Back to Games
Power Grid box art

Base game

Power Grid

Kritiku rating

Not rated

Published
2004
Reach
Well known
Players
2–6
Play time
120 min
Weight
Not enough ratings yet
Ratings
0

How it plays

Build a city network and operate power plants to supply more cities than your rivals. Each round, auction power plants, buy fuel from a changing market, connect new cities, then burn fuel to power cities and earn money. When someone connects the required number of cities, the player who powers the most cities wins, with remaining money breaking ties.

Main mechanics

  • Auction & bidding
  • Engine building
  • Tile laying
  • Auction & bidding: Value is set by what players are willing to pay.
  • Engine building: Small early moves compound into a machine that does the work later.
  • Tile laying: You build a shared or personal board tile by tile.
Full publisher description

Power Grid is the updated release of the Friedemann Friese crayon game Funkenschlag . It removes the crayon aspect from network building in the original edition, while retaining the fluctuating commodities market like Crude: The Oil Game and an auction round intensity reminiscent of The Princes of Florence . The objective of Power Grid is to supply the most cities with power when someone's network gains a predetermined size. In this new edition, players mark pre-existing routes between cities for connection, and then bid against each other to purchase the power plants that they use to power their cities. However, as plants are purchased, newer, more efficient plants become available, so by merely purchasing, you're potentially allowing others access to superior equipment. Additionally, players must acquire the raw materials (coal, oil, garbage, and uranium) needed to power said plants (except for the 'renewable' windfarm/ solar plants, which require no fuel), making it a constant struggle to upgrade your plants for maximum efficiency while still retaining enough wealth to quickly expand your network to get the cheapest routes. ☛ Power Grid FAQ - Please read this before posting a rules question! Many questions are asked over and over in the forums... If you have a question about a specific expansion, please check the rules forum or FAQ for that particular expansion.

Criterion breakdown

ComplexityDepthSkillInteractionTable ExpProduction

No ratings yet — be the first to shape this game's profile.

  • Kritiku average
Criterion
Kritiku
Complexity

Not rated yet

Depth

Not rated yet

Luck vs Skill

Not rated yet

Player Interaction

Not rated yet

Table Experience

Not rated yet

Production

Not rated yet