Power to the People
- February 8, 2022
- Rhombico Games
- 20h median play time
Get on SteamIn "Power to the People", you are tasked with building and maintaining a power grid for a growing population, while managing resources and dealing with potential disasters. Your goal is to sell energy, earn money, and expand your network to ensure continuous power supply.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game offers a fun and engaging management experience, particularly for fans of power grid and resource management.
- It features a nice aesthetic and a well-paced tutorial that helps players understand the mechanics.
- The gameplay can be addictive, with a good balance of challenge and strategy, especially in managing power distribution.
- The game lacks depth and variety, leading to repetitive gameplay that can become tedious after a few hours.
- Power line management is frustrating, with frequent overloads and explosions that detract from the overall experience.
- The user interface and controls are clunky, making it difficult to manage the power grid effectively, especially without a pause feature.
- gameplay58 mentions
- 24 % positive mentions
- 69 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
Gameplay reviews highlight a mix of simplicity and frustration, with many players finding the mechanics easy to grasp but lacking depth and challenge as the game progresses. While some appreciate the soothing and strategic elements of managing an electrical grid, others criticize the tutorial and the limited complexity, leading to boredom and dissatisfaction. Overall, the game offers a casual experience that may appeal to some, but it requires significant investment in learning to fully enjoy its potential.
“The game mechanics are fairly straightforward and easy to pick up.”
“Although it can be difficult at times, the game is very satisfying and has soothing gameplay.”
“Tl;dr: it's easy to figure out all the major mechanics, and then it gets out of your way to let you zone out and design a regional electrical grid.”
“This game lacks the depth and realism to be a simulator, but also lacks sufficient mechanics to be a puzzle-type challenge.”
“Its okay for the first few maps but once the difficulty curve ramps up a while into gameplay I just feel more frustrated by a lack of tools to actually overcome challenges.”
“I really wanted to like this game, I like the premise and the art style but the gameplay itself is just awful.”
- graphics32 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 41 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their aesthetic appeal, attention to detail, and solid user interface, contributing to a visually pleasing experience. However, some players noted issues such as energy consumption on high-powered PCs and occasional glitches, which detracted from the overall enjoyment. Despite these drawbacks, the visuals are considered a strong point, enhancing the game's replayability and depth.
“First and foremost, I really enjoy the graphic style of the game, the attention to detail in the buildings and landmarks, and the music that is very catchy.”
“Very nice game, the UI is neat and the graphics are awesome, with lots of details here and there!”
“The game offers some nice graphics and a nice aesthetic, although there are some ugly glitches here and there, it is pleasant all the same.”
“My graphics card was guzzling electricity to render the game on my high-powered PC, complete with an energy-sapping monitor.”
“I really wanted to like this game; I like the premise and the art style, but the gameplay itself is just awful.”
“The game has minimalist graphics and three fascinating modes.”
- story16 mentions
- 19 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The game's story is minimal, with many users noting a lack of engaging narrative, leading to repetitive missions that diminish motivation to continue. However, some find humor in the premise of an electrician facing natural disasters, suggesting a light-hearted angle amidst the simulation of the city's energy system. Overall, the storytelling aspect is seen as underdeveloped and not a strong draw for players.
“A funny story, an electrician struggling with natural disasters.”
“Power to the People is a simulation of the city's energy system with a large number of missions, difficulty levels, and a variety of game options.”
“The main mission will teach advanced techniques as you play.”
“☐ no story”
“Each mission is fairly similar.”
“After the second mission, it was hard to start a third, and I stopped shortly after.”
- music8 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally appreciated for its catchy, horn-heavy soundtrack that complements the city-builder aesthetic, creating an immersive experience. However, some users find the audio choices questionable, particularly the inclusion of unpleasant electrical buzzing, and note that the music can become repetitive after extended play. Overall, while the soundtrack enhances the game's appeal, it may benefit from more variety.
“It’s aesthetically pleasing, has that horn-heavy soundtrack that almost every city-builder uses to lull you into a trance, and there wasn’t any part of the formula that I didn’t feel was locked solid.”
“First and foremost, I really enjoy the graphic style of the game, the attention to detail in the buildings and landmarks, and the music that is very catchy.”
“My only criticism is the music seems to get a bit repetitive, because I spent so many fun hours in this game already.”
- optimization8 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The optimization of the system is criticized for lacking user-friendly performance metrics, making it difficult to make informed choices. Additionally, running on a 4K monitor appears to negatively impact performance, indicating that the overall optimization is not fully effective. However, energy storage is noted to be 100% efficient across various types beyond lithium-ion, suggesting a consistent performance level in that area.
“Energy storage is 100% efficient, and all types beyond lithium-ion are roughly the same in performance.”
“There is no easy way to see predicted performance metrics to help you make choices, like capacity factors, levelized costs, and interest rates.”
“I was running on a 4K monitor, which seems to affect performance no matter what you do on Chrome OS.”
“No easy way to see predicted performance metrics to help you make choices, like capacity factors, levelized costs, interest rates.”
“I was running on a 4K monitor, that seems to affect performance no matter what you do on ChromeOS.”
“Not so optimized.”
- grinding6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect initially addicting and enjoyable, but it quickly becomes tedious and frustrating, especially when unexpected challenges arise. Many feel that the grind requires an excessive time commitment, making it less appealing as the game progresses.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“Seems like a fun idea, but in practice, it's more tedious once you get past the first week or so.”
“Addicting and fun until you start having a stupid power line or six go out for no reason, which makes it so tedious that the fun just drifts away.”
- humor6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is widely praised for its humor, featuring a comedic storyline about an electrician facing natural disasters that resonates with players. Many users found it genuinely funny and highly recommend it for its entertaining content.
“The game is great and funny, and I would recommend it.”
“A funny story about an electrician struggling with natural disasters.”
“It made me laugh.”
- replayability4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its significant replayability, offering depth and a rewarding learning curve, making it an engaging experience for players. Its well-crafted design and appealing aesthetics further enhance its replay value.
“It's really well made, has a good amount of depth and replayability, and has a nice aesthetic.”
“Very fun management game, has a lot of replayability as well as a good learning curve.”
- stability4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is notably problematic, particularly as the power grid expands, leading to frequent bugs such as power lines failing to function and buildings not connecting properly. While the graphics and overall aesthetic are appealing, the presence of glitches detracts from the overall experience.
“As your power grid grows, how things connect up gets very, very buggy - lines won't carry power or adjacent buildings won't connect and so on.”
“The game offers some nice graphics and a nice aesthetic, although there are some ugly glitches here and there.”
