In Paris, you take on the role of wealthy real estate investors in the Paris of the 1900s. Paris is at the height of its transformation into one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
After having successfully organized the World Fair in 1889, topped by the construction of the Eiffel Tower and celebrating the centennial of the Storming of the Bastille, Paris goes through a period known as "la Belle €poque".
The architecture of Paris created during this period ranged from the Beaux-Arts, neo-Byzantine, and neo-Gothic to Art Nouveau and Art Deco.
It is your task to purchase some of these magnificent Parisian buildings in order to make a profit and invest in the development and upkeep of some of Paris' most iconic monuments and landmarks.
Components
- 1 Game Board
- 12 End Game Tiles
- 1 Player Screen
- 6 VP Tiles
- 36 Building Tiles
- 12 Keys
- 35 Coins
- 8 Landmark Tiles
- 1 Bonus Meeple
- 18 Resource Tokens
- 42 Bonus Tiles
- 18 Prestige Tokens
- 1 VP Disc
Object of the Game
In "Paris", players take on the roles of real estate investors trying to purchase the most exquisite buildings in late 19th century Paris.
Players score Victory Points (VP) by purchasing buildings and obtaining Bonus Tiles.
The game is played over a variable number of rounds. Once the end of the game condition is triggered, players will finish the current round, and will then all have ONE final turn before the end game scoring.
The player with the most VP at the end of the game is declared the winner.
Setup
Note: This is the basic setup for a game of "Paris". If you wish to play with a more randomized setup of the game, please check the "Variant Setup" chapter on the next page.
1 Assemble the Board as shown here. If you prefer to play without the 3D Arc, you can flip the central tile to the side where the arc is Illustrated.
2 Place your Bonus Meeple just next to the start of the Bonus Tile Track.
3 Place your VP Disc on the "0" spot of the VP Track.
3 4lace the Landmark Tiles faceup next to the Board so that everyone can clearly see all Tiles.
5 Assemble your Player Screen and place it in front of you. Whoever has the player board base with the 
icon is the start player for this game.
6 Take 3 Francs and place them behind your Player Screen.
7 Place the Coins next to the Game Board, sorted by their denomination. This is the general supply.
8 Place Resource Tokens and Prestige Tokens on the game board as shown here on each District.
9 Place your Keys behind your Player Screen. The number of Keys you receive depends on the number of players:
- 10 in a 2-player game
- 9 in a 3-player game
- 7 in a 4-player game
Place 2 of the remaining Keys per player color in a general reserve next to the Board. Return any leftover Keys to the box.
10 Place the VP Tiles faceup next to the Game Board.
11 Place the End Game Tiles facedown next to the Game Board.
12 In a 3-player game, remove all Bonus tiles indicated with 
on their back. In a 2-player game, remove all Bonus Tiles indicated with 
and .
Sort the Bonus Tiles according to their number and place them faceup on the corresponding spaces of the Bonus Tiles Track. Stack Tiles with the same number.
13 Shuffle the 36 Building Tiles. Randomly return 3 tiles to the box without looking at them. Place the remaining Building Tiles in 3 equally divided piles next to the Game Board, with the building images facedown.
Variant Setup
Once you have played a few games of Paris, you may spice things up by randomizing the Setup:
Instead of placing Resource Tokens and Prestige tokens according to the basic setup scheme, first place the 6 Gold Resource Tokens next to the value 8 Building Spaces.
Then mix the 12 remaining Resource Tokens with all of the 18 Prestige Tokens, and place them randomly on the appropriate spaces.Take just 1 Bonus Tile of each number and divide them into 3 piles according to their letter [A/B/C]. Shuffle pile A and place the Tiles randomly in the corresponding zone of the Bonus Tiles Track.
Repeat this step with pile B and C. Then, take the remaining Bonus Tiles according to the player count, and place them on the matching Bonus Tiles.
Game Play
Starting with the Starting Player and continuing play clockwise, each player MUST perform the following 2 game steps:
- Place a Building on the Game Board (as long as they are available)
- Perform an action
1. Place a Building on the Board
You must start your turn by drawing the top Building Tile from one of the draw piles and placing it on the matching Building space, with the Building value and District as depicted on the Tile.
If all the draw piles of Building Tiles are empty, simply skip this step for the rest of the game.
Variant
You can choose to disregard the District names written on the Building Tiles. If so, don't remove any Building Tiles during setup.
Instead of placing a Building Tile in the matching District at the start of their turn, players may disregard the District's name and place the Tile on an available space with the matching number, in a District of their choice.
There is one important rule though: Each district can only contain 1 building of each type, e.g.: you cannot place a Theater in a District already containing a Theater.
It is possible that you will not be able to place the Building Tile you drew. If this happens, simply remove this Building from the game, and proceed to step 2.
2. Perform an Action
In the second step of your turn, you must perform 1 of the following 3 actions:
- Place a Key on a Bank or on the Arc de Triomphe
- Move a Key to acquire a Building
- Take an End Game Tile (only allowed when all piles of Building Tiles are empty)
1. Place a Key
Take one of your Keys from behind your Player Screen and place it on the Bank of 1 of the 6 Districts or on the Arc de Triomphe.
If you place your Key on a Bank, take the indicated number of Francs from the general supply and place them behind your Player Screen.
Important: You can only have one Key on each Bank and on the Arc de Triomphe at any given time.
Important: You cannot place a key from behind your screen onto a Building or Landmark.
2. Move a Key
Move one of your Keys on the game board to an unoccupied Building or Landmark and pay the applicable costs (Francs and Resources).
You are then considered the owner of this Building or Landmark, and you may take its available benefits (Resource Token, Bonus Tile and/or VP).
You may only move your Key to an unoccupied Building or Landmark. The Building or Landmark may not already contain a Key, neither from you nor from an opponent.
If you move a Key from the Arc the Triomphe, you may move it to any unoccupied Building or Landmark in any of the 6 Districts.
If you move a Key from a Bank, a Building or a Landmark, you may only move it to an unoccupied Building or Landmark with a higher Building Value and within the same District. Note that Banks have no Building Value.
Example: Charlotte wants to move her Key from a value 3 Residence. She cannot move it to a value 1 or value 2 building, since those are of a lower value.
She also cannot move it to the value 5 hotel or value 13 Landmark, since that is already occupied by other players' keys. She can however move it to the value 4 restaurant.
VP Tiles
As soon as a District has a total of 4 Keys on Buildings and Landmarks (not including the Bank), the active player may immediately place one of the available VP Tiles on an available VP Tile spot in a District of their choice.
These Tiles will offer bonus VP at the end of the game to the players who occupy the Buildings and Landmarks with the highest value in that District.
Buildings
You can only move your Key to an unoccupied Building that is already on the game board.
Landmarks
You can move your Key to an unoccupied Landmark that is already on the game board OR you can first add an available Landmark from the general supply to the District that your Key is in and then move your Key onto it.
Landmarks are placed sequentially above each other. There are no limits to the number of Landmarks that can be built in a District, but the value of the Landmark you build always has to be higher than any previously placed one.
Example: Francois has built a value 12 Landmark in Saint-Germain. Any future Landmark built in Saint-Germain will have to be of value 13 or higher.
Buildings and Landmarks all have a Building Value A.
Some have an extra Cost B, and some have a Benefit C. Landmarks also have Prestige Rewards D, depicted on the left.
Costs
To acquire a Building or a Landmark by moving your Key onto it, you must pay the number of Francs equal to the value of the Building or Landmark. However, if your Key came from another Building or Landmark, you only need to pay the difference in the value of the two. You also need to pay any resource cost listed at the top of the tile.
If you don't have enough Francs and/or Resources, you are not allowed to move your Key to this Building or Landmark.
Example: Raphael wants to move his Key from the Bakery in Montmartre to the Theater.
He pays 3 Francs and moves his Key to the Theater.
Example: Julie wants to move her Key from the Theater in La Villette to a new Landmark of value 12. She pays 4 Francs, 1 Marble and 1 Gold, adds the Landmark to the District and moves her Key to it.
Resources and Prestige Tokens
There are 3 types of Resources: Wood, Marble, and Gold. These are needed to build Residences (which require Wood) and Landmarks (which require Marble and Gold).
There are 3 types of Prestige Tokens: Bronze, Silver, and Gold . These will be worth VP if you use them to build a Landmark.
Resources can be bought and sold at any time, and Prestige Tokens can only be sold at any time, according to the table on your Player Board:
Note that at the beginning of the game, Resources cannot be bought yet because they are all on the game board. They will become available as the game progresses.
Whenever you spend Resources, you place them next to the board in a general reserve, where they become available to all players for purchase. Whenever you spend Prestige Tokens, they are discarded from the game.
Benefits
After moving your Key to a Building or Landmark and paying its costs, you can receive several sorts of Benefits:
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Whenever you acquire a Building, you may take the Resource or Prestige Token next to it, if still present, and place it behind your Player Screen. If someone took the Token before you, you don't receive any Token.
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Whenever you acquire a Building of level 1 or 2 you may take a Bonus Tile for free by moving your Bonus Meeple forward on the Bonus Tile Track. You may do the same whenever you acquire a Building of level 3, provided that you pay 2 Francs first.
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Whenever you acquire a Building of level 8, you immediately gain 2 VP.
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Whenever you acquire a Landmark, you may hand in up to 3 Prestige Tokens as depicted on the Tile, and receive the corresponding VP for each Prestige Token you discard.
Bonus Tiles
Bonus Tiles can be earned by acquiring Buildings of values 1, 2, or 3.
To obtain a Bonus Tile, move your Bonus Meeple forward as many spaces as you wish along the Bonus Track, onto an available Bonus Tile.
Then take the Tile and place it behind your Player Screen. If you land on a stack of Tiles, you take the topmost one. Multiple Bonus Meeples can occupy the same space, as long as there are Tiles available in that location.
Important: You can only move your Bonus Meeple forward on the Track, so be very aware that once your Bonus Meeple has passed certain Bonus Tiles, you will not be able to claim these later in the game!
Once your Bonus Meeple has reached space 30 of the Bonus Track, you can not obtain any more Bonus Tiles.
You may activate a collected Bonus Tile immediately or later in the game, at any moment during one of your turns. When you do, you immediately obtain the advantage and discard the Tile faceup next to your player screen.
Exception: Bonus Tile 27 can't be activated during the game . It is scored at the end of the game.
As a general rule, you may never own 2 Bonus Tiles of the exact same type (with the same number on them), even if the effect of a Bonus Tile would give you the possibility.
And whenever a Bonus Tile gives you Resources or Prestige, you may NOT take a Resource or Prestige Token from the supply for it.
Instead, you can use the Bonus Tile itself as Resources or Prestige, as depicted on the Tile.
Example: Charlotte may collect a bonus tile as she acquired a level 2 building. She moves her bonus meeple onto bonus tile number 18 and places it behind her screen.
A few turns later, when she has keys on three different level 4 buildings, she decides to activate the bonus tile, which immediately gains her 15 victory points.
3. Take an End Game Tile
Only after the drawing piles of the Building Tiles are exhausted, you may, instead of placing or moving a Key, search through the pile of End Game Tiles and take 1 Tile of your choice.
You may activate a collected End Game Tile immediately or later in the game, at any moment during one of your turns. When you do, you immediately obtain the advantage and discard the Tile.
The pile of End Game Tiles is kept facedown. Although players may search through the pile when they choose this action, it is kept a secret what Tiles are still available.
Whenever an End Game Tile gives you Resources or Prestige, you may NOT take a Resource or Prestige Token from the supply for it. Instead, you can use the End Game Tile itself as Resources or Prestige, as depicted on the Tile.
End of the Game
When a player takes the last End Game Tile, this triggers the end of the Game. Continue playing the current round as normal, assuring that all players have an equal amount of game turns.
Then, all players play one final round. This is an opportunity for all players to use any Bonus Tiles they haven't used yet (if possible).
End Scoring
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A player that owns Bonus Tile 27 scores 1 VP for each Franc they own.
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Players may score additional VP in each District with a VP Tile, if they have acquired at least one Building or Landmark in that District. Players add up the value of all the Buildings and Landmarks with their Key(s) on it.
In each District, the players with the highest, 2nd highest, and 3rd highest total value receive the highest, 2nd highest, and 3rd highest VP respectively, as depicted on the VP Tile in that District. The 4th player does not receive any VP.
In the case of a tie, the tie is broken in favor of the player who acquired the Building or Landmark with the highest value in that District.
If there is still a tie (because of the use of Bonus Tile n°16), the Points of the applicable tier are awarded to all players, and the next level tier is skipped.
Important for a 2-player game: The player with the 2nd highest value only gets the VP if their total value amounts to at least HALF of the total value of the 1st player.
Once all players have tallied the extra VP of each District with a VP Tile, the player with the most VP is declared the winner!
In case of a tie, victory goes to the player with the most Francs they own. If there is still a tie, victory goes to the player that occupies the Buildings and Landmarks with the highest total value on the entire board.
If there is still a tie after that, those players share the victory.
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