Power Grid reviews

I absolutely love this game! Its numerous awards and extremly high ranking on boardgamegeeks.com (#3 overall, and #1 6-player game) are well deserved. I regularly get together with a group of 4–6 friends and they are always eager to play. Each round of the game involves an auction of power plants, purchasing resources for those power plants from a fluctuating stock market, and purchasing connections to cities which will pay money in return for the power you provide them. Each of these phases can be highly competitive as players attempt to bid up the price for the best new power plants, grab all of the cheap resources, and prevent other players from connecting to cities they already supply. With a large selection of power plant cards, a double sided board (USA & Germany maps) and loads of player induced variation this game has endless replayability. There are also a large number of viable strategies for winning this game and after each session we are always eager to play again to refine our strategies a little further. Despite this it is still possible to play with newbies as they pick it up quickly and easily and throughly enjoy themselves even if they are not winning!. In summary, I highly recommend this game, it is enjoyable with 2–3 players, but really reaches its full potential with groups of 4–6 players.

A really well ballanced game. Each map (two included in base set) has a differenct set of challenges on top of the usualy mechanic. The ‘bidding’ mechanics for the powerstations and resources is a touch of genious and all but guarentees a close game every game.

I'd rate this game as ‘medium’ complexity. If you're looking for a bit more than “Settlers” or “Ticket to Ride”, then this is the one for you. Just be aware that game length is approx 2hrs, so a bit longer than the most ‘after dinner’ games.

A game that well deserves it's excellent reputation that's easy to pick-up fro beginers and families but with enough crunch to provide longevity and challenge for avid gamers. A must for any true gamers shelf.

This is a fairly complex, but brilliantly thought out strategy game. It's beauty, for me, lies in the fact that there is no dice and very little comes down to luck. Part of its beauty is that the playing order changes each round, so the person who is losing gets a slight advantage, keeping the game interesting even if you aren't winning, and adding an extra strategical element. It can take a while to get through the first couple of times while you become more familiar with the rules. There are many expansions available but I think they are just new maps and don't alter the dynamic of the game. I would recommend this game to anybody who enjoys strategy games.

Easy to learn but lots of strategy. Looks nice too.

Power Grid is a game I have played on an off for about ten years. Whenever it is picked up, regardless of what other games I have played between times it continues to impress. Each round consists of bidding for power stations at auction, purchasing fuel from a basic economy track (more demand, higher price), adding to your network of substations on a map of cities, and then powering the cities for cash. This game gives you the tangible feeling of the paper money, not unlike Monopoly but without the family argument. It would risk being a mathematical puzzle if not for the auctioning phase forcing players to try and figure out if overpaying for a power station is going to pay off in the long run. I find it incredibly fun and challenging with both my board gaming group and family enjoying it equally. It typically takes around 2 hours to play, and children 10yrs and up will be able to cope as long as they are playing with adults familiar with the rules.