Objective of the Game

Welcome to Power Grid, future energy magnate! Your goal in this electrifying game is to become the ultimate power provider. You'll be building power plants, buying raw materials, and expanding your network across cities. The winner isn't just the richest, but the player who can power the most cities in their network by the end of the game. If there's a tie, the player with the most money wins, and if it's still a tie, the player with the most connected cities takes the crown!

Preparation (Setup)

Let's get this power grid up and running! Here’s how to set up your game:

1. Choose Your Map: The number of players determines how many regions of the board you'll use. For 3 players, use 3 regions. For 4 players, use 4 regions. For 5 or 6 players, use 5 regions.
2. Prepare the Plant Deck: Shuffle power plants numbered 03 through 15. Draw 8 plants to form the initial Plant Market. The remaining plants form the Plant Deck. The "Step 3" card should be placed at the bottom of the deck.
3. Initial Plant Market: The Plant Market will start with 8 plants. Players may initially purchase from the lowest-numbered four plants in the market.
4. Raw Material Setup: Place the various raw material tokens (coal, oil, garbage, uranium) on their designated spots on the board according to the game's rules (not detailed in this excerpt, but assume a standard setup).
5. Player Components: Each player receives a starting amount of money (not specified in the excerpt, but typically 50 Elektro) and their colored houses. Each player can have a maximum of 3 plants.
6. Turn Order Token: Randomly determine the first player.
7. Special Rule for 2-Player Games (The Trust): In a 2-player game, an artificial player called "The Trust" is introduced.
   • The Trust is always 2nd in turn order.
   • The Trust gets 17 houses.
   • After the 1st auction, The Trust takes the highest-numbered available plant for free.
   • If The Trust already has 3 plants, it will only take a plant if it can replace a lower-numbered one.
   • For a hybrid plant, The Trust takes coal, oil, coal, oil, etc., always starting with coal.
   • Each time a human player builds a house, The Trust builds on the 15 there.
   • Once The Trust is out of houses, it stops building.
   • The Trust takes precisely what all its plants can burn and burns all of it.

The Game Turn

A round in Power Grid is divided into five phases, typically flowing from the player in the lead to the player trailing, or vice-versa, depending on the phase. This order is crucial!

The game progresses through three "Steps" (Step 1, Step 2, Step 3), which change certain rules as the game advances. We'll start in Step 1.

1. Phase 1: Determine Turn Order
   • The leader is the player with the most cities connected.
   • In case of a tie, the player with the highest plant number is the leader.
   • In Step 1, turn order is determined randomly. In later steps, it's typically determined from leader-to-trailer or trailer-to-leader.
2. Phase 2: Buy Power Plant
   • Players, in current turn order, have the opportunity to bid on and purchase new power plants from the market.
   • The minimum bid and purchase price for a plant is its number.
   • In Step 1, this phase is a Mandatory Buy Power Plant. In later steps, it becomes an Optional Buy Power Plant.
   • After a plant is bought, or if no plants were bought, the lowest-numbered plant in the market is removed from the game, and a replacement is drawn.
   • If the "1 token" is present on a plant (meaning its minimum bid is 1), and a cheaper plant comes out, that cheaper plant is removed from the game and the 1 token is removed.
3. Phase 3: Buy Raw Materials
   • Starting with the player who has the fewest connected cities (the "trailer") and going to the player with the most (the "leader"), players buy raw materials (coal, oil, garbage, uranium) needed to fuel their power plants.
4. Phase 4: Building
   • Again, starting with the "trailer" and going to the "leader," players expand their networks by building houses in cities.
   • In Step 1, you can only build 1 connection per city. In Step 2, you can build 2 connections per city. In Step 3, you can build 3 connections per city.
   • A special rule for 3, 4, 5, and 6-player games: only your 1st house must and can replace a uranium city.
   • After building, perform Market Obsolescence: Remove any plant in the market whose number is lower than the leader's number of connected cities, then draw a replacement. (This step is skipped in Recharged Edition rules).
5. Phase 5: Fire Plants; Get Paid (Bureaucracy)
   • Players choose which of their power plants to activate, spending the necessary raw materials.
   • You get paid based on the number of cities you can power this turn.
   • Then, the Bureaucracy phase occurs:
     • Restock Raw Materials: Replenish the raw material market according to the board's chart.
     • Market Twiddle: Put the market's highest-numbered plant under the plant deck, then draw a replacement.
     • The lowest-numbered plant in the market is removed from the game, and a replacement is drawn. (This happens if Step 3 was revealed).

The game continues, moving through these phases, until a specific end-game condition is met.

End of Game and Scoring

The game doesn't end on a specific round number, but rather when a player reaches a certain milestone:

• The game ends when a player connects a specific number of cities:
  • For 2 players: 21 cities.
  • For 3 players: 17 cities.
  • For 4 players: 17 cities.
  • For 5 players: 15 cities.
  • For 6 players: 14 cities.
• Once this condition is met, the current round finishes.
• Winning: The winner is the player who can power the most cities in their network this turn.
• Tie-breaker:
  1. If tied on powered cities, the player with the most money left wins.
  2. If still tied, the player with the most cities connected wins.

Tips for Winning

Becoming a Power Grid master takes practice, but here are a few pointers to get you started:

1. Watch the Turn Order: Being "trailer" (last in turn order) in the raw material and building phases can be a huge advantage, allowing you to react to what others buy and build. Conversely, being "leader" in the plant buying phase can let you grab essential plants before others. Strategically managing your city count to influence turn order is key!
2. Efficient Plant Management: Don't just buy the biggest plant; consider its efficiency. A plant that uses cheap, abundant resources or a hybrid plant can be incredibly valuable. Also, remember you can only have a maximum of 3 plants (or 4 in some specific setups), so make each purchase count!
3. Resource Scarcity is Real: Pay attention to the raw material market. If everyone is buying coal, its price will skyrocket. Diversifying your plants to use different resources can make you more resilient to price fluctuations and ensure you can always power your cities.