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The Barracks Emperors
- 1–4 players
- 30–120 min
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- 6.8
Power Vacuum
2024
Rules assistance for Power Vacuum
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 1–5 players
- 30–45 min
- 8+
- Complexity 2.0/5
For 1 player
Rules assistant for Power Vacuum
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Power Vacuum is a board game released in 2024 for 1–5 players, 30–45 minutes per game, and ages 8 and up. It was designed by Kaleb Wentzel-Fisher and its main mechanics are Hand Management, Solo / Solitaire Game, and Trick-taking.
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About the game
Great news! The Supreme Appliance is dead! You've made your mournful public statement ("tragic day," etc), and now you're ready to hatch your devious plot to steal the newly vacant Supreme Seat and claim Absolute Power for yourself. You only need to outmaneuver your fellow ministers - but they're a heap of low-watt gizmos, how hard could that be? Let the machinations begin! Power Vacuum is a trick-taking game with some treacherous twists. The game is played over several rounds, and in each round players use tricks to adjust the Power levels of other players to work toward their hidden Agenda cards. Power is gained by winning tricks with the highest number of the led suit, but it is also gained, lost, and exchanged between players through shrewd use of the Control Board, which is manipulated by the player of the lowest card of ANY suit. If at the round's end you have fulfilled your Agenda card, successfully picking the players with the most and/or least amount of Power, you get a large bonus payout. End-of-round points are exchanged for pieces of a great statue you are building to yourself. The first player to complete their statue becomes the next Supreme Appliance! Power Vacuum is not about winning every trick, but choosing the right card at the right time to engineer the rise or fall of your opponents in the short term so that you can profit the most in the long term. Additionally, each card's suit is visible on the back side, reducing the need to count your opponent's cards, so you can focus instead on the most cunning move - but watch out for Spies, the fifth suit hiding amongst the other four which will trump the trump suit. In this game, timing is everything. Power abhors a vacuum - will you plug it?! —description from the publisher
Designers
Publishers
- 25th Century Games
- Corax Games
- Keen Bean Studio
Questions and answers
Power Vacuum supports 1–5 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Power Vacuum is 30–45 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Power Vacuum for ages 8 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Power Vacuum has a complexity rating of 2.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Power Vacuum belongs to these categories: Card Game, Humor, and Political. Its main mechanics are Hand Management, Solo / Solitaire Game, and Trick-taking. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Power Vacuum are: Kaleb Wentzel-Fisher. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Power Vacuum as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.