Future Energy Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
• Setup
• Game Flow
  • A player's turn in detail
• Phase 1: Revenue
• Phase 2: Planning
  • Actions in detail
• Phase 3: Movement and construction
  • a) Moving the construction crew
  • b) Constructing a power plant
  • c) Actions
    • Permanent actions
    • Immediate actions
    • Completed contracts
  • d) Constructing a joint power plant
• End of the Game and Final Scoring
• Tips and Clues
• Module 1: "Largest Grid"
  • Changes during final scoring
• Module 2: "Public Contracts"
  • Changes in setup
  • Changes in game play
  • Public contracts overview
• Module 3: "New Construction Grounds and Life-Span Extension"
  • Changes in setup
  • Changes in game play
    • The new construction ground action tiles
    • The nuclear power action tiles

Game Components

• 1 Game board, double-sided: one side for 4 players and one side for 2 & 3 players
• 24 Construction contracts: 10x 2 power plants, 8x 3 power plants, 6x 4 power plants
• 4 Starting contracts
• 49 Action tiles - 7 of each kind. Permanent actions: Investor, Engineer. Immediate actions: Coal, Natural gas, Nuclear, Oil, Construction ground
• 1 Starting kite
• 10 CO2 certificates (6x 3, 3x 4, 1x 5 victory points on the back)
• 45 Wads of money (27x 1 million Euro, 18x 2 million Euro)
• 1 Construction crew
• 1 Rules

In player colors (blue, white, red, and yellow):

• 4 Player boards with action bar (1 in each player color), double-sided: side A for the basic game and side B for the expansion modules
• 80 Power plants + sticker (20 in each player color)
• 4 Victory point tokens + sticker (1 in each player color)
• 60 Power lines (15 in each player color)
• 4 "0/75" Victory point tokens (1 in each player color)
• 4 Engineer tiles (1 in each player color)

Game components for the expansion modules:

• 16 cards "public contracts"
• 18 wildcard tiles
• 7 construction ground action tiles
• 4 Nuclear power boards

Before your first game, apply a sticker to each power plant and victory token (in matching player color).

Setup

1. Place the game board in the center of the playing area with the side matching the number of players up (4 player game or 2 or 3 player game). On the board, there is a starting space and several power plant sites connected by links. The map is divided in regions of different colors. There are five regions in a game with 4 players and four regions in a game with 2 or 3 players. The starting space does not belong to any region.

2. Remove the following action tiles, depending on the player count:

   • In a 2-player game, take two action tiles of each kind at random. Place 8 of these 14 tiles face down on the power plant sites with red frames (they will stay face down for the whole game). These sites cannot be occupied with any power plants during the game. Return the remaining action tiles to the game box.
   • In a 3-player game, remove one action tile of each kind, randomly, and return them to the game box.
   • In a 4-player game, do not remove any action tiles.

   Shuffle the remaining action tiles and randomly place one on each power plant site, face down. Subsequently, reveal them all. Return any unused tiles to the game box.

   Important: You cannot have 3 or more action tiles of the same kind on the 8 power plant sites next to the starting space. Should this happen, exchange any 2 of these for any unused tiles.

3. Shuffle all the construction contracts face down and stack them on the designated space above the game board. Depending on player count, return the number of contracts indicated in the table below, without seeing their face:

   Player count	2	3	4
   Number of contracts	12

Game Flow

Future Energy is played over multiple rounds. The player holding the starting kite starts each round, the other players follow in clockwise direction. The game end is triggered when the last power line of any player's personal supply is established or when the final construction contract from the stack is added to the display. Play continues until the end of that round and is followed by the final scoring.

A player's turn in detail

The active player's turn consists of 3 phases, to be performed in this order:

• Phase 1: Revenue
• Phase 2: Planning
• Phase 3: Movement and construction

First, collect your money. Then, plan your grid expansion and/or the purchase of a new construction contract. At last, move the construction crew to a power plant site covered with an action tile; take that tile and build one of your power plants on that site, using the special action of that tile if applicable and if you wish to do so.

Phase 1: Revenue

You get money from the bank. The amount of your revenue is shown in Section I: Revenue on your board. The basic revenue is EUR 3 million.

Whenever you gain an investor during the course of the game, you place it on an empty space in Section I: Revenue of your board. Each investor tile increases the player's revenue by EUR 1 million in each round. Each player may have a maximum of two investor tiles. If you gain additional investors, return them to the game box.

Example: Bill (white) receives EUR 4 million at the start of his turn: EUR 3 million basic revenue plus EUR 1 million from the investor tile on his board.

Phase 2: Planning

You use your engineer to purchase power lines and/or a new construction contract. Section II: Purchase of the player board shows the three possible actions:

• Buy one power line for EUR 1 million. Take it from your personal supply.
• Buy two power lines for EUR 5 million. Take them from your personal supply.
• Buy one of the four construction contracts from the display, paying the purchase price shown on the game board.

When planning one of your three purchase actions, place your engineer tile on the corresponding image, and then perform that action.

If you gain another engineer during the course of the game (through an action tile), place it on an empty space in Section II: Planning of your board. During your turn, you may plan one action for each of your engineers, by placing their tile on an empty action space.

Each player may have a maximum of three engineers on their board. If you gain additional engineers, return them to the game box.

Note: A purchase action covered by an engineer tile can be used only once during that turn.

Example: Katie (yellow) places her first engineer on the one power line icon, pays EUR 1 million, and immediately places one of the power lines from her personal supply on the game board. Then, she places her second engineer on the contract icon and buys the third contract from the display for EUR 3 million.

Actions in detail

Buying and placing one or two power lines: You pay the required amount to the bank and place the power line(s) on the game board. A power line may be placed on any unoccupied link between two power plant sites. Once a power line is established on a link, no second power line may be placed there. Exception: nuclear power action, see Immediate actions below.

Example: Annie (red) has bought two power lines for EUR 5 million. She places one power line next to the construction crew, and the other one on some other link, hoping to profit from it in the future.

Buying a construction contract from the display: Choose one of the four contracts from the display, and pay the amount shown on the game board below that contract to the bank. Then, place the contract in front of you, and place one power plant each from your personal supply on the space below each icon on the contract.

Important: If you don't have sufficient power plants in your personal supply to fill all spaces below the icons of the contract, you cannot buy that contract!

Important: If you do not have a contract with at least one power plant on it at the start of your turn, you must use your planning action to buy a contract from the display. In the rare case when all contracts in the display require more power plants than you have in your personal supply, you may buy power lines during that round only.

Replenish the display subsequently: Move the remaining contracts to the left, leaving the space next to the stack empty. Then, place the top contract from the stack face up on that empty space.

Example: Jim (blue) buys the second contract from the display for EUR 2 million, puts it in front of him, and places one power plant below each icon of the contract. Subsequently, he replenishes the display.

Note: You may skip Phase 2 voluntarily and proceed to Phase 3: Movement and Construction immediately, except when you do not have a contract with at least one power plant on it at the start of your turn - in that case you must buy a contract.

Phase 3: Movement and construction

a) Moving the construction crew

You move the construction crew along empty power plant sites to a plant site with an action tile. That action tile must match an icon with a power plant on the space below, in one of your contracts. Move the construction crew along the links from one power plant site to the next. The cost for moving along each link is as follows:

• If there is no power line on that link, pay EUR 1 million to the bank.
• If there is another player's power line on that link, pay EUR 1 million to that player.
• If a power line of yours is on that link, the movement is for free.

Example: Katie (yellow) moves the construction crew 3 spaces: She pays EUR 1 million to Annie (red), EUR 1 million to the bank, and uses the last link for free because she owns that power line.

Important movement rules:

• You cannot move the construction crew over a power plant site with an action tile!
• You must move the construction crew if you can reach a power plant site with an action tile matching an icon with a power plant below it on one of your contracts. If you do not have a matching power plant or enough money to pay for the full movement, you cannot move the construction crew and must pass.
• The movement of the construction crew cannot end on a power plant site without an action tile.

b) Constructing a power plant

After ending the movement of the construction crew on a power plant site with an action tile, you take that action tile and place it in front of you. Then, you place a matching power plant from one of your contracts on that power plant site.

Important: The icon on the action tile must match the icon above the space on the contract from which you take the power plant.

If there is a construction ground tile on the power plant site, you may place any power plant from one of your contracts on that site, regardless of the icon above it.

Example A: Annie (red) moves the construction crew to the site with the natural gas tile, takes that tile, and places a power plant from below the matching icon on her contract on that site.

Example B: Bill (white) moves the construction crew to the site with the construction ground tile, takes that tile, and places a power plant from below any icon on his contract on that site. He chooses the power plant below the oil icon.

c) Actions

Each gained action tile grants a special action. There are permanent and immediate actions.

Permanent actions

Investor: Place the Investor tile on an empty space in Section I: Revenue of your board. At the start of each round, you receive EUR 1 million additionally in Phase 1: Revenue. You may have a maximum of two investor tiles. If you gain a third one, simply return it to the game box (no compensation).

Engineer: Place the Engineer tile on an empty space in Section II: Planning of your board. Starting with your next turn, you may use a second engineer for your planning during Phase 2: Planning. You may add a maximum of two engineer tiles to your initial one, thus allowing three planning actions. If you gain a fourth one, simply return it to the game box (no compensation).

Immediate actions

You must use this action immediately when gaining the tile. Then, return it to the game box.

Nuclear power: You may place one power line from your personal supply for free: a) On any empty link or b) on a link with exactly one established power line of another player.

When moving the construction crew along a link with two power lines, you must pay EUR 2 million, EUR 1 million to each owner. However, if you own one of the power lines, the movement is for free (you do not pay EUR 1 million to the other player).

Example: Annie (red) uses the immediate special action of the nuclear power tile and places one of her power lines parallel to another player's power line.

Important: There may never be more than two power lines on a link!

Coal: You may select any other power plant from one of your contracts and return it to your personal supply. In case you have no power plant on any of your contracts, this action has no effect.

Example: Jim (blue) moves the construction crew to a power plant site covered with a coal tile. He places the power plant from below that icon on one of his contracts, and then, as immediate special action, returns any other power plant from one of his contracts to his personal supply.

Natural gas: You take one of the CO2 certificates from the bank, look at its front side and keep it face down in front of you. During final scoring certificates will give you VP.

Oil: You may place up to two additional power plants from below oil icons on other contracts on that power plant site. Thus, you can build up to three power plants on a power plant site during a single turn.

Example: Katie (yellow) moves the construction crew to a power plant site with an oil tile. She takes one power plant from below that icon on each of her three contracts (one for the standard action and two from the special action) and places them on that power plant site.

Construction ground: You receive EUR 3 million from the bank.

Important: With the construction ground, you may place any power plant from one of your contracts on that power plant site in Phase 3: Movement and Construction. You only get the EUR 3 million (as immediate special action from the construction ground), not the immediate special action from the icon you took the power plant from.

Completed contracts

As soon as you have completed a contract, i. e. there are no more power plants left on it, advance your scoring marker on the VP track as many spaces as the number of VP shown on that contract. Then, flip the contract to its back and take EUR 1 million from the bank immediately.

Example: Katie (yellow) has completed two of her contracts. She gains 7 VP for the left one and 4 VP for the right one. She flips both contracts and takes EUR 2 million from the bank.

d) Constructing a joint power plant

First, you ask your fellow players in player order if they also want to construct one power plant on that same site where you just built your power plant(s). Only one player may do so, and after the first one agreed (if any), you do not ask the remaining players. That player must pay you EUR 2 million, and places one power plant from below a matching icon on one of their contracts on that same site. They cannot use the action of the removed action tile. It may happen that no player wants to use this joint construction or cannot do so.

Important: If you built your power plant by using a construction ground tile, the other player's power plant must be taken from below an identical icon to the one you used.

Example: Bill (white) moves the construction crew to a power plant site with a construction ground tile, and places a power plant from below an investor icon of one of his contracts on that site. Annie (red), his next fellow player to the left, has no power plant on a space below an investor icon. The next one, Jim (blue), is lacking money to construct a joint power plant. Finally, Katie (yellow) pays EUR 2 million to Bill, and then places one of her power plants from below an investor icon on that site.

Finally, you return your engineer(s) back to the left spaces in Section II: Planning of your board. This ends your turn. The next player in player order performs their turn, and play proceeds in this way until the end of the game is reached.

End of the Game and Final Scoring

The game end is triggered when at least one player has established all their power lines on the game board or when the last contract of the stack was added to the display. That round is completed as usual. Then, proceed to the final scoring, during which all players gain additional victory points as follows:

1. Empty spaces below icons on contracts - Each empty space below an icon on all your contracts is worth 1 VP.

   Example: Annie (red) scores 2 VP.

2. CO2 certificates - Each certificate you own is worth the number of VP shown on its back.

   Example: Annie (red) scores 9 VP for her certificates.

3. Regional presence - The starting space does not belong to any region. The players gain VP for the majority ranking in each of the different regions. The more power plants a player has in a region, the more VP they gain according to the following chart:

   Majorities in different regions:

   	1st	2nd	3rd
   4 players	6	3	1
   3 players	5	2
   2 players	3

The players advance their scoring marker on the VP track accordingly. When a player passes the "75" space, they flip their "0/75" token to the "75" side, and continue to advance along the track.

The player farthest ahead on the VP track is the winner of the game! In case of a tie for the foremost position, the tied player who owns more money is the winner. If the tie persists, the tied players share victory.

Tips and Clues

• It can be worthwhile to pay EUR 2 million to another player in order to build a joint power plant during that other player's turn:
  • The joining player's contract is completed sooner, gaining money and VP.
  • If there are none or only few action tiles of a certain kind left on the game board, this may be a good opportunity to build a matching power plant.
• If a player has power plants on their contracts, but no matching action tiles are left on the game board, they still have two ways to build these power plants:
  • They can build any power plant by using the construction ground tile.
  • They can return any power plant from their contracts to their personal supply by using the natural gas tile.
• A large grid will give VP at the end of the game, as well as money during the game whenever other players use it for moving the construction crew. Furthermore, moving along one's own power lines is for free - the longer a movement the more profitable it is. This allows for increased flexibility, especially during the last third part of the game.

You may add each of the following modules (1-3) on their own or in any combination.

Module 1: "Largest Grid"

You do not need additional game components for this module. All players gain additional VP during final scoring for their largest grid.

Changes during final scoring

Each player counts the number of their power plants within their largest grid, formed by their own connected power lines. Each own power plant in each player's largest grid is worth 2 VP.

A power plant is part of a player's grid if it is connected to the player's power lines of that grid.

It is not required for a player to have a power plant on each construction site of that grid: it is sufficient that all their power lines are connected. Junctions are allowed and increase a grid.

Important: A player's largest grid is the one with the most own power plants, not necessarily the grid with that player's most power lines!

Example: Annie (red) has two grids. The upper one is made of 6 of her power lines, connecting 8 of her power plants. The lower one is made of 3 of her power lines, connecting 4 of her power plants. She gains 16 VP for her upper grid.

Module 2: "Public Contracts"

When playing with this module, the players keep the action tiles from the power plant sites in front of them, after using them. They collect tiles instead of discarding them.

Changes in setup

The players flip their player board to side "B", while keeping side "A" of their action bar.

Shuffle the 16 "public contracts" and stack them face down next to the game board as a draw pile. Reveal the top four cards from the stack, placing them on open display in a row next to the draw pile. Place the 18 wildcard tiles as a common supply next to the game board as well.

Changes in game play

Each public contract shows a combination of 2-4 kinds of energy - old energies (oil, natural gas, nuclear power, and coal) - as well as a number of VP and an effect.

During Phase 2: Planning you can buy a public contract by paying EUR 1 million to the bank, either a face up contract from the display or the face down one from the stack. If you buy a contract from the display, refill the display immediately with the top card from the stack. This is done instead of buying one of the usual construction contracts. You can only buy one contract during your turn, whichever their origin. You may have any number of contracts in front of you.

Note: Do not forget that you must decide to buy either a construction contract or a public contract.

Example: Bill (white) places one of his engineers on the space allowing to buy a construction contract or a public contract. He chooses to buy a public contract from the display, and pays EUR 1 million to the bank. He places the contract in front of him, and refills the display immediately.

After taking an action tile from the game board during Phase 3: Movement and construction and having used its special action, keep the tile in front of you instead of discarding it.

Important: This applies also to any construction ground tiles, and investor and engineer tiles that you cannot place on your player board.

When asking your fellow players if they want to construct a joint power plant subsequently, the player who does so takes one wildcard tile from the common supply, keeping it in front of them.

Example: Annie (red) has constructed her power plant and asked if anyone wants to construct a joint power plant. Jim wants to do so, pays EUR 2 million to Annie and places his power plant on the same site as Annie's. Then, he takes one wildcard tile from the common supply.

At any time later during the game, in your turn, you may use a public contract you had bought before. When using a public contract, you must discard the indicated set of action tiles (oil, natural gas, coal, or nuclear power). Apply the effect of that public contract immediately, and then advance your scoring marker as many spaces as the number of VP shown on that contract. Thereafter, remove both the used action tiles and the public contract from the game.

Important: You may also use wildcard tiles, construction ground tiles, investor tiles and engineer tiles to use a public contract as substitutes for the action tiles displayed. You may use any combination of these tiles, however at least one tile must be an action tile of those shown on the contract. If you use substitutes (even if only one), you will apply the effect but do not gain any VP from that contract! Again, all used tiles and the contract itself are removed from the game.

Example: Jim (blue) wants to use one of his public contracts. He collects EUR 6 million from the bank, and then discards the required action tiles (coal, natural gas, and oil) and the contract. Therefore, he gains 4 VP and removes the public contract from the game.

Public contracts overview

(The action tiles required are shown on the printed table as icons; they are listed here as words. Nuclear = nuclear power.)

Action tiles	Effect	VP
Natural gas, Oil	Gain EUR 4 million.	2
Coal, Oil	Reallocate one of your power lines to any other unoccupied link.	2
Nuclear, Coal	Return one of your CO2 certificates to the game box to gain as many EUR million + 1 from the bank as the number of VP shown on the certificate.	2
Coal, Natural gas	Reallocate one power plant on one of your construction contracts to an adjacent space (below the left or right icon).	2
Nuclear, Natural gas	Move the construction crew to an adjacent power plant site for free.	2
Nuclear, Oil	Return one power plant from one of your contracts to your personal supply.	2
Coal, Natural gas, Oil	Gain EUR 6 million.	4

Module 3: "New Construction Grounds and Life-Span Extension"

Changes in setup

Replace the seven construction ground action tiles of the basic game with the seven new ones. Shuffle all action tiles and place them on the game board as usual. Each player takes the nuclear power board of their chosen player color and places it to the right side of their player board. All players flip their action bar to its "B" side.

Changes in game play

The new construction ground action tiles

When moving the construction crew to a power plant site with a construction ground action tile, you take the tile. Each construction ground action tile grants a unique and immediate special action (replacing the action from the basic game):

• EUR 4 / EUR 5 million: Take EUR 4 or EUR 5 million, respectively, from the bank.
• 5 VP: Gain 5 VP, moving your scoring marker accordingly.
• EUR 0 construction contract: Take any one construction contract from the display for free, then refill the display.
• 2 power lines: Place 2 power lines from your personal supply on the game board. You may place each one either on an empty link or on a link occupied by another player's power line.
• Additional power plant: Construct any one power plant from one of your contracts on a power plant site where you have constructed one (or two) of your power plants already.

Important: If playing with the module "Public contracts", you keep the construction ground tile after using it. You may use it later for one of your public contracts.

The nuclear power action tiles

When moving the construction crew to a power plant site with a nuclear power plant, you take and place it on your nuclear power board. This replaces the immediate action of nuclear power tiles of the basic game with a new permanent action. Each player may have a maximum of two nuclear power action tiles on their nuclear power board.

When moving the construction crew during Phase 3: Movement and construction, each nuclear power action tile on your nuclear power board allows you to use one link for free, regardless whether it is empty or one or two power lines are established there. Slide the used nuclear power action on the board slightly down to indicate that you have used it and cannot use it again during this turn. Slide the used tile(s) up again at the end of your turn.

Example: Katie (yellow) moves the construction crew along two links. First, she pays EUR 1 million to the bank. Then, she slides her nuclear power action tile down to use its action. Her movement along the red power line is now for free.

Important: When playing with the module "Public contracts" you must decide what to do with a nuclear power action tile you take. If you place it on your nuclear power board, you cannot use it for a public contract and vice versa. Once you have two tiles on your nuclear power board, you can use any further ones for public contracts.