In Powerline, players attempt to connect cities with new sources of energy production.

In each of the 16 game rounds, six colored dice are rolled and arranged on their designated spaces on the central board. Each player has a player board that shows power lines ranging in length from 3-12 spaces, with each space showing the result of a die. Players may choose to use the six dice going from right to left or left to right in order to build the power lines on their board. However, they may use a certain number of dice only a fixed number of times, and a die may be skipped only by taking a penalty.

During certain rounds, each of the three game objectives will be evaluated, and at the end of the game players gain points for completed power lines and fully connected cities, then lose points for lines they started but did not complete. The player with the most points wins.