Well - lost two games of Power Grid this week. Kevin was nice enough to host two games at his new home, and the hospitality provided was excellent (thank you Marci!).
Learned a couple of interesting lessons about Power Grid, the excellent Friedmann Friese, Rio Grande game (released in originially in German as 'Funkenschlag'). We played two 3-player games, with newcomer Jared, Kevin and myself.
Firstly, never underestimate the n00bie effect. Jared, native of South Africa, has never played a German-style game before (and claimed little knowledge of gaming in general). This 'brain-buster' as I have referred it before, proved to be very easy for him. He defeated Kevin and I soundly both games!
Second, there are a few tricks in this game. That should have been obvious, but Kevin and I were sucked in by the system, and overlooked a simple point in the game: the victory conditions. With three players, the game requires 17 points worth of power production to win, and with a cap of 3 plants, maximum value of 7, there are only a finite number of combinations available to meet this goal. For example, plants of 5, 5, and 7 would total 17. Kevin and I had something like 3, 6, 7 = 16, or 5, 5, 6 = 16. Both games, Kevin and I had very efficient systems, plenty of cash, but failed to simply buy plants that would equal 17 points of power.
After our final loss, we began to realize that mid-game plants are a red herring - they are not necessary, and can even distract from the important endgame goal of positioning oneself for the final production of energy.
I realize that this probably means nothing to someone who hasn't played the game, and I don't want to oversimplify all of this, but the effect this experience had on us was something like the effect that happens when you play a game of Settlers: build nothing but settlements, have no access to ore, and despite having the longest road, peak at 7 points. You can't grow any further, or buy development cards, so you lose to a guy with three cities, largest army, and a couple of victory point cards. It stings, and when you lose to someone who's never played a real boardgame in his life, it's extra painful!
Saying all this with a smile, it was pretty funny, as clever as Kevin and I thought we were, to get beat so soundly twice at a game that we would typically dominate in.
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2 comments:
Hi Dave,
Excellent summary of Monday's games. I've been checking your blog all week waiting for your write up.
Jarred had a very good time and I believe is hooked on German board games, well at least Power Grid. He's looking forward to trying the game again with 4 or 5 players when you come down for the picnic.
After you left Jarred and Angie wanted to play a game of Pinochle.
We played guys verses the girls and the game can be summed up like this, "You Can't Win If You Don't Have The Cards!" and Monday night the girls had the cards. Marci and Angie spanked us like it wasn't funny. So we all laughed, had a good time. And the girls were very happy at the end of the night.
Thanks for coming down for a fun packed day and look forward to seeing you again real soon.
Thanks Kevin. I really enjoyed myself at golf and especially at the gaming, even though I did poorly at both! Hee hee... we sure got whupped.
Funny, that your day got even worse losing so badly in cards as well. :)
Curious about your thoughts on Power Grid now, after 2.5 playings of it (our first session ending at phase 2 really doesn't count looking back on it).
One thing that kind of bothered me was the lack of a clear way to see how I was actually doing in the mid-game. With semi-closed money holdings, I wasn't all that sure that my effeciency strategy was working or not. When we play it again, I will certainly not get caught short in power towards the end, learned that lesson. But what signs can I look for that I am actually out-performing other players? It seems that there is hardly any way to know.
The timing of the turns (or turn-order) seems to be really important. And then there's the bidding. Winning or losing (even on purpose) some of the bidding might be the real key to this game, ultimately. There was really little competition in our 3-player game for anything - that is probably what lost it for us.
Did the experience feel a little like playing a spreadsheet?
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