The Ludarium · Teach sheet
Teach Power Grid in ten minutes
2 to 6 players · About 120 minutes · Ages 12 and up
The goal: Power the most cities when the game ends. Ties go to the player with the most money left.
On your turn
- Player order: most cities first. Ties go to the higher-numbered plant.
- Auction, leader first: pick a current plant, bid at least its number. At most one plant each.
- Discount token: the smallest current plant opens at 1 Elektro.
- Resources, last place first: a plant stores up to double its fuel.
- Build, last place first: cheapest route plus 10, 15, or 20 per city.
- Bureaucracy: power cities, get paid, refill the market, update the plant market.
Three tips for your first game
- Do not rush the lead: last place buys fuel and builds first.
- Pick plants that burn a fuel your neighbors do not.
- Save cash for the final round: it is the biggest build of the game.
Setup
- Play on connected regions: 3 for 2 or 3 players, 4 for 4, 5 for 5 or 6.
- Each player: 22 houses, 50 Elektro, a payout card, and a house on 0 of the cities track.
- Draw a random turn order onto the top row of the turn order track.
- Stock the market: coal 1 to 8, oil 3 to 8, garbage 6 to 8, uranium 14 and 16.
- Deal 8 random plants from 03 to 15: smallest 4 are the current market, next 4 the future market.
- Remove plants for your player count. Step 3 card on the bottom, one plug-back plant on top.
Scoring
- A plant powers its cities with exactly its fuel, once per round.
- The payout card pays for each city you power. Powering none still pays 10.
- Step 2 starts at 7 cities (6 with 6 players): second house in a city costs 15.
- Step 3 starts the phase after its card is drawn: third house costs 20, all 6 plants for sale.
Game end: After the build phase where someone reaches 18 cities (2 players), 17 (3 or 4), 15 (5), or 14 (6), run bureaucracy. Most cities powered wins; ties go to the most money left.