Game: Power Grid

Thread: Re: How To Play Power Grid?

game_boy — 2008-05-12T03:08:15+00:00

evee wrote:
I have yet to see any kind of guide about this game, versus just a review.
I realise that as a new BGG user you might not know your way around the site, but have you seen the [url=http://www.boardgamegeek.com/forum/67/boardgame/2651]other articles[/url] in the "Strategy" forum? They go into some depth (and that's an understatement). If you've read those articles and still not found a straightforward answer about how to win at Power Grid, that's because there is no simple or easy answer. That's why it's such a highly ranked game here on BGG.

Thread: Re: How To Play Power Grid?

LarryKruger — 2008-05-12T03:01:25+00:00

I do not think the luck of the power plant draw is a big factor of the game. My strategy is to buy as few power plants as possible, and to avoid bidding wars. I expand my cities aggressively, and I always make sure I have enough money for the cities that I am going to expand to before I bid on power plants or buy more resources. There's nothing worse than realizing that I bought one too many resources.

Thread: Re: How To Play Power Grid?

drunkenKOALA — 2008-05-12T01:05:41+00:00

Power Grid strategy is fucked up. It is so twisted and "backwards" (as in reverse/unconventional logic). The power plant draw can be huge, and so can the initial connection placements. I have won 7/23 on BSW playing mostly 3-5 players.

For power plants, you want to have enough time to purchase your "final" plants. These are plants with 4-6 powers, having 3 of which may be enough power to win the game. This usually means owning at least one 4-6 power plant going into stage 2 or 3. Ideally you don't want to buy more than 5 or 6 plants during the game.

Building connections is an art. Building early puts you behind on turn order, but potentially gets you connections for cheaper. You have to weigh those. Power Grid can be quite fucked up the way nobody wants to build their 7th connection and go into stage 2 last in the turn order, because everyone else can then grab their stage 2 connections before him.

Don't hoarde more resources than you have to. It can be quite costly actually.

I'll write a more detailed review when I have time.

Thread: Re: How To Play Power Grid?

NateStraight — 2008-05-12T12:52:42+00:00

The key to winning Power Grid is following the balanced / dogmatic strategy you've just described well, but also, and more importantly, finding the exact point or points at which you need to break out of balance and make a run for it.

You will rarely win if you just follow the careful balance / steady growth strategy. If you never make a break for it, you will never win. You'll need to just play the field for awhile, but figure out when you can make a sustainable break for the lead.

I win fairly often in Power Grid. One of the things I try to do is buy big plants or tons of houses at unexpected times. Some turns, I won't buy a single house or even a single resource, instead buying up a 5 or 6 plant that chances to make it into the queue early in the game (when other people are usually focusing on building up their network rather than gunning for their final power plants).

I'll almost always buy a 4, 5, or 6 plant that comes up early, even if it means not powering any houses that turn. Better to get the plants you'll eventually need early at a cheap price and lose a bit of income than to keep pace with the crowd and have to fight tooth and nail for what you need later.

Similarly, I'll often sit back and hoard cash for a few turns without significantly expanding my network of houses, especially if I'm leading the house-race and the other players aren't pushing it into Step 2 yet. As a rule, never be the one to push it into Step 2 unless you have a really really good reason to do so.

Above all, don't play reactively. Almost without exception, the winner in our games is the player who was already ready with enough cash and enough capacity when Step 3 rolled around. We rarely spend more than one or two turns in Step 3, and usually just the one. If you're sitting there needing to buy another plant (or, worse, two) and a bunch of resources when Step 3 rolls around, you're sunk.

You need to be ready to spring into action once the board opens up (since it's unlikely you'll be able to build enough houses to win without the third building space available) in Step 3. If you're still trying to increase your capacity and get to Step-2-size networks of houses, you're going to lose. You have to be proactive in preparing for this final stage of the game and not be surprised, but ready, when it comes.

Thread: How To Play Power Grid?

evee — 2008-05-12T12:39:04+00:00

Okay -- so a little bit of background from me. I have played Power Grid probably around 15-20 times so far, and have yet to come across any sort of stable strategy that will allow a player to win the game. I also fully acknowledge that I am probably classified as a beginner at the game, and that's why I'm writing this.

Maybe my understanding of the game is too basic -- to me, it almost feels like PG's system is run entirely on the "luck of the draw". Meaning, it is dependent upon the following things: the power plant draw, how the players place their houses (which isn't something you can predict all the time), and the initial starting point of the player (in turn sequence). I have played dogmatically the same way every single time and have landed in every possible end placement because of one of those factors.

My strategy is thus: I start out with a plant that powers two houses. I try to sit myself in a position where I will not get boxed in. I then focus on steady growth of my house position while focusing upon purchasing the plants that will enable me to reach whatever power limitation I need to extend myself to. I also try to hoard resources according to the appropriate ebb and flow that comes with purchasing (which basically means when the dollar value is low, buy up to the point where you're still balanced). Once I am steady with my plants, I then focus entirely upon building houses according to whatever Step the game is in. I won maybe 2/10, with close seconds in maybe 2/remaining 8.

I have also played six, five, and four player games several times over -- mostly on the United States map. I have played twice on the Germany map, but the Germany map merely made me feel like my hypothesis was true because it was considerably more difficult. I have noticed that four player games are easier to play versus five and six, but that is the only difference.

So this is my question. I have yet to see any kind of guide about this game, versus just a review. What is YOUR strategy when it comes to Power Grid? How consistently does it win? What are the positives and negatives of what you do?

Thread: Re: When to use five or six regions?

Pulinski — 2008-05-08T09:19:34+00:00

Thanks for the info guys. I appreciate your responses.

Paul Kemp
Auckland, NEW ZEALAND

Thread: Re: When to use five or six regions?

perfalbion — 2008-05-08T12:22:56+00:00

I'll agree with the consensus that with 6 players, 5 regions is enough. Add the last one in and there's too much room to expand, which reduces competition.

If you want to throw in the sixth region, you need to increase the number of cities for Phase 2 and victory upward as well. They're keyed to the room available on the board.

Thread: Re: When to use five or six regions?

freduk — 2008-05-08T08:21:48+00:00

Five regions. We are a group of 6, and Power Grid is our favourite game. The new card deck has brought some new tactics :) and combining this with the 6 maps we have means we get enough variety to keep it interesting.

Thread: Re: When to use five or six regions?

Ponton — 2008-05-08T08:00:29+00:00

Recently I played 6 player with nearly-newbies (i.e. their second game): it was so much fun that all of the guys wanted to play once more. So we did.

Thread: Re: When to use five or six regions?

Barticus88 — 2008-05-08T02:15:41+00:00

Use only five regions. If you use all six there is too much space.

I played a six player game with three complete newbies and two who had only played a couple times before. This was a mistake. Besides the fact that I had to run everything, the players took a long time figuring out what they were doing. It took over three hours and seemed like a lot more.

If most of the players are experienced, six is a good game, but it's different from playing with less. You get into the big plants really quick; it's like a portion of the early game is missing. However, the blocking in the end game can be very interesting. It can be a very long way to your next city. This aspect would be totally lost playing with six regions; the board would be too spacious.

BTW, if you play on the France map with the new plant deck, do not discard Plant 11. The rule is wrong. With six players you absolutely must have nine predetermined plants, else the sixth player might end up buying Plant 25 or higher.

Thread: Re: When to use five or six regions?

Kubigaruma — 2008-05-08T12:52:31+00:00

I'd say don't play with six players. Honestly. Power Grid is one of my all-time favorites, but there are much better games if you have six.

If you must play with six, definitely only use five regions. The Stage 2 trigger and end game number is based on having five regions in play.

Thread: When to use five or six regions?

Pulinski — 2008-05-07T11:53:58+00:00

Some people suggest using 5 regions for 6 people, as per the rules, however some player aids and people say play with 6 regions of six players, especially in on the Germany board.

What is the general consensus?

Paul
Auckland, New Zealand.

Image

bazzer52 — 2008-05-05T01:05:24+00:00

Commies take the west coast