Ludus

This expansion adds two new maps: Benelux on one side and Central Europe on the other. Along with the maps are small rule changes to reflect the power culture in these two countries. As the Benelux countries support ecological power, players may have greater opportunities to acquire such power plants. Also, oil is more available and coal less available in these countries. As Poland has large coal supplies, coal will be much more plentiful then elsewhere in Central Europe. However, due to political stands taken by some countries, players may be limited in their access to nuclear power. The result is not just new maps, but new ways to play this great game!

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Benelux:

The Benelux countries support the construction of ecological power plants, so they enlarge the plant market to fulfill its demand. Other than Central Europe, Benelux puts an emphasis on the use of Oil (and gas). Aside from the quite low connection costs for the networks, the game is sped up further due to the smallest power plants being removed from the market very quickly. This is the fastest Power Grid variant!Special Rules:

• Resources start as follows: Coal (3-8), Oil (1-8), Trash (7-8), Uranium (14-16) -- note the difference.
• During the power plant auction, if the smallest plant in the future market is a wind or fusion plant, it is considered to be part of the present market, and is available for bidding.
• In Steps 1 and 2, the smallest power plant is discarded (and replaced) at the same time that the largest power plant is moved to the bottom of the power plant deck. This results in higher plant turnover, and a faster advent of Step 3.

The Benelux map corresponds to the Belgium-Netherlands-Luxembourg Economic Union. The purple section corresponds to Luxembourg, blue and red correspond to Belgium, and yellow, brown, and green correspond to The Netherlands. From a play perspective, the purple and blue regions should be combined, and thus the map only has 5 actual regions.

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Central Europe:

Due to the large coal deposits in Poland, the resource market and supply is quite one-sided or the plants in Central Europe. Additionally, Austria and Poland refuse to use nuclear power. Players are only allowed to use this type of plant if their networks are present in at least one of the other three countries. The city of Vienna has a special status, since it burns large quantities of trash to provide power, even going so far as to buy trash from neighboring countries. Players who have Vienna in their network get a discount on trash. These different premises provide players with challenge and suspense on this map.Special Rules:

• Resources start as follows: Coal (1-8), Oil (3-8), Trash (7-8), Uranium (8-16).
• Players may only acquire nuclear power plants, if their network includes at least one city from Hungary, Slovakia, or the Czech Republic. Players who only have cities in Poland and/or Austria always have to pass, and they may not, if they are the first player, choose a nuclear plant to put up for auction.
• Players that have included Vienna in their network may buy Trash at a price reduced by 1 Electro.

The red and blue regions correspond to Poland, the green region corresponds to the Czech Republic, the brown region corresponds to Slovakia, the yellow section corresponds to Austria, and the purple section corresponds to Hungary.