Paris – The City of Lights – Game Review
The old postcards from Paris that came with the game make the game and the city look colorful. In any case, the city is pretty nostalgic. You almost think you’re at one of the flea markets. But we want to illuminate the city, in a duel near Paris – the city of lights.
The placement game is a pure 2-person game and throws us back to the year 1889. The first street lamps in the city are supposed to illuminate our buildings. We solve this task in two phases, in which, of course, you treat your opponent as little as possible. The beautiful postcards serve as action cards in phase 2. In the first phase, the streets and building tiles are used. You personally own a stack of road tiles, the building tiles are initially in a shared supply. The game board is in the game box. There the players create their building lines.
In phase 1 you either place a road tile on the bottom of the box or take a building tile. The players take turns choosing one option or the other. The road tiles have different fields in the player colors and in neutral purple. The aim is to lay out contiguous areas in the shape of the building tiles. Therefore, you should cleverly combine the building selection with the road planning. As soon as the second player has placed all road tiles, the first phase ends.
Whoever placed his streets first in phase 1 begins phase 2 . This can be an advantage depending on the game situation. The first train brings a lot of light to Paris. The selection options are also limited at first glance in phase 2: Place one of your building tiles in the city or activate an action postcard. Buildings should have as many street lights as possible around them. Light is in demand in Paris from 1889.
With the action postcards you get a few options to optimize your own possibilities. Even if things don’t go as planned in phase 1. Unfortunately, each player can only use 4 of the 8 postcards on display with his action markers. The postcards can be used, for example, to generate additional points, swap a building tile, enlarge buildings, change street sections, etc. Not all actions are useful in every game. The more important an action seems, the sooner you should strike, otherwise it is suddenly gone.
Phase 2 ends when no more players can place a building and all action postcards have been used. It goes to the final evaluation. The size of a building is multiplied by the number of street lamps that illuminate it. No lantern is worth any points. The largest connected building complex (even without a lantern) for each player scores points. If buildings are still unbuilt because you collected too many in the first phase, each building is worth 3 minus points. With the right postcard you can avoid such negative points. And finally, some postcards bring additional points, such as the painter or the dancer.
Whoever collects the most points now shines as a bright star over Paris – at least until the next duel.
Conclusion
Paris – The City of Lights is a wonderful 2 player game. But the colorful and beautiful appearance is a little deceptive. Paris is a tough duel that doesn’t actually forgive any mistakes in its 2 phases. Both phases are closely interlinked. The road construction and the buildings from the first phase pave the way for the second phase. The promotional postcards still leave a little leeway if plans are destroyed and you have to reschedule spontaneously. I especially like: Paris allows different styles of play. You can take an offensive approach and secure many buildings for yourself. Not so bad if you catch the postcard against the minus points in phase 2. A large building complex has also decided games. Over time you begin to read the game of your opponent, after a few games you not only pay attention to your own possibilities, but also minimize those of your fellow player. From the 12 postcards you choose your 8 favorites for each game. This also changes the game. All in all a very nice, tactical 2-player game in which Paris is laid out.
