Power Grid without Power Stations, 8.31.09
Time for another design experiment. Lets throw another game out of whack this week as another warm up. Power Grid needs power stations, right? Out they go. What happens to the game? Is it still feasible? What else would need to change?
Here’s an example while keeping the ‘Power Grid’ theme…
-To stay ‘Power Grid’, the game would need a way to compensate for the power stations’ loss…
- They are what generate your income each turn, and allow you to increase said income.
- The power stations transition the game into ‘Phase 2′ and are the end game condition.
- A level of depth is lost to not needing to plan out your ‘route’ any more.
If it were to stay ‘Power Grid’, it would more be ‘Power Grid Light’. Make the board smaller, remove the connections, and have a numbered ‘Demand’ track for each city that is kept in the game. Each turn, players generate power one plant per player at a time and chooses a city to provide the power to. Then, slide the corresponding ‘Demand Track’ marker as many spaces as power was generated for that city. Once a city’s demand has been met, no further player may provide power to that city. Further, players get paid piecemeal for each power plant individually, as some power may end up being wasted on ‘oversatisfying’ a city’s Demand Track.
So what can you chappies come up with? Something positively electrifying, no doubt.
Keep on designing, yo!
Phil
