The objective of Power Grid is to supply the most cities with power when the game ends. Players buy power plants (in an auction), buy fuel for the plants (driving up the cost for others), build new cities to expand their network, and receive cash based on the number of cities powered. The turn order changes each round, giving advantages to those who are behind, making the game well balanced. In the end, most players are within one city of each other. "One dollar short" is a constant refrain heard as players find they are not quite able to fund everything they planned to do.

This is an “experienced players only” event. Players are discouraged from giving advice to others, such as how much to bid, buying out resources, or where to build. The basic rule is “play your own game.”

At any point in the game, if a player wants to undo an action, they can do so as long as no new information has been given. If Player A buys too little fuel and Player B says the fuel they want to buy or house they want to build, then Player A cannot go back and buy more fuel.

Players can use a calculator at any time as long as others can see the screen to know that they are just using it to add and not to take notes.

When placing houses, each player should place the ones they are considering on the side. When they are ready to pay, they show the route they want to take and the cost, with others verifying. If the player uses an inefficient route, they pay the higher price and should not be told the lower price unless all players at the table agree to do so for all players. Helping others find efficient routes can speed up the game. Once the price is agreed, the houses can be set normally.

If a player names the wrong price for the house (such as buying two 15s and one 10 in step 2 and saying it’s three 15s), they should be told about the difference because they are required to build the 10 house and do not have an option to build the 15 house.

There will be a demo to learn the game. There’s also a video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeXIwDNmrRw.

Most games should finish in less than 2.5 hours. The time limit is 3 hours and then adjudication which I strongly want to avoid. If it looks like your game will run long, please let me know by the 2.5 hour mark. I will plan on coming to the table with a timer to enforce playing at a reasonable pace.

Setup: 5-player games use 5 of the 6 board regions and 4-player use 4 of the 6; these regions are selected by each player in player order (randomly determined). Each player in turn order selects a region they want to be in play. You can select any region with the caveat that all regions must be contiguous when the last player selects.

We will use 5-player games by preference, resorting to 4-player games if necessary. In 4-player games, when random plants are removed, the default is to not be able to see what is removed. If all players at the table agree, then they can be shown so that all players know what plants are in the game.

Recharged rules will be used on all maps. Here is a summary:

1. In a 4 player game, one random plant out of #3-#15 is removed and three random plants out of #16-#50 are removed
2. Starting market – a random eight out of plants #3-#15 are the starting market, a random plant out of #3-#15 is on the top of the deck and the other #3-#15 plants are mixed into the deck
3. Discount token – at the start of each auction, a discount token is placed on the cheapest plant, making the minimum bid 1
4. If a plant with the discount token is bid on, the discount is removed until the start of the next auction
5. If the discount token is still on plant #X after a plant is bought and the plant drawn from the deck is lower than #X, both the new plant and discount token are removed. #X remains in the market with no discount
6. End of auction – if the discount token is still in play, the lowest plant is removed and the discount applies in the next auction
7. Building to X houses – does not remove plant #X
8. Starting cities variant – this will not be used

Step 3 rule – whenever step 3 is drawn, the remaining plants are reshuffled. If it occurs during bureaucracy, it is removed and the lowest plant is removed, but no new plant is drawn. If it occurs during the auction, the step 3 card is in the market and can be thought of as “plant #100.” The auction continues as normal, replacing plants as they are drawn. At the end of the auction, if the discount token is still on the lowest plant, it is removed and replaced. After that, the step 3 card and lowest plant are removed with no new plant replacing them.

Map choice per Round:

• Heat 1: Germany or Japan
• Heat 2: US or Russia
• Heat 3: Baden or Australia
• Semifinal: Quebec
• Final: India

In each heat, those who set up their games will choose their map. Others will choose which they want to play and be randomly assigned with teammates separated. If someone brings a copy of the game and wants to set up Baden but does not have it, someone setting up Australia can loan them a copy of Baden (and vice versa).

In every Heat, Semifinal, and Final, any map can be used if all players at the table agree.

In heats 2 and 3, if you are assigned to a table where there is a player you lost to in a previous heat, you can redraw if you would like. There are also redraws for family members and team members.

Winner of each game: Supply electricity to the most cities. Tie Breakers are:

• Most Money
• Most Cities
• Highest power plant number

Advancement: Participants for the Semifinal will be determined using the Heats Most Wins – Points Standard Tiebreakers listed below with GM Specific Tiebreakers.

In recent years, all winners advance and the cutoff is among those with two 2nds. The seating for the Semifinal will be based on the standings (1,2,3,4,5,5,4,3,2,1,1,2,3,4,5,5,4,3,2,1,5,4,3,2,1). If teammates both make the Semifinal and would end up at the same table, the lower rated player moves to the next lowest numbered table if possible and the next highest numbered table if all lower ones have teammates.

If a Semifinal winner is unable to make the Final due to a conflict and the other Finalists do not agree on a new time, we fill the seat in this priority:

1. 2nd at the missing finalist table
2. Closest 2nd at another table based on percentage of houses powered vs. 1st at their table
3. Compare money left over between those players and highest absolute money left over wins
4. Die roll

HEATS: MOST WINS - POINTS (HMW-P):

1. Most Wins (e.g., total in all heats entered)
2. Total Points – Players earn the following pints in each heat they entered:
   • 1st Place - 1,000 points
   • 2nd Place - 100 points
   • 3rd Place - 10 points
   • 4th Place - 1 points
   • All other places - 0 points
   • e.g. player has a 1st, 2nd, and 4th in three heats: total points would be 1,101
3. GM Specific Tie-breaker
   1. Total cities powered in all heats with one exception: among those with 1000 points, we will rank in reverse order, meaning powering fewer cities is better (the main point of this is that a win at a 5 player table is better than a win at a 4 player table, but I want to encourage playing in multiple heats)
   2. Total leftover money in all heats
4. High dice roll.

Additional Prize: The winner will receive a custom power grid tablecloth provided by the GM.

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