Do you prefer wind and solar energy or just want to win the game?

The updated version of Power Grid, which was first released in 2004 and has become one of the modern board game classics, puts players in a race to see who builds the largest energy network in a given country or territory. The end of the game is triggered when someone manages to supply energy to your 17th city; and if in that last turn there is still a chance of overcoming whoever is ahead, the important thing will be the climb carried out so far. Is that generating energy, on this board, it’s not as simple as flipping a switch.In building these energy empires there are some aspects with particular relevance in terms of economics lessons. The simplest goes through the auction of the exchanges available to the players; whoever bids the most will obviously keep the equipment in dispute, but it will be necessary to take into account the money that will remain in the account. It’s just that we still need capital to finance other essential tasks such as buying resources on the market and paying for the use of the networks that transport electricity to the various cities on the map.

The laws of supply and demand

The acquisition of materials such as oil, coal, garbage and uranium turns out to be one of the most stimulating actions in the game. The prices of these resources, necessary for the operation of energy plants, varies according to the laws of supply and demand. The greater the demand for coal, the less availability there will be of this raw material on the market and, consequently, the higher the price demanded from the buyer. This almost constant price fluctuation, which may involve some manipulation by the players, compels strategic decisions, such as what type of equipment should be installed. If, on the one hand, the most evolved options can be more expensive in the acquisition phase (the base price of the bidding is always rising), on the other hand, they will be much more efficient, requiring fewer resources to produce greater amounts of the desired energy. : From want to power, a whole budget goes

Rise to victory with fossil fuels? You can even…

In the case of renewable energy plants, it will not even be necessary to use any type of fuel: the sun and the wind will take care of the matter. Power Grid, however, does not grant advantages to those who are more sensitive to the issue of environmental awareness. There is some graphic differentiation, it is true, between the wind power plant, surrounded by a green meadow and with the turbine marking the mountainous horizon, and the power plants that use coal or burn garbage, which are shown under a gray and oppressive sky. , the work of black smoke rising from tall chimneys. But there will be no final bonus for whoever has the most solar stations; any road, even the most polluting, is a viable option to achieve victory. A bit like the real world? Read more: If The Sims Economy Is Unrealistic, Fans Deal With It

Money earned, money invested

Let’s return to more economic lessons, like this one: the rewards of investment, are often not immediate. It will be over the course of the rounds that the sustained and wise application of elektros (name given to the currency used in Power Grid) will eventually bear fruit. And, as we’ve already seen, this can either involve storing oil – hoarding the raw material when it’s cheap on the market – or investing heavily in renewable energy so as not to depend on fluctuations in the price of uranium or coal. ironically, it is in the phase entitled “Bureaucracy” that players receive their elektros, in an income calculated through the number of cities they manage to supply electricity to. Afterwards, it is necessary don’t let that money go; every cent will be precious for the expansion of the network, from city to city, to auction a more modern plant, or to buy an increasingly scarce and expensive resource. What if there is no more oil to supply the market? There is not. A good reminder that the planet cannot be bought on credit: when the oil deposits run out, well, they ran out.Read more: How to beat Monopoly (and then discover other worlds)

The Iberian Peninsula at the forefront of renewable energies

In addition to some expansions that add new dynamics, the publisher and designer of Power Grid have invested heavily in creating new dual maps that serve to refresh the game when the originals representing Germany and the United States get tired. There are proposals to build electrical grids in Korea and China, Australia and India, France and Italy, among other geographies. There is also a double map which, on one side, shows Brazil, whose scale implies higher grid connection costs, and, on the other, Portugal and Spain, on a board that boosts the rapid expansion of nuclear and ecological energies. On the Iberian map, players need to remain competitive in terms of technology, replacing their power stations that run on fossil fuels. Is anyone running for the title of king of the energy sector of the Iberian Peninsula? Well, see what it does. We don’t want you to be the main responsible for a blackout that leaves Madrid and Lisbon without electricity for hours and hours… Read more: 5 virtual games that teach children and young people to deal with money Paulo M. Morais grew up playing street football and listening to proverbs told by his grandmothers. He graduated in Social Communication and specialized in the areas of cinema, videogames and gastronomy. He is the author of novels and non-fiction books. He collects board games and continues to watch many movies. He likes to cook, look at the sea, read. The information contained in the article is not binding and does not invalidate the full reading of documents that support the matter in question.