2018
Utility is a card game played with small, square cards. Each player starts with a utility plant card, a house card, and a plain road card connecting the two. The utility plant and the house each have three utilities coming from them: gas, water, and electricity. The goal of the game is to be the first player to use utility tile cards (which each have segments of gas pipes, water lines, and electrical wires) to connect each of the utilities from the utility plant to the house.
Each utility card has a unique combination of gas pipes, water lines, and electrical wires, so players must use spatial organization skills, puzzle solving ability, and strategic planning to ensure completion of their system before their opponent.
The game is generally played with 2 players, but it can be played solo if desired. With two copies of the game, up to 4 players can play.
How to play:
Setup: Each player begins with a utility plant card and a house card, connected by a plain road. The remaining cards are shuffled and placed face down in a stack.
Objective: The goal of the game is to either be the first player to connect all three utilities (gas, water, and electricity) from their utility plant to their house OR to have fewer tiles placed than the opponent when the deck runs out of cards.
Gameplay: Three cards are drawn off the top of the deck and placed face up in front of the deck. Players take turns choosing one of these cards and either adding it to their utilities OR replacing a previously-played card. When replacing cards, the card replaced becomes one of the three cards in front of the deck. When playing a new card, a card off the top of the deck is drawn to become one of the face-up cards in front of the deck. Cards may be placed adjacent to any card in play. Cards with roads can (but are not required to) be played on top of the starting road card.
Connecting Utilities: Utilities do not have to align when placing a new card. In order to win, there must be a complete path from the utility plant to the house for all three utilities, and branches/alternative paths may remain unfinished. Water and gas align at the edges of the cards, and electricity aligns at the corners.
Ending the game: The game ends when one player connects all three utilities from the utility plant to the house (that player is the winner) or when the last face-down card is drawn from the deck, in which case players count their utility cards and the player who has fewer cards in play wins.
