Who goes first in Power Grid?
Rio Grande Games Recharged English rules, 2018
At the start of the game, player order is set randomly by placing one house from each player on the player order track. Order is re-determined once after the first round's power plant auction and at the start of every later round: the player with the most connected cities goes first.
Official tie-break or fallback
When re-determining order, if players are tied for most cities, the one with the biggest power plant goes first.
Rule details
Because the first order was random, players re-determine player order once at the end of the first auction phase, before buying resources.
In the two-player "Against the Trust" variant, randomly determine the first player; the Trust is always second in order.
Source & edition
- Power Grid (Recharged Version): English rulesRio Grande Games / 2F-Spiele · Page 2, Preparation step 4; page 4, Phase 1: Determine Player Order; page 5, first-round exception; page 9, Against the Trust preparation; page 10, credits · Checked 2026-09-25Printed page references: 2, 4, 5, 9, 10
Image: © Rio Grande Games / 2F-Spiele / Lars-Arne Kalusky · Rio Grande Games (retailer product photograph)
If your rules call for a random choice, use the player picker.
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