References:

Thematic Text

Each player represents a power company, which works to supply electricity to cities. During the game, each players buys power plants at auction, buys resources to produce electicity and builds a network of cities to supply with eletricity from his power plants. In the end the player who supplies the most cities with power wins the game.

Goal
To build the best network and supply the most cities with power once a target number of cities has been reached.
Setup
Rounds / Phases

The game is played over a series of rounds which are each broken up into 5 phases. Certain aspects of the phases vary depending on which step of the game, refer to the Steps section for information

Phase 1 -- Determine Player Order

Reorder the players on the order chart by the number of cities the player is in. In case of a tie, the player with the highest number power plant goes first.

Phase 2 -- Auction Power Plants

  • Done in player order
  • Each player may buy only one plant
  • Active player puts a plant up for action.
  • Minimum bid is the plant number
  • Each player may raise the bid or pass
  • Once all have passed, the winner takes the plant and pays the bank
  • If the winner already had 3 (4 in a 2-player game) power plants, they must discard 1
  • The plant is replaced, and the markert reordered so the lowest 4 cards are in the active market
  • The winner may not bid in any more auctions this round.
  • If it was the active player, the active player passes on.
  • If the active player declines to put up a plant for auction, he cannot purchase one this round
  • If no player puts up a plant, the lowest numbered plant is removed from the game and replaced in the market
  • First Round Rule: In the first round of the game, all players must purchase a plant. After this, the player order is updated based on the plant numbers

Phase 3 -- Buying Resources

  • Done in reverse player order
  • Players buy all the resources they want and pay the bank for each unit based on the printed price above the unit.
  • Each power plant can only hold 2x the number of resources it uses
  • Players may freely move resources around among plants they own which can use them

Phase 4 -- Building

  • Done in reverse player order
  • Players expand their network by buying into cities.
  • Player buys into all city he wishes to on his turn then it passes to the next player
  • The frist city, purchased in a game simply costs the cost of the city (10)
  • Each additional city costs the amount to build there (based on number of other cities present, 10, 15, 20) plus the cost of connecting the city back to one of your other cities
  • Players may skip over cities, but must pay the costs of all the brances en-route
  • A player can never build into the same city twice.
  • If when expanding, a player has a number of cities equal or greater to the a power plant in the actual market, the plant is removed from the game and replaced immediately

Phase 5 -- Bureaucracy

  1. Generate Electricity and earn Money. All resources used return to supply.
  2. Step 1 & 2 remove highest powered plant placing at the bottom of deck and replace.
  3. Step 3 remove the lowest numbered powered plant from game.
  4. Replenish supply based on phase and number of players.
Steps

The game is played over 3 steps, with slight changes in the rules and restocking of the markets from step to step

Step 1

  • Only one building can be in each city which costs 10 elektro
  • At the end of each round, the highest number power plant is removed from the board and placed at the bottom of the power plant stack (and then a replacement is drawn).

Step 2

  • Starts between phase 4 and phase 5 after a player has built
    # Players# Cities
    210
    37
    47
    57
    65
  • At the start of the step, remove the lowest number power plant from the game and replace it with a new one from the draw stack.
  • Up to Two building can be in each city, the second costs 15 elektro
  • At the end of each round, the highest number power plant is removed from the board and placed at the bottom of the power plant stack (and then a replacement is drawn).

Step 3

  • Starts when the "Step 3" card is drawn from the deck, which can occur the following ways
    1. If drawn during phase 2.
      • Treat the card as the highest power plant and place it at the end of the futu
      • Shuffle the plants under in the draw deck and place it face down.
      • Continue the auction of plants until the end of phase 2
      • After phase 2, remove the lowerest numbered power plant and the "Step 3" card from the market and do not draw replacements
      • Step 3 now begins in phase 3
    2. If the "Step 3" card is drawn in phase 4 as a replacement for too small power plants
      • Remove this card and the smallest numbered power plant from the game and do not draw replacements.
      • Shuffle the plants under in the draw deck and place it face down.
      • Step 3 starts in phase 5
    3. If the "Step 3" card is drawn in phase 5.
      • Remove this card and the lowest numbered power plant card from, the game and do not draw replacements.
      • Shuffle the plants under in the draw deck and place it face down.
      • Step 3 starts immediately
  • Only 6 power plants are displayed in the market. ALL of which may be purchased.
  • Up to three building can be in each city, the third costs 20 elektro
  • At the end of each round, the smallest numbered power plant is removed from the game and a replacement is drawn.
Game End

The game ends immediately after phase 4 when one player has built ## cities (see chart) in his network.

# Players# Cities
221
317
417
515
614

The winner is the player who can supply electricity to the most cities in his network. If there is a tie, the player with the money then most cities is the winner.