''Power Grid'' is the English-language version of the second edition of the multiplayer
German-style board game ''Funkenschlag'', designed by
Friedemann Friese and first released in 2004. ''Power Grid'' was released by
Rio Grande Games.
In the game, each player represents a
company
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...
which owns
power plant
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...
s and tries to supply electricity to cities. During the game, players bid on power plants and buy resources to provide electricity to the growing number of cities in their
network.
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.
Game play
The game comes with a double-sided board with a map of the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
on one side and
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
on the other. Each map has six regions, containing cities with 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.
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.
Expansions
All expansions require the original game.
Spin-offs
These are stand-alone games:
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
A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
''
References
External links
* Rio Grande Games
''Power Grid'' webpage*
*
*
* {{usurped,
''PowerGrid'' review} at ''The Games Journal''
Board games introduced in 2004
Economic simulation board games
Multiplayer games
Rio Grande Games games