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You can tell this is an older Friedemann Friese title because it isn't called something like “Force Flow.” (Granted, the German release is called Funkenschlag which is one of the most Friedemann Friese names ever).
Ah, the venerable Power Grid. Where games like Catan, Ticket to Ride, and Splendor are considered gateway games, Power Grid was the “We have Arrived” game for a generation of hobby gamers. Connect the cites, bid on power plants to power those cities, purchase resources to run those power plants and get used to coming up one dollar short.
It's great watching players evolve over multiple games of Power Grid. First it is “I need to connect these cities.” Then it is “I need to prioritize powering all the cities I have connections with.” Then moving on to “I need to hold back and make a huge, well timed push to win the game” and finally it's “How many different ways can I mess with my opponents.” Okay, maybe that last one is optional. But that moment of realization when someone takes a city that blocks an opponent for the first time during the opening step of the game is enlightening. “Hey, this is my area, you can't build here!” “Actually, the rule is that each city can only be connected to by one player during the first step of the game. No one said who that could or couldn't be.” I, personally, love the tension of players “laying back” (presumably with their mind on their money and their money on their mind), trying not to be in first place, and waiting for the perfect moment to push to the end game.
The Terminology can be a bit confusing in Power Grid. I'm sure Friedemann Friese was chuckling to himself when he created “Phases” in the game, with visions of Three Phase Transformers dancing in his head. Then toss in some German to English translations for “Stufe” which can be either Step or Stage. Step being the three different gaming steps of the game, Phase being the five phases of one round and Fork being something you don't stick into a power outlet. Just remember that the terminology isn't interchangeable and use the exact phrasing when teaching it to avoid issues.
The recharged version of Power Grid has some quality of life rule changes. It includes a "1" token that goes on the lowest power plant that it up for auction during the second phase of the round. This makes the lowest plant always have a minimum bid of 1 instead of it's printed default bid. If that power plant isn't bought, it is removed at the end of the auctions. The starting plants are also no longer fixed, and you remove a preset number of "low" and "high" plants for different player counts rather than simply removing random higher cost plants. There are also new icons on the back of the Power Plant cards: Plugs on the back for starting plants and higher plants have receptacle icons. This makes for much easier set-up that most players won't notice but the person running the game will appreciate.
Power Grid is a game based purely on economics. And, I'm sorry, maybe it's just Monopoly money flashbacks but I hate the feel of the money in Power Grid. I first contemplated replacing the money with Poker Chips and then, it just clicked. This is what you need: Post it notes for scoring. Everyone gets a post-it note, writes down their starting cash and does the math for all of the transactions. Not only does this eliminate everyone trying to math in their heads, it removes the need for anyone to play Banker. Hey, if you need a banker to count out all of the profits and losses: #1 Quit putting that onto someone whose trying to play the game and #2 If you can't trust your gaming buddies to be honest about the totals in the game, maybe get new buddies?
The Two-player game of Power Grid pits the Players “Against the Trust.” Personally, I call it “Eat the Rich” but either way the anti-Oligarch vibe is real. The Trust is just a blocker “player” that is typical of games of this era. As with most of the attempts to make a auction-centric game playable at lower player counts, it suffices but doesn't excel. You genuinely need the interaction of more real players.
The base game comes with a two-sided game board with Germany (Funkenschlag!) on one side and the United States on the other. I think the sole reason the United States board is played is because of familiarity for U.S. Players. The disparity between the east and west coast usually leads to no one playing out of the California/Nevada area. Germany, on the other hand, feels like it has a lot more interesting choices. And, unlike something like Ticket to Ride, you don't really need geographical knowledge of the map of choice.
Power Grid is an (Energy) efficiency puzzle. If that is your jam, Power Grid is one of the best available. It's where the title of this review comes from. The number of times you are a single dollar short of something you want to accomplish seems to happen in every single game...usually more than once.
“I played it out” is the biggest knock I have heard against Power Grid. I consider that high praise: Any game that engages you enough to play it over and over until you are “played out” has truly done it's job. It may not be the shiniest or newest thing on the game shelf but they don't get more solid (state) than Power Grid.
A review copy of this release was provided by the publisher. Therewillbe.games would like to thank them for their support.
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