Off the Grid reviews Power Grid
In real life, scarcity isn't fun. Scarcity is the rising price of gas, or the difficulty of finding a job. In a game, however, scarcity can be incredibly compelling, and make for a very unique play experience. Enter Power Grid, a board game by German designer Friedemann Friese which uses scarcity at every level of its design to produce one helluva strategy title.
The player's task in the game is to power as much of the country as possible (United States on one side of the board, or alternatively Germany on the other). As heads of various power companies (think Montgomery Burns or whoever runs PG&E), your tasks are to buy power plants, purchase resources, and allocate those resources to control as many houses in as many cities as possible. Money's not the deciding factor here; players will be judged and ranked solely on the amount of power they're pushing.
At the heart of Power Grid is its resource economy mechanic. Tokens representing coal, oil, garbage, and uranium are positioned on a special resources table on the board, representing the quantity of each resource. As more resources are purchased, the price of each resource also rises, as indicated by the table. These resources replenish after each round of gameplay, but at a dwindling rate through the game's three phases.
The message is clear: the game uses finite resources, and players must be careful to keep track of their resource needs relative to their price and availability on the market. Coal is initially abundant and cheap, but enough power plants rely on the resource to make its price rise dramatically as it becomes scarce in the endgame. Alternatively, oil starts out more expensive, but if few players rely on oil-run plants the price drops rapidly, causing a sudden rush to buy up those power plants in the game's climax. In one play-through, a power plant starting at 49 "Elektro-bucks" went for auction at over 200 -- a true testament to the power of scarcity.In fact, the only non-scarce element of Power Grid is money, but generating income requires a delicate balance of the game's other components. In the end, careful strategy and keen market watching will win out over brute capitalism. Turns out money can't buy power after all.
Final Verdict: An instant classic for board game lovers. Those turned off by pages of rules and slow learning curves should give it a shot anyway.
Scott Jon Siegel is an awesome game designer, a phenomenal blogger, and a modest mouse. His words and games can be found at numberless, and he still wishes he felt a little less like death. Hooray for illness (again)!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Nutchos @ Jun 19th 2008 9:50PM
I may pick up this game, sounds interesting. However, I usually tend to like games that have players interacting with one another more than just solo racing to some objective.
MattLoter @ Jun 20th 2008 12:07AM
while it's certainly not a real conflict heavy game, there is some good opportunity to screw with each other through the buying of resources and especially in the expanding of your cities. You're definitely quite affected by the actions of the other players.
And it is in fact a totally awesome game.
Geist @ Jun 19th 2008 9:50PM
But...but...how can "Off the Grid" review a game about using a grid? It...it doesn't makes sense!
*head asplode*
Mr Awesomer @ Jun 19th 2008 9:50PM
"...or whoever runs PG&E."
Peter Darbee... and by the way, most people who read your blog aren't even going to know what PG&E is.
Wonderflex @ Jun 20th 2008 10:55AM
I was thinking Portland General Electric, and PGE park...but that isn't who he's talking about right?
apotheos @ Jun 19th 2008 10:20PM
This isn't a rules heavy game at all. Its really quite straightforward in its execution.
The problem is as a Friedmann Friese game the rules are written terribly. The poor guy does this to every game he makes.
airhorse @ Jun 20th 2008 11:47PM
Best line from the rules; "The worst begins."
ChaoZ @ Jun 19th 2008 11:18PM
Great game. Seems more complicated than it is, at first. But still, lots of little fiddly bits. An XBLA version would be good.
Saria the Cat @ Jun 20th 2008 1:02AM
I am really interested in this but all my attention has been turned toward Pandemic right now, which is waiting for me at home to be opened up and played!
Ardic @ Jun 20th 2008 2:41PM
Pandemic is incredibly fun. Just be prepared to lose by the skin of your teeth the first few times you play it. The really nice thing is that it is short enough for an immediate replaying, if you do lose :)
Gavin Schmitt @ Jun 20th 2008 1:21AM
Its a GREAT game, with very POORLY written rules. The rules are also very fussy, and require persistent review during game play (because many actions are similar, but not the same). Over all, a good game, but be sure to read the whole rule book out loud FIRST, or risk missing important (and game breaking) details later on.
Also, avoid Friedemann Friese' other board games. They are broken, cumbersome, unfun piles of flaming crap.
Rukasu @ Jun 20th 2008 2:37AM
I've been wanting to try this for quite a while now, all I ever hear are good things.
Titanium_Orchid @ Jun 20th 2008 2:51AM
This game sounds sweet. In what phase can I use my army to liberate opposing power plants?
Rob Cannon @ Jun 20th 2008 5:06PM
This is a great game. Sure, the rules are more complex than Uno, but I think it is no more complicated than Monopoly (and far superior!)
Tao @ Jun 21st 2008 5:11PM
Never got around to playing this, though I have heard a lot of good things of the base game and all its expansions. I find infrstructure and rail games quite interesting, but I agree they sometimes lack in direct player interaction. I much prefer games like Louis the XIV and Kingsburg for that.
Tao
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