Power Grid - Tips & Strategies

Usually when our group plays (we’re all fairly new to strategy), we only have one person replenishing supplies for the game.

It should be noted that not only do the supplies increase proportionately with the number of players, but the economy of the game is subtly different for each tier.

The most obvious example of this is the uranium market in a 5 player game. In phase two, a whopping three uranium is put back each turn, making it a great market for two people easily. Not so with trash, it stays the same, supply will not meet demand with two people in the trash market.

Make sure you have a handle on the nuances of your specific market to be a conscious player and have a leg up on your opponents!

If you can grab an early big lead, and can keep it going, then you might win due to the larger income compensating for the higher expenses. If not, then a close 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) is a huge advantage.

“Drafting” the first place player allows you many advantages: getting more choices in the power plant auctions, buying resources first, expanding your network first. Those advantages are designed to allow players not in the lead a chance to catch up.

GAME THE SYSTEM! Hold back buying cities: don’t have most, have the second most. Each city generates more income, but it’s a sliding scale. The more cities that you have, the less each one is worth. Your first city generates 11 extra income. Your tenth only generates an extra 7 electros. Also don’t forget that ties in turn order are resolved by the previous turn’s order. If you were in fourth place last turn, then don’t be afraid to tie for the lead if you are making your big push: you will go, at earliest, 2nd, and yet have the same income as the leader for your potentially final round.

The most important thing: Don’t buy too many power plants! Buy selectively, as every plant is a major investment. Buy at most three early or mid-game plants, and an early 5-7 production plant is a huge advantage to own. Try to NEVER own more cities than you can actually power with your plants.

Take a constant look at the power plants of your opponents. Watch, what resources would they need in order to power them up. If there are a lot of – let’s say – coal plants in play don’t buy another one even if it looks like a bargain.

Watch for reverse situations too! If there is few plants using a given resource in play you may buy one at higher price than you would have done in average circumstances. Your additional expense will pay off soon in cheaper fuel for your plant.

Don’t connect as many cities as you can afford and don’t worry about powering all your cities. Save up for a final push to claim more cities than your opponents in one turn. You’ll be near the end of the turn order for most of the game, which means you get first choice of resources (make your opponents buy resources for higher cost) and first pick of cities to connect, but last pick for power plants. The benefit of last pick for plants is you can buy them at cost after the others have paid more than their plants are worth. Won’t they be jealous when you get the Nuclear Fusion plant for only 50 Million!

A common winning strategy is to sit on your money and go last every turn in order to go to the market first. Many players are uncomfortable being in the lead for any length of time due to this financial penalty. It is possible to win the game and go first every single round, if you can manage to:

1) offset the increased fuel cost with additional income from powering more cities than anyone else;

2) diversify your power plant types to avoid running out of fuel when everyone else tries to hoard it; and

3) avoid bidding wars at all costs.

In way too may games of Power Grid with my friends, we always forget the rule that states: “If, at any time during the game, there is a power plant in the actual market with a number equal to or lower than the number of cities any player has, players immediately remove it from the game and replace it with a new card from the draw stack.” It’s only after a couple of turns that we realize we should have remembered that rule long ago! So, don’t forget about this important rule, or else the game will get frustrating, and when you finally do replace the card, your strategy-minded opponents will agonize over the potential advantage they’ve lost.

Often times other players will open a bid on a power plant at face value and when bidding increments at 1 or 2 elektro, prices tend to inflate quite high.

If you really want it, first decide how much you are willing to pay…either open a bid or counter bid at +10 or even 20 elektro, without batting an eye, and you just might scare the competition out.

My experience has been, with this method, I end up paying less on the plant and subsequently, if the plant is efficient, less on resources too.

Always remember you have to power a number of cities with only three powerplants. Buy plants that work towards that goal. Don’t spend too much money on ‘small’ plants.

It’s always good to decide when the game ends yourself, so be prepared to rush to the end if you’re on the winning side!

If an investment costs you more than you make with that investment, it’s a bad investment 😉

Be careful during the bidding phase. Don’t get in a bidding war with you name. Make sure you don’t waste all you money on that new hot power plant. Assess your situation. Will that power plant help you in the long run? Or are you only going to use it for a couple turns and then dump it for the new hotness. Get what you need, not what you want.

When purchasing your plants, plan ahead to keep a range of numbers available. If you own two 3’s and one 2, you will be able to power from 2 to 8 cities, but you will be out of luck for 4 and 7 cities. If you had a 2, a 3 and a 4, you would be able to power from 2 to 9 cities, with 8 cities being your only gap.

Generally, when stepping up to bigger plants it is best to replace the smallest. In the above example, switching the 2 to a 5 is probably best. Keep in mind if you plan on buying many cities in one turn, as this may alter your plant strategy slightly.

This strategy will enable you to purchase less plants throughout the game, providing more money to spend on resources and cities.