Power Grid

Background

Power Grid was developed from Funkenschlag, the original game, which had players draw their networks with crayons instead of playing on a fixed map. This and other changes were made when Friedemann Friese reworked the game. The new game is called Funkenschlag in the German market, but is sold under other names elsewhere.

Gameplay

The game comes with a double-sided board with a map of the United States on one side and Germany on the other. Both maps have six regions each, with the regions containing cities with possible connections of various costs between them. The number of regions used is based on the number of players. The map is a key strategic component, since some areas have generally higher connection costs than others.

Power Grid is played in rounds. Each round has five phases:

The game ends when one player builds a fixed number of cities, and the winner is the player who can supply electricity to the most cities with his network. In case of a tie, the player with the most money wins. If that results in a tie, the player with the most cities is the winner.

Power Grid is further divided into three steps. In step one eight power plants are visible to players, arranged in two rows of four based on reverse value. The first row (the least- valuable plants) is available for bidding. Only the first slot of a city may be connected. Step two begins when a player builds a set number of cities, determined by the number of players. The least-valuable available plant is removed from the game, and the second city slots are available for connection. Step three begins when the step-three card comes up in the power-plant deck after being initially placed at the bottom of the deck, and the least-valuable available plant is removed from the game. The available-power-plant pool is down to six, and the remaining-power-plant deck is shuffled to make a new draw deck.

{{anchor|Funkenschlag/Power Grid|Funkenschlag: EnBW Edition|Vysoké napětí|Mégawatts|Other editions|10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition}}Editions

Power Grid is available under different names in different markets. Most have the same game play, but a few editions are slightly different because they have non-standard maps.

{{anchor|#1: France/Italy|#2: Benelux/Central Europe|#3: Power Plant Deck 2|#4: China/Korea|#5: Brazil/Spain & Portugal|#6: Russia/Japan|#7: The Robots|#8: Quebec/Baden-Württemberg|#9: Northern Europe/United Kingdom & Ireland|#10: Australia/The Indian sub-continent}}Expansions

All expansions require the original game.

{{anchor|Spin-off games|Power Grid: Factory Manager|Power Grid: The First Sparks}}Spin-offs

These are stand-alone games:

{{anchor|Awards}}Reception

According to Martin Wallace, "I cannot say the game is definitively a classic. What I do know is that it still gets played regularly around the U.K. games scene. The vast majority of board games get dragged out once or twice and are then chucked to one side to collect dust until either auctioned or hidden in the loft by the better half. Power Grid has hung around because it has that certain something about it that makes you happy to sit down and play a game".

Reviews

• Pyramid

References

References

1. "Power Grid".
2. "Power Grid Deluxe: Europe/North America".
3. "Power Grid: The Stock Companies".
4. "Power Grid: Factory Manager".
5. "Power Grid: The First Sparks".
6. "Power Grid: The Card Game".
7. Wallace, Martin. (2007). "[[Hobby Games: The 100 Best]]". [[Green Ronin Publishing]].
8. Reed, Scott. (16 April 2008). "2005 Games 100 List".
9. Schrapers, Harald. (18 March 2019). "2005 Archive - Page 2 of 4 - Spiel des Jahres".
10. How, Alan. (24 May 2005). "International Gamers Awards - 2004 Nominees".
11. Phal, Par Monsieur. (21 June 2005). "2004 Meeples Choice Award Winners - News - Tric Trac".
12. "Pyramid: Pyramid Review: Power Grid".