Power Grid – <PERSON>’s Fiddly Funkenschlag Flop
I generally agree with the masses, the BoardGameGeek masses that is. I heartily concur with the thousands of people who have voted Tigris & Euphrates, El Grande, Caylus, Ra, and Age of Steam into the Top 10 on BGG. My tastes and those of BGG at large very rarely diverge, but Power Grid stands out as the most prominent instance of this rare occurrence. Let me start out by saying that I have a profound respect for the design of Power Grid. I think that <PERSON> did an outstanding job of interweaving various clever mechanics into a well-balanced game. The supply-and-demand market system for resources is particularly nicely done, and an admirable feat in game design. However, I analogize the respect I have for <PERSON>’s design to the respect I have for classic games such as Chess and Go, or the respect I have for classical music such as <PERSON> or <PERSON>. To be clear, I don’t think that Power Grid nearly rises to the level of any of those four masterpieces, but the similarity lies in the fact that while I respect and appreciate the design of each, I simply do not enjoy playing (or listening to) them whatsoever. I don’t intend to write many negative game reviews; not because I have something against them (they can actually be quite useful to people one a limited budget), but rather just because I rarely find a game I don’t like. In this case though, I think it may be worthwhile for me to explain the shortcomings, as I see them, of Power Grid.
First things first, what will you get in the box and what is it going to cost you? Power Grid comes with a double-sided game board, 132 wooden houses (22 in six different colors), 84 wooden resource tokens (representing coal, oil, garbage, and uranium), paper money, 5 rules summary cards, and 43 power plant cards. Power Grid retails for $44.95, and is published in the United States by Rio Grande Games. The components of Power Grid are generally very good. The double-sided game board is a nice touch, and certainly something that I’d like to see more games (e.g., Ticket to Ride) include to increase replayability. The board has Germany on one side and the United States on the other, which provides excellent variety that many eurogames with maps lack. The paper money leaves something to be desired, but could easily be replaced by poker chips. Finally, one minor complaint with the components is that the wooden resource tokens representing oil are completely round (as opposed to the garbage tokens which have flat edges), and consequently tend to roll off the table quite frequently. Nonetheless, the components are generally well done, especially the double-sided game board.
So what are you doing with all this coal and oil for 90 minutes? The goal of Power Grid is to be able to supply power to more cities than any of your opponents by the time the game ends. 92
In order to supply power to cities you will need to do three things. First, you will need to buy power plants. Second, you will need to buy resources to run those plants. Third, you will need to claim cities on the map as the target for your power. My first complaint is with the instruction booklet for the game, which makes the game seem much more convoluted than it really is. The game simply comes down to building power plants, buying resources, and claiming cities, but the instructions are nearly impenetrable. This complaint is minor however, because most instructions for eurogames make the games seem far more complicated than they really are. Nonetheless, prospective Power Grid players should be forewarned that the instructions may take some time to digest.
The game is divided into 5 phases. First, determine player order (which will affect the order in which you build power plants, buy resources, and claim cities). This is done by putting players in order by the number of cities they have claimed (highest to lowest). This may sound like the player is already ahead because they have the most cities will have an advantage, but the reality is actually the reverse because many of the phases are conducted in reverse order. This is my second complaint with the game. The determination of player order is a huge “catch-up” mechanic to prevent a runaway leader and ensure that the results of every single game are extremely close. I don’t mind catch-up mechanics in general. I think the removal of rings in YINSH and income reduction in Age of Steam are both great examples of catch-up mechanics done right. However, in this case I think the catch-up mechanic is simply too extreme. It is so extreme in fact that players often strive to be in “last place” so that they can be last in player order. 629