Power Grid Money: What the Payout Card Teaches

Power Grid hands every player the same small card, and most players only use it to look up a number in bureaucracy. Read it as a curve instead, and it explains when to build, when to save, and why the game feels so tight.

The shape of the curve

The payout card pays 10 Elektro for no cities, 22 for one, 33 for two, and so on up to 150 for twenty. The useful number is the step between rows: how much one more powered city adds.

Each extra city pays one Elektro less every two cities. Two things follow.

Early cities pay for themselves

Say it is Step 1 and you power 4 cities. A fifth city costs 10 for its space plus maybe 6 to 10 in connections, so about 16 to 20. If you have the capacity and fuel to power it, it adds 10 Elektro every round from now on. It pays itself back in about two rounds and earns for the rest of the game.

That is why the early game rewards growth. A city added in round 2 or 3 is an investment.

Late cities are for winning

Now say you power 15. A sixteenth city in Step 3 might cost 20 for a third space plus a route, so 25 or more, and fuel for the capacity to power it. It adds 4 Elektro a round. It will not pay itself back before the game ends.

That does not make it a bad build. In the final round, cities are the score. It means late cities are bought with savings, not with their own income. Plan the cash for them rounds ahead.

Capacity is the gate

The card pays for cities powered, not cities owned. Three habits follow:

• Cities past your capacity earn nothing. Owning 8 and powering 6 pays 73, the same as owning 6.
• A plant upgrade can be worth several cities. Swapping a plant that powers 1 for one that powers 3 can add two rows of income in one auction, if you have the cities.
• Fuel is part of the price. A city powered by a coal plant costs fuel every round. Count it.

A simple way to judge any plan: what does it add to your income next round, and what does it cost now, fuel included?

Plan cash one round ahead

New players count money for the phase they are in. Good players count it for the whole round, and the next one.

At the start of each round, estimate:

1. This round’s income, from the cities you will power in bureaucracy.
2. This round’s spending: a plant, if you plan to buy one, fuel, and cities.
3. Next round’s fuel bill, at roughly today’s prices.

If spending runs ahead of income for two rounds, you are borrowing from your future. Sometimes that is right, such as when you build hard just before Step 2 opens your area to rivals. Do it on purpose.

Why the curve keeps the game close

Because each city pays less than the last, a big network earns less extra money than it seems to. A player with 12 powered cities earns 118. A player with 9 earns 98. Three more cities, only 20 Elektro more a round. Combine that with turn order, which charges the leader more for fuel and cities, and leads stay small. Our article on catch-up mechanics explains why that design works.

A cash habit for Level 1

• Know your next row. Keep in mind what one more powered city would add to your income.
• Never build past capacity unless a new plant is coming this round or next.
• Keep a fuel reserve in Elektro. The price you pay next round can jump if someone stocks up before you.

That is the end of Level 1. You can play cleanly, price a build, open with a plan, and read money as a curve. Level 2 adds the other players to the picture.