PowerHouse (video game)

PowerHouse is a simulation in which the player runs a power utility, and must compete to be the first to establish a regional electrical infrastructure.

PowerHouse was developed by designers Edward Grabowski, David Lester, and Chris Foster for UK publisher Impressions Games. The trio wished to "recapture the fun" of older oil tycoon simulation games and enhance them with new features. Another inspiration was the real-world effort to finding a solution to a looming energy crisis caused by increasing electricity consumption. Data on worldwide population growth and per capita energy use, as well as costs and industry revenue streams, was used for the gameplay model to establish an "open economic game with more than a touch of realism." While the team's previous game Air Bucks offered large flexibility in micromanaging a business, they wanted to simply this in PowerHouse, emphasizing, "We make games, not spreadsheets with graphics." They simultaneously wanted the player to make decisions based on sensible facts from feedback and information supply like in another previous title, Lords of the Realm.{{cite magazine | author1=Lester, David | author2=Foster, Chris | date=February 1995 | title=Design Notes: PowerHouse | url=https://archive.org/details/computer-games-strategy-plus-issue-51-february-1995_202409/page/22/mode/2up | magazine=Computer Games Strategy Plus | publisher=Strategy Plus Inc | issue=51 | pages=22–3}}{{cite book | author1=Lester, David | author2=Foster, Chris | date=1995 | title=PowerHouse Handbook | chapter=Designers' Notes | chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/powerhouse-manual/page/n56/mode/1up | url=https://archive.org/details/powerhouse-manual/page/n56/mode/1up | publisher=Impressions Games | pages=56–7}}

Super VGA was chosen for the graphics to allow for crisper graphics than most strategy games of the era. Impressions had previously avoided creating games for Windows due to the graphics overhead causing significant slowdown. However, the WinG interface allowed them to bypass the problem, making PowerHouse their first Windows product. The increased memory of the CD-ROM format allowed for extensive photographs, full-motion video, and digitized voice-acting. The designers stated, "Additional video sequences will provide glimpses into the cutthroat, corporate world of the future, providing a vivid backdrop for the game that takes its cues from both cyberpunk fiction and the RoboCop films." Development on the game wrapped in May 1995. Impressions published it later that year. A version of the game for Amiga computers was previewed but never released.{{cite magazine | author=Amiga Action staff | date=May 1995 | title=Preview: Power House | url=https://archive.org/details/amigaaction70/page/n52/mode/1up | magazine=Amiga Action | publisher=IDG | issue=70 | issn=0957-4050 | page=53}}{{cite magazine | author=Davies, Martin | date=July 1995 | title=Preview: PowerHouse | url=https://archive.org/details/cuamiga-magazine-065/page/n43/mode/1up | magazine=CU Amiga | publisher=EMAP | issue=65 | issn=0265-721X | page=44}}

{{VG Reviews

| CGR = 77/100{{cite magazine | author1=Synder, Frank | author2=Chapman, Ted | author3=Kaiafas, Tasos | date=September 1995 | title=Reviews: The Energy Enigma | url=https://archive.org/details/computer-game-review-september-1995/page/n53/mode/1up | magazine=Computer Game Review | publisher=Sendai Publishing | issn=1062-113X | volume=5 | issue=2 | page=54}}

| CGW = {{rating|2|5}}{{cite magazine | author=Cirulis, Martin E. | date=October 1995 | title=Review: Falling Futures | url=https://archive.org/details/cgw_museum_pdfs/cgw_135/page/236/mode/1up | magazine=Computer Gaming World | publisher=Ziff Davis | issue=135 | issn=0744-6667 | pages=236, 238}}

| Hyper = 75/100{{cite magazine | author=Wheeler, Chris | date=September 1995 | title=bytesize: PowerHouse | url=https://archive.org/details/hyper-022/page/67/mode/1up | magazine=Hyper | publisher=nextmedia | issue=22 | issn=1320-7458 | page=67}}

| NGen = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|title=Finals|magazine=Next Generation|issue=10|publisher=Imagine Media|date=October 1995|page=119|url=https://archive.org/details/nextgen-issue-010/page/n120/mode/1up|author=Next Generation staff|issn=1078-9693}}

| PCGUS = 80%{{cite magazine | author=MacDonald, T. Liam | date=September 1995 | title=Reviews: Powerhouse | url=https://archive.org/details/pc-gamer-issue-16-september-1995/page/n106/mode/1up | magazine=PC Gamer | publisher=Future plc | issue=16 | issn=1080-4471 | pages=105–6}}

| PCG = 82%{{cite magazine | author=Maueröder, Petra | date=September 1995 | title=Review: PowerHouse | url=https://archive.org/details/PC.Games.N036.1995.09-fl0n/page/n115/mode/2up | magazine=PC Games | publisher=Computec | language=de | issn=0946-6304 | pages=116–7}}

| PC Joker = 67%{{cite magazine | author=Nettelbeck, Joachim | date=September 1995 | title=PowerHouse | url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411005644/https://www.kultboy.com/index.php?site=t&id=11977 | magazine=PC Joker | publisher=Joker-Verlag | language=de | page=49}}

| PC Player = 56/100{{cite magazine | author=Langer, Jörg | date=September 1995 | title=Spiele-test: Powerhouse | url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411022148/https://www.kultboy.com/index.php?site=t&id=16328 | magazine=PC Player | publisher=Future Verlag | language=de | issn=0943-6693 | pages=130–1}}

| Power Play = 41%{{cite magazine | author=Schwindt, Peter | date=September 1995 | title=Test: Powerhouse | url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220623125237/https://www.kultboy.com/index.php?site=t&id=22333 | magazine=Power Play | publisher=Future Verlag | language=de | issn=0937-9754 | page=128}}

}}

Next Generation rated the game four stars out of five, and stated that "Looking at the mind-boggling array of charts and graphs in the game will provide some answers, but when all is said and done, making those decisions is up to you, and that's where the real fun in this economic simulation lies." Noting the game's steep learning curve, Computer Game Review concluded, "Strategy gamers should get a charge from it, others might get shocked."

{{reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20240810132854/http://www.edwardgrabowski.com/aboutPower.html Official webpage]
• {{moby game|id=/2896/powerhouse|name=PowerHouse}}

{{Impressions Games}}

Category:1995 video games

Category:Business simulation games

Category:Cancelled Amiga games

Category:Impressions Games games

Category:Single-player video games

Category:Video games developed in the United Kingdom

Category:Windows games

Category:Windows-only games