issue 13// volume 42

Chairman of the Board: Danger! High voltage!

» ‘Power Grid’ board game review

Ed Appleby
Ilustrator

lick on a light. This simple
act is made possible by
an extremely complex array
of systems that brought the
power from its raw source right
to your fingertips. But to you,
it’s as simple as a switch.

Power Grid is an economics-
based game for 2-6 players
designed by Friedemann Friese
and published by Rio Grande
Games in 2004. Players build
homes across the map and
power stations to supply the

homes with electricity. The more ! ‘ ;
: expansions for Power Grid,

: but they don’t change a lot of

: fundamental gameplay and

: just provide new maps. You

: can build the infrastructure of
The economics system is one : America, Russia, Japan, Brazil,
: and many other nations.

homes you power, the more
money you make and the more
you can expand your grid. The
first player to grow their grid
to a predetermined size wins.

of the best representations of a
supply and demand economy.
Players need to buy resources
such as coal, oil, rubbish, and
uranium in order to power
their power plants. The more
players buy, the more expensive
resources become. This forces
players to consider what kind
of power plants to purchase
since some plants provide
more energy for a cheaper cost,

: while others use wind power

: to supply fewer homes without
spending resources, while

: other plants may be underused
: by the rest of the players,

: making resources plentiful.

The game isn’t short—I

: played for about three hours.

: But the structure of the rounds
: keeps each player engaged and
: the system for developing turn
: order gives weaker players an

: advantage and keeps the game
: close. Unlike other European

: games, there isn’t a tallying

: phase at the end of the game,

: so once the game ends you

: know the winner right away.

There are several

There is a reason

: BoardGameGeek.com ranks

: Power Grid as the 13th Best

: Game of All Time. Like flicking
: ona light, it runs extremely

: smoothly despite some very

: complex mechanics. This game
: provides a challenge to serious
: players, but is simple enough

: for casual ones, so I would

: recommend this game to anyone
: with a few hours to burn.

arts // no. 9

  

Image by Ed Appleby

 

Comic Corner: Redheaded reboot

» ‘Archie Vol. 1’ review

   
 

Brittney MacDonald
Life & Style Editor
jJA2 lifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca

OOOSS |

e are in the era of reboots!

Movies, television shows,
games... it feels like every time
you turn around someone
somewhere is trying to grab
you right by the nostalgia. But
when you take one of the most
iconic comic book characters of
all time and try to reboot him to
fit into the modern age, youre
bound to get some polarized
responses. Thankfully Archie
isn’t as much of a train wreck
as I thought it would be.

F

with the old Archie books you
could buy at the grocery store.
The plots are fairly simple: they
follow a typical teen boy as he
tries to navigate the confusing
waters of love triangles, friends,

of sight gags and one-offs

thrown in for good measure. The : that one, but if you're bored,

definitely pick Archie up.

reboot doesn’t deviate too far
from that formula, though I did

: find it was a lot more linear than
: the old comic books. Author

? Mark Waid translated the

: old’50s’ setting and aesthetic

: into something more modern,
: and it surprisingly works.
Originally, the only reason |

: picked up this title was because
: it was illustrated by Fiona

: Staples, who is best known

: for Saga. Her unique style

: of semi-realism is extremely

: appealing and very clean. The

: art in Archie is commendable,

: and she managed to keep

: enough of the character design
: recognizable without having the
: characters themselves look out
: of place or like a throwback.

Though I enjoyed Archie,

: I find myself wondering
Most comic book fans began : whether the reboot was worth
: it. Nothing has really changed
: beyond some surface level

: setting construction, and the

: fact I can’t find this book on

: the same magazine rack as

: the National Enquirer. Was a

school, and family, with a couple : rebooted series really necessary?

I’m still on the fence with

 
 

Panel art by Fiona Staples via Infinitecomix.com