# Manhattan Project: Energy Empire ## General Info - **Year Published**: 2025 - **BGG Rating**: 8.0 - **BGG Rank**: — - **Players**: 1-5 (Best with: 4) - **Duration**: 60-120 min - **Weight**: 3.07 / 5 - **Designers**: Luke Laurie, Tom Jolly - **Artists**: Heiko Günther - **Publishers**: Frost Bite Games - **Categories**: Dice, Economic, Environmental, Industry / Manufacturing - **Mechanics**: Dice Rolling, Die Icon Resolution, End Game Bonuses, Events, Variable Player Powers, Worker Placement, Worker Placement, Different Worker Types ## Verdict Strategy lovers and history buffs will love this mega‑pack!Classic mechanics blendFlexible playtimeIntegrated expansionsPollution can hinderMedium‑high complexityHIGHLY RECOMMENDED ## Description Manhattan Project: Energy Empire is the most complete edition of the classic series, bundling the base game, the Cold War expansion, the new UN Envoys expansion, and a ton of extra content into one package. Each player takes control of a nation fighting for power in the late twentieth century, building industry, commerce, and government while chasing energy sources. The main threat isn’t war itself but the unpredictable global impacts of industrialization and pollution. As production ramps up, pollution rises, forcing players to use science and tech to mitigate effects and prevent crises. The game blends worker placement, tableau building, and resource management in a turn cycle that alternates between working and generating energy. On a work turn, you place a worker on the main board, use workers and energy to activate cards in your tableau, and can spend energy to use already‑occupied spaces, ensuring no one gets blocked. On a generate turn, you roll energy dice representing nuclear, coal, oil, solar, and other sources to replenish your supply. The die‑icon resolution mechanic adds variety, while random events and end‑game bonuses keep the tension high. The game runs smoothly solo or multiplayer, with 1‑5 players, 60‑120 minutes, and medium weight, making it perfect for fans of strategic planning, economics, and historical themes with a retro twist. If you enjoy games that challenge you to think carefully about resources and environmental impact, Manhattan Project: Energy Empire is a must‑try. ## How to Play Game Objective In Manhattan Project: Energy Empire, you are a world leader making crucial decisions to guide your nation to prosperity. You will build power plants, generate energy, and use your resources to strengthen your industry, commerce, and government, all while trying to minimize damage to the environment. While all nations will prosper, only one will become the Energy Empire! You score victory points (VP) by acquiring Structure cards and Energy dice, completing Government Agendas, keeping your Environment clean, and gaining influence in the United Nations. There are several ways to achieve these goals, but generating large amounts of energy and using it efficiently are the keys to building a strong nation. Preparation (Setup) Follow these steps to set up the game: Main Board: Place the main board in a central area, using the side without the Doomsday Clock. Supplies: Create supplies of all resources, dice, Pollution tokens, and Oil Well tokens within reach of all players. Shuffle Cards: Shuffle each of the card decks separately (Agendas, Nations, Early and Late Global Impacts, Commerce Structures, Industry, and Government), leaving all decks face down. Global Impact Cards: Without revealing them, draw three Early Global Impact cards and three Late Global Impact cards. Place them face down in a row along the top edge of the board, with the Early cards on the left. The remaining Global Impact cards are returned to the game box. Global Impact Track: Stack the appropriate number of Pollution tokens from the supply (as per the table in the manual) on each of the six pollution spaces of the Global Impact Track. For example, in a 3-player game, stack 5 Pollution tokens on each space of the Global Impact Track. Structure Markets: Place the three Structure card decks in the rightmost space in their corresponding region, below the bottom edge of the board. Fill each Structure market from left to right, drawing two cards from the corresponding Structure deck and placing them face up in the appropriate market (Government cards in the Government market, etc.), and then flipping the top card of each deck face up. Agendas: Draw 3 Government Agenda cards and place them face up in their spaces along the left edge of the game board. Keep the Agendas deck face down nearby. Player Markers: Each player chooses their color for the game. Place 1 colored marker for each player on the two zero spaces of the Score Track, and the third colored marker for each player on the leftmost space of the United Nations Track. Unused tokens are returned to the box. Neutral Workers (2 players only): Take 3 Workers of an unused color and place one on each of the three Structure Market locations (Industry, Commerce, and Government). These workers will remain in these locations throughout the game. Player Boards: Each player takes the player board of their choice. Initial Pollution: Each player takes one Pollution token from the supply and places it on the top left space of their Environment grid. Workers and Energy: Each player takes 3 Workers and 2 Energy tokens of their color and places them on their player board. Players should keep any remaining Workers and Energy in a nearby, but clearly separate, stock to avoid confusion about which are legitimately in play. Nations and Initial Agendas: Deal two Nation cards and two Government Agenda cards face down to each player. Each player looks at and selects one of each. The selected Agenda is placed face down on the player board in the indicated space, the other is shuffled back into the deck. (Players may look at their own Agendas at any time.) Players reveal their selected Nation card and keep the other Nation card face down (to use the reference on the back). Bonus Starting Resources: Each player takes the bonus starting resources, dice, and/or Workers indicated at the top of their Nation card and places them on their player board, ready to use. Starting Player: The starting player is the person who used the least amount of fuel to get from their home to where the game is being played. Play order is clockwise from the starting player. Each player receives extra starting Money based on turn order, according to the table in the manual. Game Flow Manhattan Project: Energy Empire is a turn-based game. Starting with the starting player and proceeding clockwise, players take turns until the end of the game. Each turn can be a Work turn or a Generate turn. Turn Restrictions: If you have no Workers remaining on your player board, you must choose to Generate. If you Generated on your previous turn, you must choose to Work. Actions and How to Play On your turn, you choose one of two options: Work or Generate. Then, you perform the steps for the type of turn you chose. Work Turns Work turns are where most of the action happens in the game. During Work turns, you will use the Workers, Energy, and other assets you have gathered to build Structures, visit other board locations, and activate your built Structures and Nation card for a variety of benefits. To perform a Work turn, you must: Place a Worker on the main board: Take one of your Workers from your player board, place it on one of the 13 locations on the main board, and perform its associated action. This is not optional and must be done. Each location displays a Worker symbol (briefcase); this shows where you can place your Worker. Activate your Structures (and/or Nation card): You may activate your Structures (and/or Nation card) of the type (Industry/Commerce/Government) that matches the board area where you placed a Worker in Step 1. Requirements for Placing a Worker in a Location Sufficient Resources: You must have enough resources to perform the location's action (if that action has an associated cost, indicated by the black Spend arrow). The Spend arrow is on many cards and board locations. Whenever you see it, it means you must discard something (taking it from your player board to the general supply) to gain something. Highest Stack: You must be placing the highest stack in the location. If there are no Workers already in the location, this means your single Worker will suffice, as it will be the highest stack. However, if the location is already occupied (by any Workers, including yours from previous turns), you must stack your Worker on top of Energy before placing it so that your new stack is the highest in the location. Stacking Your Worker on Energy The Energy used for stacking must come from your player board. If you do not have enough Energy to create the highest stack in a location, you cannot place a Worker in that location. You may choose to place more Energy than necessary (even if the location is unoccupied), in order to create a higher stack and make it more difficult for other players to use that location later. You cannot use additional Workers to make your stack higher; a stack must consist only of any number of Energy tokens with 1 Worker on top. You may use a board location that you used on a previous turn, by building a new stack of Energy with a Worker on top, following the rules. Generate Turns Refer to the manual for details on this section. Your Environment Refer to the manual for details on this section. Global Impact Track Refer to the manual for details on this section. Board Locations Refer to the manual for details on this section. The United Nations Refer to the manual for details on this section. General Rules Refer to the manual for details on this section. Agendas Refer to the manual for details on this section. End of Game and Scoring The end of the game is triggered when the last Pollution token is removed from the Global Impact Track. At that point, each player gets one more turn, including the player who triggered the end of the game. Then, points are tallied to determine the winner! Final Scoring: Gain VP from your Structures. Gain 2 VP for each Energy die. Gain VP according to your current space on the United Nations Track. If you advanced furthest on this track, gain an additional 3 VP. Score your Agendas. Remember that you can score a maximum of 5 VP for each individual Agenda. Gain 1 VP for each unpolluted space in your Environment. Score column bonuses for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th columns, for each one that is fully unpolluted. The total is your score. The highest score wins. Tie-breaker: Remaining Resources (Money divided by 2 and rounded down, Plastic, Steel, Science, Oil). Tips for Winning Generating large amounts of energy and using that energy efficiently are the keys to building a strong nation. Acquiring Structure cards and Energy dice, completing Government Agendas, keeping your Environment clean, and gaining influence in the United Nations are the main ways to score victory points. ## FAQ ### What is the average playtime? Between 60 and 120 minutes, depending on player count and experience level. ### Does it work well solo? Yes, there are solo rules that let you play alone with appropriate challenges. ### What are the main mechanics? Worker placement, tableau building, resource management, dice with icons, and random events. ### What components are included? Main board, action cards, worker tokens, energy dice, resource tokens, and expansion components. ### Who is the target audience? Players who enjoy strategic planning, economics, historical themes, and environmental impact. ### Is the game balanced? Yes, variable player powers and end‑game bonuses help keep competitive balance. ## Price Comparison ### Best Offers in Brazil - **Amazon**: R$ 349,03 (https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B01LZVNZPZ?tag=bgbot26b-20&linkCode=as2) - See all on Compara Jogos: https://www.comparajogos.com.br/item/manhattan-project-energy-empire ### Best International Offers - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 68.99 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=6676579&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 75.16 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=6242636&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 79.56 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=3924963&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 81.89 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=6976552&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 84.71 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=6852502&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 113.61 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=6706196&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - See all on BoardGamePrices: https://boardgameprices.com/item/show/88362/manhattan-project-energy-empire?utm_source=boardgamesbot.com