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In my quest to
discover board games that I not only love to play, but to teach others how
to play and watch them enjoy, I come across some games that initially fly
under my radar, but after repeated plays, catch on and wow me. So, along
comes Power Grid from Rio Grande Games; a nice blend of strategic
elements, with little doses of luck. This game did not fly under my
proverbial radar, however - it flew smack-dab into the middle of it!
Power Grid is a game where players build power plants, connect them to various cities, and purchase enough supplies to keep 'em going - and make a tidy profit. It sounds easy enough, but with the competition that is out there, as well as the differing technologies available, you'd better be on your toes.
Gameplay
The game starts each round with determining who the starting player is. At
the beginning of the game it's determined randomly since all players are
equal in the game - later on it will be determined by the number of cities
that you build power lines to, then based on the number on your
highest-value power plant.
Why is this important? Well, being first is really no picnic. Sure, you look to be doing the best since you have either the most city connections or the largest power plant, but in reality you are being hit with higher resource costs due to the other players, in order from worst to first, buying their supplies first! This in turn depletes the supply and the prices IMMEDIATELY go up! Ouch!
Now, some of you may be thinking - "hey - if I am the big fish in the pond - like Wal Mart - shouldn't I get the cheaper prices?" Well, not in this world my friend. The rules of competition in this world are a balancing factor, and that is a great element to this game. It also adds another element of strategy - however subtle - to the game.
After this, players will
auction off power plants in order to build their power-producing
capabilities, and in turn their earnings. Each power plant has 3 bits of
VERY important information - The starting value of the plant (determines
the starting value in the auction phase), the type of resources that it
needs to produce power, and the number of cities that it can power with
the required resources.
There are 6 power plant types in Power Grid - Coal plants, Oil plants, Garbage plants, Uranium plants, Ecological and Fusion plants. Ecological and Fusion plants do not actually require resources to run, but they usually cost a little more to get in the auction phase.
In the order that I have them listed above, the resources for these plants rise in price at the start of the game. So, Coal would be the cheapest to start with, and Uranium would cost the most - though it takes a while for Uranium plants to show up in the active market.
Oh - I forgot to explain that there is an "Active" market and a "Futures" market. The active market is shows what plants are currently available for auction - this will be the 4 lowest-valued plants in the market. The 4 highest plants are in the futures market, and aren't available for auction until they slide up into the active market. This creates market speculation, and can either work for you or against you, depending how the power plant cards turn up. At first the futures market is predicable, but after a while it can be a thorn in your side - or your friend. Play the market wisely...
After everyone has bought a power plant or passed, the players then purchase resources to power their power plants. Starting with the LAST player and working up to the first player, resources are purchased and prices go up and up. You can only purchase resources that you can use, and can only store so much on your power plants.
After all of this, players then build connections to cities to supply them power. Again, the LAST player starts this round, with the first player in line on the turn track building last! Your first city is easy - pay 10 Elektro (the monetary unit in the game) and plop one of your house tokens on the city. Now, to extend your reach to other cities, you need to pay connection fees. These fees are listed on the board, and show you what it costs to build the connection to the city. But that's not the only fee - you still need to pay the starting fee in the new city of 10 Elektro. At the start of the game each city can only hold one player, so build and expand wisely. Later on in the game you will be able to get into other cities where other players are, but the cost rises to 15 Elektro plus connection fees. Later rounds will allow 3 players in a city, but the cost to build rises to 20 Elektro. Plus connection fees...
After the
smoke clears, players will then earn money for their efforts. Don't worry
- if you didn't buy any resources this round for some reason or you didn't
have any stored up, you will still earn some pity cash just for owning a
company. There is no debt in the game - if you can't afford it - you can't
buy it! The payout is in 11-point increments starting with powering 1 city
at 22 up to 3 cities at 44. The payout then slides down to 10-point
increments up to 5 cities, and so on and so forth.
Once everyone has been paid, depending on where you are in the game, you will remove one of the power plants from the market or from the game entirely. You will also restock the available supplies in the game. As you can see, in some cases the prices will drop to their lowest levels if they weren't purchased or purchased lightly, and some may just get back to their starting levels or be still higher yet.
The game will change depending on the number of players playing, so you may not use the whole map in the game. There are 2 maps available - the USA in all of it's glory, and the fatherland - Germany. There is a difference in starting and building strategies on these maps, so keep that in mind while you learn and play the game.
To win the game, you don't need to be the richest - you just need to connect to the most cities at the end of it all.
Components & Artwork
The game components are top-notch, as usual. The rulebook isn't laid out
the best, however. A little better editing would save new players time and
frustration. Make sure you read it and re-read it, and refer to it often
when you first learn the game.
The artwork in the game is pretty cool and pleasing to look at. No, not in the clunky rule book - that's black and white and nothing too special. I've found that new players like discovering that the bigger the power plant the dirtier the backgrounds get. Of course, this doesn't apply to the ecological and fusion power plants as they don't pollute. But don't let this influence you - I've played this game with a player that decided he was going to play with the cleanest power plants no matter what the cost or inability. In the end, he got burned for his efforts.
Overall
This game is a blast to play. The group that I introduced this game to
loves the game, with some players buying it right away to play with their
other play groups. I love the way it is balanced, and the subtle elements
of luck involved.
If you are a strategy game player, then Power Grid may be right for you. If you don't trust my word, then at least hook up with someone who owns the game and give it a play or to. I know that not every game is for everyone, but this one ranks right up there with some of the best. Check it out!
Written by Gene Vogel
(Posted 01-16-2005)
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