Power Failure
Power Failure Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
59 Action Cards are your primary resource. You will use them to build Power Plants, play them as special Events that grant you powerful bonuses, and spend them as Resources to Activate your Power Plants. The Action Cards are:
- 31 Power Plant Action Cards. Each shows:
- Resource Cost: the cards you must discard in order to Activate this Plant.
- Carbon Requirement: how many Carbon Blocks you must stack in order to Activate this Plant.
- Energy Production: how much Energy you generate when Activating this Plant.
- Type: the type of Plant (Coal, Natural Gas, Nuclear, Solar, Wind, or Hydroelectric).
- 13 Event Action Cards.
- 15 Resource Action Cards. These include Natural Gas and Nuclear resources, which are required to Activate certain Power Plants.
15 City Cards represent the city's Energy demands. Generate Energy to earn City Cards that will score you points (★) at the end of the game.
- Reward: how many points you earn from this City Card.
- Energy Requirement: how much Energy you must produce to earn this City Card.
4 Player Mats and 3 Power Cubes. Your Player Mat shows the different types of Actions you can take on your turn. As the active player takes Actions, they will use the 3 Power Cubes to keep track of the Actions they perform.
24 Carbon Blocks. The energy business is a balancing act, represented by the shared Carbon Tower. As you perform certain Actions, you will be required to stack Carbon Blocks, making the Tower increasingly unstable. If the Tower falls, all players must discard from their hand, and there may be additional penalties for the player who caused the Tower to fall.
Setup
- Prepare the Supply. In a 2-3 player game, remove all City Cards marked with the 4-player symbol from the game. Shuffle the City Cards and Action Cards into separate face-down decks. Deal a row of face-up City Cards equal to 1 more than the number of players next to the City Deck. Then reveal the 6 topmost Action Cards and place them next to the Action Deck face up. Form a Discard Pile by drawing the top card from the Action Deck and placing it face up next to the Action Deck.
- Place the Carbon Blocks next to the Action Deck, within reach of all players. Stack 3 Carbon Blocks on top of each other next to the rest of the Carbon Blocks. This is the Carbon Tower.
- Player Setup. Deal each player a starting hand of 5 Action Cards from the Action Card Deck. Give each player 1 Player Mat.
- Choose a player to go first. Give them the 3 Power Cubes and get ready to play Power Failure!
Gameplay
Getting on the Grid
In clockwise order, players will take turns selecting and performing any combination of 3 Actions. Players must perform exactly 3 Actions on their turn, and they may not pass. For each Action, the active player places 1 Power Cube on the corresponding space on their Player Mat to keep track of which Actions they have performed.
There are 3 types of Actions you can perform on your turn, in any combination and order:
- Take 1 Action Card from the Supply, which may include Power Plants to build, Resources to fuel your Plants, or powerful Events.
- Play 1 Action Card from your hand to build it if it is a Power Plant, or gain its bonuses if it is an Event.
- Activate 1 Type of Power Plant to generate Energy.
Example: On his turn, César took the "Take 1 Action Card" Action once, and the "Play 1 Action Card" Action twice.
Some Actions require you to add Carbon Blocks to the Carbon Tower. Successfully completing these Actions depends on stacking the Blocks without knocking the Tower over. Rules relating to the Carbon Tower are marked with a Carbon Block symbol and summarized on p. 12.
Ending Your Turn
After taking 3 Actions, if you generated enough Energy to meet the requirements of a City Card, gain it for final scoring. If you still have Energy left over, gain any additional City Cards you can still afford.
Discard any Event Cards you Played this turn, and then refill the Supply to the original number of Action Cards and City Cards. If the Action Deck is exhausted, shuffle all cards in the Discard Pile to form a new Action Deck, and start a new Discard Pile with the top card. Finally, pass the Power Cubes to the player to your left to signal that it is now their turn.
The game continues in this manner until there are not enough City Cards to completely refill the Supply at the end of a player's turn. At this point, every other player takes 1 more turn before counting up points and determining the winner.
Actions
Take 1 Action Card
When you choose the "Take 1 Action Card" Action, take 1 face-up Action Card from the Supply. The Action Card Supply is not refilled until the end of your turn. You may perform this Action up to 3 times, placing 1 Power Cube on the corresponding space of your Player Mat each time.
Hand Size. If you have 6 or more cards in your hand when you perform the "Take 1 Action Card" Action, you must add 1 Carbon Block to the Carbon Tower immediately after doing so. If the Tower collapses, your turn ends immediately and all players, including you, must discard 1 Action Card from their hand. Hand size rules do not apply when playing the Energy Summit or Energy Saving Rewards cards.
Example: Jazmin begins her turn with 6 Action Cards in her hand. She would like to Activate her Nuclear Power Plants, but doesn't have enough Resources to do so. For her first Action, she Takes 1 Nuclear Resource Card from the Supply and places a Power Cube on the "Take 1" space of her Player Mat. She must now add 1 Carbon Block to the Carbon Tower. For her second Action, she Takes another Nuclear Resource Card from the Supply, places a Power Cube on the "Take 1" space of her Player Mat, and adds another Carbon Block.
Play 1 Action Card
When you choose the "Play 1 Action Card" Action, play 1 Event or 1 Power Plant from your hand and place it face up in front of you. You may perform this Action up to 3 times, placing 1 Power Cube on the corresponding space of your Player Mat each time.
Events. When you Play an Event, you gain that card's bonus for the remainder of your turn. Hand size rules do not apply when playing Events that allow you to gain Action Cards. At the end of your turn, discard any Events you Played.
Energy Saving Rewards: Choose 1 City Card. Its Energy requirement is -1 this round. You may take 1 Action Card from the Supply.
Power Plants. Play a Power Plant card from your hand to build it. After you do, immediately add 1 Carbon Block to the Carbon Tower. If the Tower collapses, you must return the Power Plant card to your hand, your turn ends and all players (including you) must discard 1 Action Card.
Note: You must add 1 Carbon Block to the Carbon Tower each time you build a Power Plant, regardless of Type. Building a Power Plant has no immediate effect, but Power Plants remain in play for the rest of the game and can be used to generate Energy with the Activation Action.
Activate 1 Type of Power Plant
Place a Power Cube on the space on your Player Mat that corresponds to the Power Plant Type you are Activating: Coal, Natural Gas, or Nuclear. This allows you to Activate any number of your Power Plants of that Type (Green Power Plant Activation is explained later). You may only Activate each Type of Power Plant once per turn, but you may Activate different Types of Power Plants in a turn using multiple Actions.
Activating a Power Plant might require you to spend Resources and stack Carbon Blocks to the Carbon Tower. Resources are represented by Action Cards you must discard in order to Activate Power Plants. Some Power Plants require you to discard specific Resource Cards, while others allow you to discard any kind of Action Card as a Resource. Resource and Carbon Tower requirements for Activating 1 of each Type of Power Plant are outlined below.
Each time you carry out this Action, first determine how many Plants you are Activating. Then, according to the number of Plants, discard all required Resources. Finally, stack all the necessary Carbon Blocks.
| Coal Plants | Natural Gas Plants | |
|---|---|---|
| Resources to Activate | Any 1 Card | 1 Natural Gas, or Any 2 Cards |
| Carbon Blocks to Stack | 3 | 2 |
| Energy Produced | 6 | 4 |
| Nuclear Plants | Green Plants | |
|---|---|---|
| Resources to Activate | 2 Nuclear, or 1 Nuclear & Any 2 Cards | No Resources or Activation Required |
| Carbon Blocks to Stack | 0 | 0 |
| Energy Produced | 5 | Varies |
If the Carbon Tower did not collapse, your Activation Action was successful. You generate as much Energy as indicated on the top right corner of each Power Plant you Activated.
If the Carbon Tower did collapse, your turn ends immediately. You do not generate any Energy. You do not regain any of the Resources you spent, and all players (including you) must discard 1 Action Card from their hand.
Green Power Plants
Green Power Plants are less efficient, but they generate Energy automatically at the end of each turn, without requiring an Activation Action, Resources, or adding to the Carbon Tower.
- Solar and Wind Plants generate varying Energy, determined by the number on the top card of the face-down Action Deck.
- Hydroelectric Power Plants always generate 1 Energy.
The Carbon Tower
The Balancing Act
When you perform an Action that requires you to stack Carbon Blocks onto the Carbon Tower, you must do so immediately after performing the Action.
You must stack Blocks onto the top of the Tower one at a time. You may stack Blocks on any face. You may not touch or stabilize the Tower for any reason. If you cause 1 or more Carbon Blocks to fall from the Tower on your turn, the Tower collapses.
You must add Carbon Blocks to the Tower when you:
- perform the "Take 1" Action with 6+ cards already in your hand;
- build a Power Plant;
- Activate Power Plants, stacking Carbon Blocks according to each Plant's requirements (see p. 10).
In the case of a collapse, your turn ends immediately, even if you had not yet performed 3 Actions. You do not regain any spent Resources. If the collapse happened because you were attempting to build a Power Plant, return it to your hand. Then, all players (including you) must discard 1 Action Card from their hand (if able). You do not produce any Energy at the end of your turn, even if you have Green Power Plants.
After resolving all penalties from the collapse, put together a new Carbon Tower by stacking 3 Carbon Blocks.
Note: If a non-active player causes the Tower to collapse, that player must discard 1 Action Card from their hand. If the Tower falls and it is unclear why, all players must discard 1 Action Card from their hands. In either case, stack 3 Blocks to put together a new Carbon Tower. The active player's turn continues as if the Tower had not collapsed.
Example: Andrea starts her turn with 6 Action Cards in her hand. For her first Action, she takes 1 card from the Supply, adding 1 Carbon Block to the top of the Carbon Tower due to her hand size. For her second Action she Activates her 2 Coal Plants, first discarding the 2 Action Cards needed to Activate them, and then adding 6 Carbon Blocks to the Carbon Tower, 3 per Coal Plant. As she is stacking the 6th Carbon Block, the Tower collapses and she is unable to Activate her Coal Plants. She does not generate any Energy. Her turn ends immediately and everyone discards 1 card from their hand.
Meeting the City's Energy Requirements
After completing 3 Actions, if you produced enough Energy to meet the Energy Requirement indicated on a City Card in the Supply, you may take the City Card and keep it face down for final scoring. Your City Cards are not considered part of your Hand. You may not take any City Cards if the Carbon Tower collapsed on your turn.
Energy production is always calculated at the end of your turn. To determine how much Energy you produced on your turn, add up the value of each Power Plant you Activated. It is possible to produce enough Energy to meet the Energy Requirements of multiple City Cards at once, but any unspent Energy does not carry over to your next turn.
Example: On her turn Samira produces 14 Energy. The Energy Requirements of the available City Cards are 15, 12, 8, and 6. She may take the 12 City Card, OR the 8 and 6 City Cards.
When you have taken all the City Cards you can afford, refill the Supply to the original number of City Cards.
Game End
If at the end of your turn there are not enough City Cards left in the City Deck to completely refill the Supply, every other player takes 1 more turn, and then the game ends. Afterward, each player adds up the points (★) on their City Cards. Whoever has the most points wins!
In the case of a tie, the player who built the most Power Plants is the winner. If there is still a tie, all tied players share the victory.
Carbon Tower Difficulty
Players build the Carbon Tower as a cost for their risky actions. The Tower should usually collapse with 10-15 Blocks, but you may find it easier or more difficult depending on the table setup and player skill. Place the starting Carbon Blocks to adjust the Carbon Tower difficulty:
- Easier stacking: good for softer playing surfaces and players farther from the Tower.
- Harder stacking: good for solid playing surfaces and players closer to the Tower.
If players are still able to build a tall Carbon Tower without it collapsing, have them stack all the Blocks upright. If all the Blocks are ever used, remove half of them and continue.
Quick Reference
Player Turns. Take 3 of these Actions in any combination and order:
- Take 1 Action Card from the Supply.
- Stack 1 Carbon Block for performing this Action with 6+ cards already in hand.
- Play 1 Action Card (Event or Power Plant) from your hand.
- Playing a Power Plant builds it. Stack 1 Carbon Block.
- Activate 1 Type of Power Plant.
- Activate any number of your Power Plants of the same Type by paying all the required Resources, and then stacking Carbon Blocks.
- You may Activate different Types of Power Plants using multiple Actions.
- Green Power Plants always generate Energy and do not require an Action.
Carbon Tower.
- Stack Carbon Blocks immediately after performing the "Take 1" Action with 6+ cards already in hand, building a Power Plant, or Activating Coal or Gas Power Plants.
- Carbon Tower collapse:
- Your turn ends immediately. Spent Resources and generated Energy are lost.
- If you were building, return the Power Plant to your hand.
- Each player discards a card, then begin a new Carbon Tower of 3 Blocks.
Generating Power and Ending Your Turn. Generated Energy is used to take City Cards. Refill the City and Action Card Supplies. Pass the Power Cubes to the player on your left.
Ending the Game. When the City Card Supply cannot be refilled, this signals the end of the game. All other players take 1 final turn.