Rio Grande Games Power Grid: First Sparks

Game has many of the turn mechanics of the original Power Grid so is easy to understand being an owner of the original game. Pieces are made of durable materials. Quicker play than Power Grid. Would recommend purchase if game appeals to you.

Box was crushed on top.

Extremely boring, very simplistic, and not in a good way -like you just want to play a quick and easy game that’s fun. This game is neither as quick as the boredom of it would have you think nor is it fun. I own over 800 board games and have only ever gotten rid of a handful -this one will be donated. Wish it was returnable, it’s that bad.Also, the box is a ridiculously large rectangular box that could have been half the size if the no-reason-to-be-large game board was foldable or just made half the size.Waste all the way around. Not sure who these people are who love OG Power Grid and also like this nonsense.Don’t do it.

If you're familiar with Power Grid, the first paragraph is for you. If not, feel free to skip to the second!I personally loved Power Grid, but I totally sympathize with all my friends who were as into all the future resource planning the game demanded. This game still plays very much like power grid, but it's like all the elements of Power Grid were reformed and improved to make it more straight forward, fun, and accessible. There's still a hefty amount of strategy too, but the pressure to think turns in advance isn't there anymore. If you liked PG, you'll really enjoy this.If you never played Power Grid, don't worry! This is a totally new game, and it's very quickly become a favorite with my board gaming friends. You play as a tribe of early humans, hunting, gathering, expanding the tribe, and improving tools and technology to advance quicker. This is a casual-core game. It certainly requires a little bit of attention, and your decisions directly impact the outcome of the game, but it's still pretty laid back. I've successfully played this with my nephew who was 10, but it's also very popular with my usual board gaming crew who are in their 30s. You'll like it!

For me the game was O.K. The box seems to be a bit to large. I do enjoy some of the other Power Grid Games.

This plays very similarly to Power Grid, only it doesn't suffer from analysis paralysis. Lightweight for heavy gamers, heavyweight for non-gamers. There is very little rubber-banding in this game, so don't fall too far behind or you'll never catch up. A good game overall.

I love Power Grid. I could play it twice a month if I could get it to the table. The issue is math. I love the plotting, budgeting, and auction mechanic of the game. Do I try to out bid you for that killer 4:1 power plant? If I do will I have enough left to buy fuel, AND power all of my existing cities? It's a lot to plot and I love it!Most people hate the math. It's just too much to keep track of and it makes a great game not such a great play. It's no fun for them and no fun for you because you can see how MISERABLE they were playing such a great game.First Sparks takes 90% of the math out of the game and still has the feel of the original.There is still a market to bid on but it is based solely on player order.The game board is modular and it scales up or down based on the number of players.My pre teen kids really get into the game based almost exclusively on the "meeple money"If you are like me and love the original but can't it to the able this is worth checking out.

It's pretty fun, but nowhere near as good as the original Power Grid game. A friend of mine has the original power grid, and I was torn between getting an expansion to play with his game (and later purchase Power Grid myself), or get this one. I somewhat regret my decision--if I get the original, I most likely won't be playing this one.I played with 6 players, and could only prevent other people from getting their resources on the last turn, and only because I had the Tool Sled knowledge (which is pretty broken--it let me jump from last to first once I got four good tools).