POWER GRID

A QUICK INTRODUCTION TO POWER GRID

Hey there! Welcome to the world of Power Grid, where you get to run your very own power company and provide electricity to cities. The goal is simple: supply as many cities as possible with electricity to win the game. Let me break it down for you.

GETTING STARTED

Alright, let’s get this power party started! To begin, each player will need to buy power plants at an auction. These power plants will help you generate electricity. But hold on, you can’t create electricity out of thin air! You’ll also need to buy resources, like coal or oil, to fuel your power plants. So make sure to keep your plants well-fueled!

Now, here’s the fun part. Once you’ve got your power plants ready to go, it’s time to connect the cities to your power grid. You’ll need to build a network of connections to make sure the electricity from your plants reaches the cities in need. It’s like building a superhighway for electricity!

Remember, the more cities you supply with electricity, the closer you are to victory. So choose your power plants wisely, manage your resources efficiently, and build a strong network of connections. May the best power company win!

When I play the game, I have to decide which regions I want to play in. The map is divided into six regions, each with seven cities. It’s usually best if I stick to one region per player. The regions I choose need to be next to each other. I don’t have to stick to just one region though – I can develop my network in all of the regions I pick.

Once I’ve decided on the regions, here’s what I need to do:

• I take a game help card, all my colored houses, and 50 elektro.
• I put the initial resources on the resource market at the bottom of the board. Here’s how many of each resource:
• 3 coal on spaces 1 to 8
• 3 oil on spaces 3 to 8
• 3 rubbish on spaces 7 and 8
• 1 uranium on spaces 14 and 16

GAMEPLAY

The game consists of three main stages where we take turns. Each game round has five phases:

1. Determining the turn order
2. Auctioning power plants
3. Purchasing resources
4. Constructing
5. Managing bureaucracy

Throughout the game, certain events will trigger the transition to the next stage, which may introduce new rules.

Stage 1 – Determining the turn order

To determine the turn order, we look at who has built the most cities. The player with the most cities will go first. If there’s a tie, we use the number of power plants owned to break it.

Stage 2 – Auctioning power plants

Hey there! Let’s talk about power plants in the game. Each of us can buy one power plant per turn. Cool, right? So, to get a power plant, we’ll start by having a little auction.

Here’s how it goes:

• First, we check out the power plants available in the market.
• Then, the player who’s starting the auction can place a bid on one of the power plants.
• After that, the other players get a chance to bid on that same power plant.
• Once the auction is won by someone, we move on to the next steps.

If the player who won the auction isn’t the one who started it, well, the one who started it can start a new auction. But, if the winner is the one who started the auction, then the next player who hasn’t won an auction yet will start a new one. So, everyone gets chances to start their own auctions.

When a new auction starts, a fresh power plant is immediately drawn and added to the market. The two lines of the power plant market are rearranged, always in order from lowest to highest value. It keeps things fair, you know?

Here are a few more rules about the power plant auctions:

To start an auction for a power plant, you must set a minimum price equal to or higher than the value of the power plant displayed on the card. Remember, you can’t bid if you’ve already purchased a power plant.

When a player acquires their fourth power plant, they must discard one of their existing three. If there are resources on the discarded plant, they must be transferred to other power plants that use the same resource. If there’s no space or no other power plants using that resource, the resources go back to the supply.

In phase 3, players buy the resources they need from the resource market to fuel their power plants. Here are the rules for this phase:

– Players must pay the market price for the resources they purchase.

– Each resource has its own price, which can change depending on supply and demand.

– Players can buy as many resources as their power plants can hold, as long as they have the money to pay for them.

– Resources not bought are removed from the market and new resources are added to replace them.

– Players must always buy at least one resource, even if they don’t have any power plants or can’t afford it.

When purchasing resources in the game, we follow a reverse order. This means that the players who are last in turn get to make their purchases first. Keep in mind that you can only buy resources that are used by your power plants. It’s important to note that a power plant has a storage limit – it can only hold twice the amount of resources it needs. If it doesn’t have all the required resources, it won’t be able to operate. You can see the necessary resources at the bottom left of the power plant’s map.

The price of the resources you want to purchase is displayed in the box where the resources are located. If you have extra resources, you can transfer them between power plants. Some power plants are hybrid and can operate with two types of energy. You have the flexibility to use any proportion of the accepted energies by the plant.

Phase 4 of the game is the construction phase, where you can build new power plants.

When playing this game, it’s crucial to build your network of cities and supply them with power plants. Starting with your first city, it will cost you 10 elektro to connect it. From then on, you can’t have separate networks, so you must continue developing the network you started. Expanding your network entails paying the cost of connecting a new city, plus the cost of the cheapest available location in that city. Here are some important rules to keep in mind when expanding your network:

• Construction happens in reverse order to the turn order.
• The number of players allowed to connect a city depends on the current step (step 1 allows 1 player, and so on).
• You cannot connect the same city more than once.

Did you know that in this game, you have the ability to travel across cities and make connections? It’s like a puzzle where you can link different places together. When you cross a city, you have to pay for the connections you use. It’s a way to keep things fair and make sure everyone has a chance to explore. You can even develop your network in multiple cities at the same time. And here’s the cool part: you don’t have to start building your network right away. It’s totally up to you when you want to begin. But remember, as soon as you expand your network, you need to update your position on the score track. It helps keep track of how well you’re doing. Now, let’s talk about power plants. If a power plant in the market has a lower value than the number of cities connected by each player, it gets removed and replaced with a new card. It’s all about making sure the game stays balanced and challenging. So, you see, there are rules to follow, but they keep the game exciting and fair for everyone.

Once players have connected their 7th city, the game moves to Step 2. The weakest power station in the current market is immediately taken out, and a card is drawn to replace it (by rearranging the power station market lines).

Phase 5 Bureaucracy

Income: You’ll need to supply as many cities as possible (or as many as you want) in your network. Choose the power stations that are running to determine how many cities you’re supplying. This number will then determine your income based on the table below.

• A power station can only run if it has enough energy, as shown on its map.
• Any surplus energy produced is not saved.

Next, the resource market is updated according to the table below, starting with the rightmost (most expensive) boxes.



Finally, when it’s time to make room for new plants, the most valuable plant in the future market gets taken out and is replaced by a new one. This happens only if there are still cards left to be drawn from the deck.



Moving on to Step 3

Step 3 comes into play when the Step 3 card is drawn. It marks the shift from the future market to the current market, where the two power plant card lines are active. There are three possible moments when we transition to Step 3:

• During Step 2 (the auction phase): We place the Step 3 card in the future power plant market, treating it as the highest value power plant. We then proceed with the auction as usual. Once the auction concludes, we remove both the Step 3 card and the lower value power plant card, without replacing them.
• During Step 4 (when replacing the lower value power plant card) or Step 5 (when replacing the higher value power plant card): We remove the Step 3 card and the lower value power plant card, without replacing them.

In any case, starting from step 3, the power plant market currently has 6 cards that can be auctioned off.

GAME OVER

Once a player expands their network to connect 17 or more cities during phase 4 (this number may change based on the number of players, refer to the table below), the game immediately ends. No more resources or power plants can be acquired after this point. The winner is the player who can supply their power plants and resources to the most number of cities. In case of a tie, the player with the most money wins. If there is still a tie, the player with the most cities in their network wins.