What’s the most you’ve ever seen a power plant sell for? OK, now what’s the most you’ve ever seen someone pay for a power plant and then win the game? Those are probably two different numbers, since the point of the auction mechanic is to balance the relative strength of the two power plants.
My answer to the first question is $175. To be fair, it was two first-time players bidding on the 50 Plant (nothing -> 6 Cities) in $25 increments when the 39 Plant (1 Nuke -> 6 Cities) was right there.
My answer to the second question is a little bit interesting, though. It’s $133. It was clear this was the last turn of the game, and the 38 Plant was up for bid (3 Garbage -> 7 Cities). If I got this plant, I’d be able to power one more than anyone else could that turn, no matter what. I was in last so I could budget perfectly. When this plant got around to me, I figured out what I’d need and I immediately bid the rest ($133) on “That Plant;” it was a fight for second place from that point.
Here’s another interesting answer, though. It’s easy to inflate the values of plants at the end of the game if everybody has huge cash reserves and power plants are what’s holding you back. Early game dollars are more important than late game, obviously, so what if I told you I paid $80+ for the 26 Plant (2 Oil -> 5 Cities) in Step 1 and that purchase was what decided the game in my favor? Of course I was certain at that point that it would be the only worthwhile plant to come up for several turns, so it was easy for me to pay as much as I needed to for it. People called me crazy for bidding it up so much, but they quickly realized when they saw what the Plant Market looked like shortly after that getting that plant for all of my money (minus the resources to power my stuff that turn) would have been a steal.
These are extreme cases, yes, but before you pass on a power plant that you want, you should make sure you’re OK with the risk of not being able to get another plant like this for quite a while. Maybe the plant you’re bidding on is “That Plant.”
We’ve all been in this situation before, where three of the bottom four plants in the market are just terrible. There’s no question that anyone that buys one would be making a mistake, all the ingredients for a bidding war on that one good plant are there, and it’s starting to get pricy. You’re already wondering who in their right mind would pay this much for a power plant.
The first thing to look for is the next plant in the market to drop. If it’s not that attractive to you (or anyone else) then think about how many plants can come up after this that wouldn’t make you swear. If you’re bidding on the 26 Plant and the next one to drop is the 27 Plant (nothing -> 3 Cities) then maybe only thing you could possibly hope for is the 25 Plant (2 Coal -> 5 Cities) and that’s a big power plant deck. If you pass, you could be stuck where you are for a long time.
If the next one is the one you want, then try to think of how many plants can come up after this than would make you swear. “We still haven’t seen the 14, 15, 16, 22, 23, or 24 yet;” this is more of a calculated risk, because the chance of losing out isn’t astronomical, but it’s still a risk. Passing here could be an aggressive play that plays off, but if the 11 Plant comes up, make sure your mom isn’t around to hear the expletives.
Weigh the consequences carefully. Usually when the plant market gums with terrible plants and there’s not much light at the end of the tunnel, it turns into the dual of a Step 2 Stall, only this time the limiting factor is power plants and not cities; this can last for several turns until the market clears up. People can be spending wildly different amounts on resources, getting paid wildly different amounts for powering their cities, and worst of all, there’s nothing anybody can do to get out of this funk if the plant deck doesn’t cooperate.
If the game stagnates enough, and this is an extreme case but, you can find someone in a position to build enough cities to end the game, even though then can only power 10 or 11 of them, but still win because they won the bid on “That Plant.” Everybody else at the table throws down their giant stack of money and curses the plant deck. They should have planned ahead. Don’t be one of those people.