plant is replaced from the top of the draw pile and the power plants available are resorted, lowest to highest.
[edit] Game steps
These phases are repeated until certain "steps" are reached. These are as follows:
- Step 1: Play as detailed above, only one player can occupy a given city.
- Step 2: After a player has connected his 7th city during the Building Phase, Step 2 begins. The lowest Power Plant in the market is removed from the game and replaced by a new one from the draw pile. Players can build in to the "15" spaces in cities.
- Step 3: When the "Step 3" card appears in the Power Plant draw pile, Step 3 begins and the game enters the final stretch. Players can build in to "20" spaces in cities, and new rules governing the selection and availability of Power Plants are enacted.
[edit] End game
The game ends after the bureaucracy phase once one player connects a minimum of:
- 21 cities for a 2-player game
- 17 cities for a 3 or 4-player game
- 15 cities for a 5-player game
- 14 cities for a 6-player game
The winner is the player who can supply electricity to the most cities with his network. Tie breakers first look at who has the most money, then the most cities.
[edit] Strategy
When discussing strategy for Power Grid, there are three main areas to examine. The most important aspect is the Power Plants and Plant Capacity. Secondary to Plant Capacity is player Board Position and Expansion of cities. The last is the ranking of Power Plants available in the Opening Round. In the end, the player who will win is generally the person who has been able to best balance these areas.
[edit] Plant Capacity
Plant Capacity is of the utmost importance. At a game's end, it will be a players' plant's power capacity that determines whether or not they have won. The winner will be the person with the most powered cities, not necessarily the most cities. In order to secure a chance of victory a player should try to have two high capacity plants in the middle of Step Two. Players should try to have at least one high capacity Power Plant by the end of Step One. High capacity can be defined as Power Plants with a capacity of five or more. When a player has an opportunity to buy a high capacity Power Plant, they should do so immediately. Admittedly, when a high capacity Power Plant is up for auction, the price will go high. It will be up to the individual player to determine what price is right for them and whether or not another high capacity Power Plant may come available soon for purchase. Furthermore, it is better to get a Coal or Oil high capacity plant, than a Garbage or Uranium plant earlier in the game. Generally the resources are more plentiful and cheaper to purchase, allowing the player to keep their Power Plants powered. By getting the high capacity Power Plants the player will be better set up for the late stages of the game. It is better to expand later in the game rather than earlier as having the most cities forces you to lead the auctions and purchase resources and expand last. It is detrimental to be in front early as it will end up costing the player more for those resources and the player may be boxed in during expansion and have to spend extra to move through other cities. The player should be cautious of becoming too dependent on one type of resource. If a player only has oil plants, then there is a strong possibility that they may find out late in the game that there is no oil left to purchase and will be unable to fire a plant when needed. The best high capacity Power Plants being described are numbered: 20, 21, 25, 26, 31 and 32.
[edit] Board Position
The second most important aspect of strategy for Power Grid is Board Position. While not as important as Plant Capacity, it is still useful to understand how to work the board in a player's favour. Early on, it is best to build in a cheaper area rather than in a more expensive area. Expensive can be described as any connection that will cost ten or more Elektro. This seems like a simple enough tip: build where it is cheap, but it is still the case if there is competition in the area. It would be better to have the players first three cities connect at five Elektro and then be forced to spend ten or more, than it would with those being reversed. Early in the game with money tight, it is more important to have the Elektro available for high capacity Power Plants, which is why the player should try to build for less. In the end, each player will end up paying about the same for their cities, but having the money saved early will have the bigger payoff in the end.
[edit] Opening Power Plants
It is often debated which of the opening Power Plants are most important to buy. There are great ones to buy, good ones to buy and bad ones to buy.
The Great
04 - The cheapest to power and therefore typically a player's best option.
07 - Good buy that allows for a good profit on turn one.
08 - As good as 7 for profit, but due to the higher number it loses some if its lustre for turn order.
10 - If 10 becomes available it is a player's best option. It can be used for longer than any of the other Power Plants available in opening round. However, being fifth (or possibly sixth) to choose cities can leave one with very poor city location options (and since the ten powers two cities, worst turn order on the second turn, as well).
The Good
05 – It is more expensive to run, but as you progress through the game it can act as a storage device for oil or coal. Also, in most games it will give a decent turn order in the first round as well.
09 – Another that isn't great off the opening round, but increases with value as the game progresses.
13 - Only in a 6-player game, it is free to run and can last almost the entire game, but starting last in turn order on turn one and usually third or fourth on turn two can also hurt.
The Bad
03 - This can be a good Power Plant to buy, but at first with the price of oil, it ends up costing too much to power.
06 - Do not buy. Simply costs too much to run it in the first round as Garbage costs seven Elektro and thus it will cost thirteen Elektro to power one city.
[edit] Differences in editions
The 29 plant in the 1st edition was printed with a capacity to power 3 cities. Friedemann Friese has made it clear that he intended this plant to have a capacity to power 4 cities. 2nd edition copies of Power Grid have this correction incorporated. If you play with a 1st edition copy, you should agree before play whether you will play the 29 plant as printed, or with the corrected capacity.
[edit] France/Italy
The France & Italy Expansion for Power Grid was published in 2005. The expansion requires the original game to play. As with the original, the board has a different map on each side: France and Italy. Along with the maps are small rule changes to reflect the power culture in these two countries. France, a land that has embraced nuclear power, has an earlier start with atomic plants and more uranium available. Italy has more waste, but fewer coal and oil resources.
[edit] Benelux/Central Europe
The Benelux & Central Europe Expansion for Power Grid was published in 2006. The expansion requires the original game to play. As with the original, the board has a different map on each side: Benelux and Central Europe. Along with the maps are small rule changes to reflect the power culture in these two regions. Benelux (Economic union of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) has more ecological power plants and more availability of oil. Central Europe has rules changes in Steps 2 and 3, and limits on what type of power plant may be used to power cities in different regions (countries) of the map.
[edit] Awards
- Games Magazine Games 100
- Spiel des Jahres Recommended
- International Gamers Awards Best Strategy Game Nominee
- Meeples Choice Awards Top 3 of 2004
[edit] External links
- Rio Grande Games' Power Grid webpage
- 2F-Spiele's Funkenschlag webpage (German)
- PowerGrid and Funkenschlag at BoardGameGeek
- Funkenschlag online at BrettspielWelt
- PowerGrid review at The Games Journal
