Uploaded November 2018 | Updated September 2026, 12 hours ago
Some of the regulars don't like 3P and will only play it as a last resort, which is why we don't see it much on here. It's one of my preferred formats though, only behind 2P & 4P!
Got very lucky with my starting build, as wishmaker was a bit too greedy with solo Chicago. On this config you need Minneapolis if you go there, or else another player can do exactly what barmstrong did here. That left me with a lot of open space in the cheap southeast, which is ridiculous for building last!
This game also shows why i value 04 & even 03 a tad less in 3P. 08 makes a lot more money in the first 2 turns, compared to larger games; there will be a lot less coal bought in front of you. 04 in particular gets stuck in an awkward spot on turn 2, where they either buy a mediocre plant (05 or 09) and give the last player the 10 at cost, or pass and only power 1 city again. If they opt for the latter, as barmstrong did in this game, that gives a greater advantage to the player with 08.
13 and 15 turned out to be key plants in this one since the market moved so slowly. Barm definitely should have fought harder for both of those, but they ended up running 10 by itself for way too long. Getting both of those plants cheaply put me in the winning position, and even giving Barm the 26 at cost later didn't stop that.
20 may have been a mistake for me, though...powered 2 extra cities for 1 extra coal compared to the 15, but i only ran it twice. That made me an extra $30 minus the cost of 2 extra coal, so it broke even at best. Maybe it was OK since i could have landed a much better plant than 31 in Step 3, though - that was the worst-case scenario for me.
Things got reeeeeaaaaaal close toward the end, though - won't say how exactly, but check the Step 3 auction turns.
If you'd like to learn more about Power Grid, please check my blog for strategy articles on each power plant as well as a guide to 2-player games:
maninmotiongoingnowhere.wordpress.com/power-grid-strategy-individual-plant-articles
Some of the regulars don't like 3P and will only play it as a last resort, which is why we don't see it much on here. It's one of my preferred formats though, only behind 2P & 4P!
Got very lucky with my starting build, as wishmaker was a bit too greedy with solo Chicago. On this config you need Minneapolis if you go there, or else another player can do exactly what barmstrong did here. That left me with a lot of open space in the cheap southeast, which is ridiculous for building last!
This game also shows why i value 04 & even 03 a tad less in 3P. 08 makes a lot more money in the first 2 turns, compared to larger games; there will be a lot less coal bought in front of you. 04 in particular gets stuck in an awkward spot on turn 2, where they either buy a mediocre plant (05 or 09) and give the last player the 10 at cost, or pass and only power 1 city again. If they opt for the latter, as barmstrong did in this game, that gives a greater advantage to the player with 08.
13 and 15 turned out to be key plants in this one since the market moved so slowly. Barm definitely should have fought harder for both of those, but they ended up running 10 by itself for way too long. Getting both of those plants cheaply put me in the winning position, and even giving Barm the 26 at cost later didn't stop that.
20 may have been a mistake for me, though...powered 2 extra cities for 1 extra coal compared to the 15, but i only ran it twice. That made me an extra $30 minus the cost of 2 extra coal, so it broke even at best. Maybe it was OK since i could have landed a much better plant than 31 in Step 3, though - that was the worst-case scenario for me.
Things got reeeeeaaaaaal close toward the end, though - won't say how exactly, but check the Step 3 auction turns.
If you'd like to learn more about Power Grid, please check my blog for strategy articles on each power plant as well as a guide to 2-player games:
maninmotiongoingnowhere.wordpress.com/power-grid-strategy-individual-plant-articles
