Power Grid: Russia and Japan Review

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(More customer reviews)This expansion includes a board with two new country maps for the popular Power Grid board game. Each new country map comes with some slight rule modifications that affect the strategy in subtle but interesting ways.
For Japan, the rule changes include:
* Players can build two independent power networks starting in different areas of the country.
* A network can only be started in one of six starting cities, which means players are often competing for position from the start of the game. The starting cities can each be occupied by two separate players in step 1, to allow each player an opportunity to start both of their allowed networks.
* Coal, oil, and uranium start out slightly more expensive than in the base game, while garbage starts out cheaper.
For Russia, the changes include:
* The power plant market is more limited. In the first two steps of the game, three power plants are in the current and future markets (instead of four), and the market size in step 3 is four (instead of six).
* The two lowest value garbage plants are removed from the game, and no garbage is available to purchase at the beginning of the game.
* The lowest valued power plant in the market is removed when the first player chooses not to bid (instead of when all players choose not to bid).
* Oil and uranium start out much cheaper than in the base game. Coal is more expensive, and garbage is not available until after the replenishment round at the end of the first turn.
* The resource replenishment tables are different. Coal generally replenishes more slowly than in the base game, oil replenishes more quickly (in the first two steps), and garbage replenishes more quickly in step 1 only.
A nice thing about this expansion is that a small number of rule changes can have a fairly dramatic effect on game strategy. For example, the differences in resource supply on the Russia map can significantly affect the relative value of different power plants. Suddenly a small oil plant becomes more attractive than a small coal plant because coal is scarce and expensive throughout the game.
All in all, both new country expansions are easy to pick up if you're already familiar with Power Grid, and are every bit as fun as the original.

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Two new expansion maps for Power Grid: Russia on one side and Japan on the other.In Russia the market for power plants is restricted. Additionally, the standard rules for exchanging out of date power plants are changed, forcing the leading players to completely rethink their strategies.Based on the crowded geographical surroundings, the players can start two separate networks in Japan. The first connections are restricted to certain cities, guaranteeing a tough fight for the best networks.

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