Power Grid: China/Korea
Power Grid: China/Korea Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Korea
Introduction
In Korea, due to the division of the country, the political situation is very different compared to the countries of the other Power Grid maps.
The players are confronted first with richly varying geographical challenges, making building expensive. In addition, because of the political division, the players must buy their resources from a divided market.
Preparation
In Korea, there are two separate resource markets, one for the north and one for the south.
Fill the following spaces of the resource market:
- North: coal - spaces 1–8, oil - spaces 3–8, garbage - spaces 7–8.
- South: coal - spaces 1–8, oil - spaces 3–8, garbage - spaces 7–8, uranium - spaces 14–16.
The cheapest starting spaces for each resource are marked on the map with a star symbol.
Depending on the number of players, place the matching resource refill card for Korea on the game board.
Phase 3: Buying Resources
The players can buy from either market, regardless of where they have built their power grid. However, in each round, a player may only buy resources from one of the two markets. Of course, each player may decide for themself which market they will use.
In reverse player order, each player chooses one of the two markets to buy resources from during this round. They must buy all resources for the round from the market they choose. If the market chosen has no more of a resource the player wants, they cannot buy that resource this round.
- 2 players - Against the Trust: The Trust chooses the market that will provide the cheapest resources to power the largest number of their power plants during this round. In case of a tie, the Trust chooses the market in South Korea.
Phase 5: Bureaucracy
The resources on the two resource markets are filled in accordance with the Korea resource refill summary cards. Restock the north market first and then the south market as much as possible.
China
Introduction
The Chinese economy is structured as a planned economy. In this version of the game, there are no surprises. The power plants on the power plant market are offered in ascending order during the first two Steps of the game. Additionally, the resource table is designed such that resources are likely to be in short supply as the game proceeds. Thus, players must carefully plan their resource needs or find their grid dark and their incomes reduced.
Preparation
Do not use the discount token.
Depending on the number of players, remove the following power plants from the game and place them in the box:
- with 2 and 3 players: 3, 4, 9, 11, 16, 18, 20, 24, 30, 33, 46.
- with 4 players: 3, 4, 11, 18, 24, 33, 46.
- with 5 and 6 players: 3, 4, 33.
Sort the remaining power plants as described below and place them as a face-down supply:
- plants 36–50: shuffle and place face-down at the bottom of the supply.
- plants 31–35: (naturally without 33) shuffle along with the Step 3 card and place face-down on top of the higher numbers already placed on the supply.
- plants 5–30: sort in ascending order with 30 on the bottom and 5 on the top and place face-down on the supply.
The resulting supply will have plants 5–30 from the top, 31–35, and the Step 3 card will be next, in random order, and 36–50 will be on the bottom, also in random order.
Fill the following spaces of the resource market: coal - spaces 5–8, oil - spaces 5–8, garbage - spaces 7–8. The cheapest starting spaces for each resource are marked on the map with a star symbol. There is no uranium at the beginning.
Depending on the number of players, place the matching resource refill card for China on the game board.
Phase 2: Auction Power Plants
In this version, there is no future power plant market. All power plants are always placed and available in the current market.
The first round: in the first round, place one power plant in the power plant market for each player (with 2 & 3 players, use numbers 5, 6, and 7, etc.). The players buy the power plants at auction as normal, and each player must buy exactly one power plant in the first round.
Important: in phase 2, after the purchase of a power plant, no new plant is drawn from the supply! The power plant market is only filled in phase 5.
During all further rounds of Step 1 and Step 2: at the beginning of phase 2, there is one fewer power plant in the market than the number of players.
Important: also, in phase 2 in these rounds, players do not draw a new plant from the supply when one is purchased. Thus, not all players will be able to buy a power plant each round after the first round. The power plant market is only filled in phase 5.
2 players - Against the Trust: during step 1 and step 2, after one of the two players has bought the first offered power plant, or after the first player opted out, the Trust takes the second (bigger) power plant. Thus, one of the players will not get a new power plant in that round.
During Step 3: in Step 3, there are always 4 power plants in the market. In the following rounds, as in basic Power Grid, the players draw a new card from the supply, adding it to the market whenever a plant is bought.
General rule for all play rounds: if no player buys a power plant in a round, unlike the basic Power Grid game, no power plant is removed from the market (however, see phase 5: Bureaucracy).
Important: at the beginning of Step 2 (after at least one player has built the specified number of cities), the players once remove the smallest power plant from the market, replacing it with the top-most plant from the supply.
Phase 5: Bureaucracy
During Step 1 and Step 2: At the beginning of phase 5, the players fill the power plant market with new power plants. They fill the market so that there is always one fewer power plant in the market than the number of players (2 power plants for 3 players, 3 power plants for 4 players, and so on. Exception: with 2 players, there are always 2 power plants in the market).
Depending on the number of players, the players always add a minimum of 1, 2, or 3 power plants to the market from the supply:
- with 2 and 3 players, add at least 1 power plant.
- with 4 and 5 players, add at least 2 power plants.
- with 6 players, add at least 3 power plants.
If there are now more power plants in the market as needed for the number of players, remove the lowest-numbered power plants until the correct number of plants in the market is reached. Place the removed plants in the box. In this way, the market will not stagnate but will always have the correct number at the end of phase 5.
Important: in phase 5, during Step 1 and Step 2, unlike in the basic Power Grid, the players do not remove the largest power plant from the market.
During Step 3: In contrast to the basic Power Grid, Step 3 only begins in phase 5. As soon as the Step 3 card is drawn, the players remove the Step 3 card and the smallest power plant from the market, placing them in the box. Next, the players draw power plant cards from the supply, placing them in the market until there are four power plants in the market. If there were already four power plant cards in the market, no new power plants are drawn at this time.
Important: in Step 3, there are always 4 power plants in the power plant market regardless of the number of players.
Important: during Step 3, in phase 5, players remove the smallest power plant from the market and replace it with a new power plant from the supply, so there are always 4 power plants in the market in Step 3.
The resources are filled in accordance with the China resource refill summary cards.