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Let There Be Light
Paris: La Cite De La Lumiere - Eiffel actually stands for Paris: The City of Light - Eiffel (as in the Eiffel tower!).
Since those early months of 2020 thrust us into an unprecedented darkness, board gaming pivoted in three specific ways. One was the rise of solo gaming whether small roll and writes or epic sessions of Terraforming Mars. The second was the development of online platforms with even mammoth of the hobby, Asmodee getting in on the action by buying Board Game Arena.
Finally, for those who craved human interaction over an actual table, was the two player game. Two player only board games have been around for a while, with Uwe Rosenberg’s Patchwork being an ever evolving powerhouse of the genre. Well in 2019, as if in preparation for the darkness, José Antonio Abascal and Devir Games brought us Paris: La Cite de la Lumiere. Received well by critics and players alike, the inevitable expansion, Paris: Eiffel was released in 2021.
Viva La Expansion
This expansion falls solidly into the ‘more stuff’ genre. You don’t get anything that dramatically alters the game or changes the feel of the original. What you do get, however, are eight new postcards and obligatory free-standing accessories. Illustrated, once again, by Oriol Hernández, the artwork is beautiful. The bold colours of the French impressionistic style of artwork create such a visually stunning experience. Where the base game focussed its effects on the tiles themselves with few tourist traps represented, the expansion adds a box full of recognisable attractions.
Follow The Umbrella
In Paris: La Cite De La Lumiere - Eiffel, we start our tour at the Musee du Louvre, represented by the Mona Lisa. Simply scoring your building for being away from other buildings, this feels like the most pedestrian of additions. Sharing similarities with Le Penseur from the base game, by suggesting that space to move around the art is the ideal location, it really doesn’t add anything interesting.
However, that really is the only weak link. We next move along to Hotel des Invalides, a single square tile which works as a normal building. With all the same scoring rules from the base game in play, creating the biggest collection of buildings is always going to be an important target and this tile really helps. On top of that, you also get to score points based on how central the tile is creating some interesting choices.
Notre Dame and its little wooden gargoyle offer another way of maximising those specific points. Any building you place the gargoyle on is considered yours for determining your largest group of buildings. Not a postcard to leave available for too long.
As we venture into the more run down neighbourhoods of Paris: La Cite De La Lumiere - Eiffel, Quartiers Pauvres, simply scores you for building on every side of the board. In a normal game, you are encouraged to build in clumps in order to get as many points as possible and so a mechanism to force you to break away from that, really adds some spice to the game.
Now we get to the height of the city. Each of the following are all represented by large, free-standing, cardboard buildings, which add a real depth to the board. First, the titular Eiffel Tower. Spreading over four squares, the biggest item in the game, it allows you to gain more points by doubling the scoring for any lamp under its structure. As we continue to enjoy the Parisian weather, on your left you will also see the Obelisque de Louxor, scoring points for any building in line with it. Three points for each building to be exact! Both of these structures can change the scores dramatically and again create interesting dilemmas as to where to build them in order to mitigate the other player claiming points for your placement.
The Arc de Triomph works as a giant bridge allowing you to connect groupings of buildings, which is not quite as interesting as it may look. But my does it look great when on the board! And finally, from the heights to the depths, no trip to Paris would be complete without a visit to the Catacombes. By placing a little skull on any of your opponent’s squares you are flag posting the position of the underground attraction.
If, and only if, your opponent decides to build on that square will you be able to take some points. This mechanism feels the most interesting. When to place the skull is vital as it can’t go on a building so watching and understanding your opponent's plan is going to be instrumental here. And with that, the EuroStar calls, and you are back in the UK before you know it!
Jeu De Triomphe
What I love about this Paris: La Cite De La Lumiere - Eiffel is how many different directions it pulls you in. Despite many of the new attractions pushing you to work on the largest grouping of buildings, there are others that force you to space them out. You also have to keep aware of what your opponent is doing, more so than in the original making for much more of a tactical, take-that, type experience.
If you have played Paris: La Cite de la Lumiere a lot then Paris: La Cite De La Lumiere - Eiffel is a fantastic expansion, throwing a lot more variability into the mix. If there is one problem, it’s storage. Something that has caused many a thread of discussion is the lack of space in the base game box.
Due to the board being interrogated into the box, half of the space remains unusable and getting the expansion material in, may be a challenge. This really simple design choice could have been avoided by making the board removable, but sadly, you may have to take a knife to that gorgeous box if you want everything stored together.
