I was hoping that one of the others would put his hand up for this one, since we seem to be getting into a pattern with Michael Schacht games, one where I end up doing the review for a game that most of the rest of you like much more than I do. The poor man will be starting to feel persecuted, but it is not a deliberate policy, just the way that the cards fall. He is now a big name, people want early information about his latest offerings, but for some reason the review offers don't arrive and you find yourself once more stuck with the grouch.

The reasons for my coolness are twofold. One is that he produces so many games that inevitably a lot of them are little "one idea" affairs. It is usually a clever idea, but it is still on its own. I don't care much for such games whoever they're from. The other is his tendency to give his games titles that lead me to expect a theme, which then turns out not to be there when I open the box. So Kontor promised 17th century Amsterdam and Don 1920s Chicago only for both to be purely abstract. Abstraction I don't mind; it's the disappointment that gets to me. Fortunately for this review, Paris Paris is a much more substantial affair than the likes of Mogul and, as with last year's Dschunke (a game that I like) it has a title that doesn't raise false hopes.

The board shows a network of lines and dots imposed on a map of Paris. There are five lines of different colours and they represent bus routes. The dots are the bus stops and each route has seven of them - two termini and five intermediates. In the game, as would be the case on the ground, the most important stops are those where two routes cross and I shall refer to these as "junctions". The idea is that the routes are used by money spending tourists and the aim of the players is to place their businesses near the locations that will bring in the most visitors. This is, of course, completely unrealistic, as my mother would have told him had she still been alive. If the curator of the British Museum wants you to look at his exhibits, it is up to him to site his building near Marks & Spencers, not the other way round. However, the conceit suffices for game purposes, enough to tell you that there is a mechanism which results in players placing small wooden buildings next to the stops; that there is competition for sites; and that the scoring is based on buses travelling along the routes.

The game comes with a set of 60 tiles bearing the names of the bus stops, several tiles for each stop. These are shuffled and arranged in face down stacks, with each stack having one more tile than there are players. At the beginning of each round, one of the sets is turned face up and the tiles from it placed on the board. Beginning with the start player for the round, everyone now chooses one of the tiles, puts it back in the box and places a building at the corresponding location. One tile will be left over and two things happen with this. First, there is a minor scoring which sees the owner(s) of the buildings that are closest to this stop along the same route (or routes if the stop is a junction) score 1 point. Then the tile is added to those left over from previous rounds. When this collection contains two tiles of the same colour, they go back in the box and the bus travels along the route of this colour, triggering a major scoring.

With a major scoring the bus stops at each junction on its route. Note junctions only: passengers wishing to alight at other stops get the "well, you should have rung the bell earlier" treatment. If you own a business at one of these junctions, you score 1 point for it and a further point for each of your businesses at immediately adjacent stops (whether on this route or not).

These two methods of scoring dictate your strategy. If you have the opportunity to pick up the point from a minor scoring, you'll usually take it, but the real aim is to set yourself up for the major scorings and to trigger them at times favourable to yourself. To do this you want your buildings to be located at junctions and adjacent stops. Having buildings at minor stops when you have nothing at an adjacent junction is a waste. Having buildings at adjacent stops that are both junctions sets up a potential bonanza, as each will score more than once when a bus travels along the route.

There are more tiles for each location than there are sites for buildings and this means that placements are not necessarily permanent. Should you select a tile for a place that already has a full complement of buildings, you still place yours, but before doing so you remove one of those already there. It is your choice which. If the removed building belongs to another player, it is put in the bag provided. At the end of the game there is a useful points bonus for the player with most buildings in the bag, but only for this one player. Both the removal opportunities and the points bonus add to the strategy. Cutting down the scoring opportunities of your rivals is a good thing and removing their buildings does that; on the other hand you don't want them to get the bonus. From your own point of view having a building removed is not too bad if you have already benefitted from it on a major scoring, but you certainly don't want to see it go before then.

Paris Paris is a good game, one that can sit alongside the author's earlier [page scan/se=1268/sf=category/fi=stockin.asc/ml=10]Kardinal & Knig and Dschunke both for weight and quality, and like those two it takes under an hour to play. I don't, myself, enjoy it as much as the other two, but that is down to the quirks of personal taste and isn't a judgement on its worth.

Five bus routes in different colors, each with seven stops, crisscross Paris. Each round, randomly draw one more bus stop than the number of players. Everyone in turn selects a stop and places a shop in his color there. The shop on, or nearest to, the unchosen stop earns points for its owner.

In a round where a previously unselected stop is again not chosen, the round ends and the route of that stop's color scored: All shops at, or adjacent to, the route's intersections earn points.

It's possible to replace a shop at a selected stop. Replaced shops are returned to the bag, whose contents are only examined when play ends. If a player has discarded more businesses than his competitors have, he earns a point for each discard. Highest score wins. We love the subtleties of Paris Paris in all seasons!

I only played this online, but it's actually a fun game. I enjoy playing it just as 2 player game. Three player is fun too but adds difficulty. It's a good strategy game and not too dependent on chance. Not only you have to choose a location that's good for you, you also want to think about which location to leave out for the bus tours so you get most points. I really liked this game, and I think I will buy it in the future. Price wise it's not too much, so a good deal and a good 2 player or 3 player game to have.

Fans of Web of Power (Kardinal und Konig) will find this game has a very similar feel. Each turn, you place a marker, representing a shop, based on the tiles available, each of which has a name of an intersection. The tiles left over determine when and where the buses run that bring tourists too your shops, so you have to consider both what you are taking and what you are leaving behind. When you go first in a round, you have more choice of what to take, and when you go last, more control over what buses run. And then there's the fact that each intersection only has so much room, and when they fill up you can replace other's shops with your own.

This one works well with 2, 3, and 4, but is at its best with 3. The scoring can be a bit tricky the first few times you play, but that soon passes.

Paris Paris is the latest offering by Michael Schacht and as mentioned previously, resembles a different theme on the 'Web of Power' style of game. Play revolves around five bus routes that travel through Paris. Players establish one or two businesses at various 'stops' around the board. When the bus stops at your business, you score a point. Unlike the playing cards in WoP, sixty tiles representing the 'bus stops' are used to determine where businesses can be developed. One tile more than the number of players is drawn. In turn, each player takes one tile and builds a business at that stop. This will leave one tile. The bus is placed there and points scored if a business exists there, or if not, the closest to that stop on that bus line. Throughout the game, these leftover tiles can cause a 'Grand Tour' which scores along the five junctions of various bus routes. Players may also 'bump' existing businesses off the board, but this creates a scoring opportunity for the 'bumped' business. Play ends when all tiles have been drawn and played. A final 'Grand Tour' scoring takes place for each player and the player who had the most businesses 'bumped' scores points as well.

Paris Paris is a fast, fun family game. It was no surprise to BGoR that it received a Spiel de Jahre nomination as it contains the three 'F's' ( fast, fun, family). It starts out very dry though, and doesnt get interesting till the board starts to fill up and 'Grand Tour' scoring begins. Until it has been played a couple of times, beginners will wonder just what to do when placing their business on the board. For those who have played WoP, think of creating cloister chains along the bus routes to maximize your scoring potential. Also the 'bumped' business bag of scoring really hasnt changed the outcome of play yet. It does go very quickly though, and the best way to play Paris Paris would be several games and keep a running total.

Tiles are clean and sturdy, businesses are the standard wooden house (church from WoP), board map is an actual (and fairly accurate!) map of Paris, and the bus as mentioned in previous reviews kinda cute. BGoR rate it a 'buy' as a family or filler game with 4 stars.