Paris 1889
Paris 1889 Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
Paris 1889 is a cooperative game in which the players win or lose together. In turns, you will have to attribute cards to the other players. Then, they will have to identify which one is connected to whom in order to safely pursue their investigation. Paris 1889 requires a strong load of narrative as you will have to describe not only the place you are in, as depicted on your cards, but also your intents and what you will do next. You will have to unleash your imagination and invent your own story to win the game together!
Components
- 84 cards
- 6 player boards
- 6 Validation tokens
- 5 Ring tokens
- 4 Hunt tokens
- 4 Item tokens
- 1 Chest board
- 1 Paris 1889 World's Fair board
- 12 Character / Investigation tokens and 2 Beast tokens
- 1 Eiffel Tower token (2 parts)
- 1 Beast token and its plastic stand
- 1 rulebook in 2 languages (English, French)
Character and Investigation tokens are identical for the case where one is damaged or marked. Should this happen, use the damaged token on the World's Fair board. Thus, the Character tokens will remain non-recognizable, and you will be able to play the game.
Setup
- Place the Paris 1889 World's Fair board in the center of the table.
- Shuffle the 84 cards and form a face down draw pile. Place it on the corresponding side of the World's Fair board.
- Each player chooses a character and takes the game components corresponding to that character: 1 player board, 2 tokens (one placed in front of them and one placed on the player's starting space at the center the World's Fair board) and 1 Validation token. Return the unused player game components to the box: they will not be used for this game. The token in front of you is called the Character token and the token on the World's Fair board is called the Investigation token.
- Place the Beast token on its starting space of the World's Fair board. Place the 4 Hunt tokens face down (without looking at them) on their matching space, close to the Beast.
- Randomly select an Item token and place it face down on the Item space of the World's Fair board. The remaining Item tokens are returned to the box. They will not be used for this game.
- Place the 5 Rings on their corresponding spaces on the World's Fair board. In a 3-player game, use 4 Rings only (do not place any Ring on the fifth Ring space) and return the fifth Ring to the box. It will not be used for this game. Place the Chest board close to the game area.
- Then each player draws a card and places it face up above their player board.
- The last player who visited Paris will be the Main Investigator for the first round: this player takes the Eiffel Tower token and places it in front of them. Each player then gives the Main Investigator (including themself) their Character token.
(Setup illustration: setup for 4 players.)
Round Summary
- Phase 1 - Narration: Each player describes their card as well as the intents of their Character (flee, battle, investigate, enter or exit a building, etc.).
- Phase 2 - Main Investigator: The Game Master, also called "the Main Investigator" in these rules, draws cards and reveals them to all by positioning them on the World's Fair board. Then the Main Investigator places one face-down Character token on each of these cards, trying to figure out the one that will best fit the story developed by each player.
- Phase 3 - Investigation: The other players put their heads together in order to try to correctly guess the pairs Card/Character made by the Main Investigator.
- Phase 4 - Resolution: The Main Investigator reveals its choices and determinates the fate of your group... If the guess is correct, you investigated well and your quest for the 5 Rings progresses. If not, the Beast is getting closer, which means strong chances of defeat! To do so, the Beast hunts the players by moving one space towards them and the next player in clockwise order becomes the Main Investigator for the next round.
Goal of the game: The players investigate together to find mysterious rings. They immediately win the game if they find all the rings on the World's Fair board. The game can also be ended by a victory or a defeat if the Final Scene is triggered once the Beast has caught at least one Character.
Phase 1 - Narration
IMPORTANT: during this phase, the players will speak in turns while the others must pay close attention to all the details that may be given to get a chance to win the game.
One after the other, in clockwise order starting with the Main Investigator, each player describes its most recent card, the one placed above their player board.
The card each player starts with represents the situation of their Character at the beginning of the game. Describe it as precisely as you can to the other players, even if they can see it too. There are a lot of small details that you may want to highlight. Also describe your intents, what your Character will do next, how they plan to investigate to find a ring, etc. All this will eventually come handy to the Main Investigator when comes for them the time to imagine which cards best matches your story.
If your card has not changed from the previous round, try to give more information to the new Main Investigator. Build on what was said and do not hesitate to alter you story and to change your Character's intents if you think it would work better with the trend of thoughts developed by the group.
Example: "We are now accustomed to the life in Paris in 1889. Look at my suit! It is time to begin our enquiry and to search for those rings, or the Beast itself. I am not afraid! I am at the bottom of the Eiffel Tower, and behind it, I can see the Trocadéro Palace. I plan to walk into the crowd and try to find some information in the garden, maybe the Eiffel Tower and the Palace if I can. My first targets are suspicious persons or traces of magic from the Red Ring sect. I look like a rich American traveler, so it should be easy for me."
Phase 2 - Main Investigator
IMPORTANT: During this phase, no player may talk or interact with the Main Investigator to try to influence their decisions.
Reveal new cards
The Main Investigator draws and reveals in the indicated order around the World's Fair board a number of cards equal to:
- 3-4 players: number of players +2.
- 5-6 players: number of players +1.
Attribute the Character tokens
After having given it some thoughts, the Main Investigator associates the Character and the Beast tokens to the cards that were just revealed. To do so, the Main Investigator places one face-down token per card, starting from the starting symbol and going clockwise (to avoid giving too many clues to the other players).
The Main Investigator must make their choice based on what they think is the best follow-up to each player's story, that is to say which card would fit best with those already placed in front of each player (including themself). The Main Investigator must also place the Beast tokens (1 or 2 tokens, depending on the number of players) on the cards that they think does not correspond to any Character. It is in some ways a trap, an additional difficulty that reflects the uncertainty and the dangers in which the players are evolving.
After having placed all tokens (Characters and Beast), the Main Investigator may still change some pairings as they see fit. Once they are satisfied with their choices, they say so to the other players, triggering the next phase.
IMPORTANT: It is forbidden to follow a process such as "the red player will always be associated to the first card drawn from the draw deck".
Example: In this 4-player game, Marty is the Main Investigator for this round. He places face down 4 Character tokens (Julius, Cindy, Kim and his) and 2 Beast tokens on the 6 cards that were revealed for this round.
Phase 3 - Investigation
IMPORTANT: During this phase, the Main Investigator may not speak nor interact whatsoever with the other players.
Associating the cards to the Validation tokens
The players (except for the Main Investigator who does not participate to this phase of the game) discuss and decide jointly which card best relates to each Character. To do so, they place their Validation token on top of the card that they think is the best follow-up to their story. They must do so for the Main Investigator as well. Cards that the players think have not been associated to any player have no Validation token on them (one card in a 5-6-player game).
The players may further discuss and change their minds, as long as they respect the golden rule of one unique Validation token per card.
Only when they think they are done, do they say so to the Main Investigator, triggering the beginning of the next phase.
Example: Marty, as the Main Investigator, cannot participate to the Investigation phase. He lets Cindy, Julius and Kim guess the associations. They try to do so by placing the Validation tokens including Marty's on the cards they think suit best the story of the players. There are two cards with no token as the players think they suit no player's story...
Phase 4 - Resolution
The Main Investigator reveals each Character token, one at a time, in clockwise order, starting with the one located on the first card drawn during the Narration phase. Then the players verify whether:
It matches the Validation token: the corresponding player takes back their Validation token as well as the card. The latter is placed in front of them, at the top of the ones they already have. The player will then have to describe it during the Narration phase of the next round. Then, they move their Character token on the World's Fair board one space, so they collect a Ring if able to. If a Ring is collected, place it on the Chest board. If the Character token moves on the Item token, the player takes it and places it on the Chest board as well. This Item can now be used at any time before the Final Scene.
Example: Cindy's card has been guessed by the players (1A). She takes her card and places it on the previous one. She then moves her Character token one space (1B) on the World's Fair board and collects a Ring. She places it on the Chest board (1C). Kim and Marty's have been guessed as well (2A) so they move one space straight ahead (2B).
It does not match the Validation token: the corresponding player takes back their Validation token and the card is simply discarded.
Example: Julius did not guess his card right: he discards it and takes back his Validation token (1A). His Character token does not move on the World's Fair board, which makes him more vulnerable to the Beast hunting the group (1B).
End of a Round
If none of the endgame conditions have been met (see next paragraph), resolve these steps in order:
- The Beast moves one space straight on toward the Characters. Depending on where the Beast arrives, an Event may occur.
- Starting-row Event: each player whose Character has still not moved on the World's Fair board discards their card and draw a new one from the deck.
- Hunt token Event (4 tokens available): reveal a Hunt token among the 4 available. If it shows a Beast symbol, move the Beast one additional space. If there is no symbol, nothing happens.
- Hunt token Event (3 tokens remaining): reveal a Hunt token among the 3 remaining ones. If it shows a Beast symbol, move the Beast one additional space. If there is no symbol, nothing happens.
- The cards that were not associated to any player are discarded. Then, each player tells the next step of their story.
- The Main Investigator gives the Eiffel Tower token to the player on their left, who becomes the Main Investigator for the next round.
Winning or Losing the Game
A game of Paris 1889 may end in two ways:
Victory with the Rings: If the players collected the 5 Rings (4 Rings in a 3-player game), they immediately win the game. Do not reveal the remaining associations, if any.
Victory or Defeat after the Final Scene: If the Beast token reaches or passes a Character token on the World's Fair board, then the Final Scene takes place immediately: do not reveal the next associations and do not trigger the Event, if any. All players whose Character token is under the Beast token (or on the edge of the board at the same level as the Beast) immediately flip their card face down. Then, pass to the Final Scene phase.
The Final Scene
The Final Scene is a special round which occurs if the Beast captures at least one Character token. Players whom Character has been captured by the Beast immediately flip their card face down. They are still playing the game but from now on, no player may look at their card.
- The Main Investigator gives the Eiffel Tower token to the player on their left, who becomes the Main Investigator for the Final Scene.
- Resolve Phase 1 - Narration only for the players whose card has not been flipped.
- Resolve Phase 2 - Main Investigator. The Main Investigator may now use the Rings players have collected during the game. Place them on the cards (there can be several Rings on the same card) around the World's Fair board only. Rings cannot be placed on players' cards. Placing Rings on cards symbolizes a clue the Main Investigator wants to give to their teammates to make the guesses easier.
- Resolve Phase 3 - Investigation as usual. To win the game, players must find ALL associations. Any single mistake and the players immediately lose the game!
Example: The Beast caught Cindy and Julius. They both must flip their card face down immediately (1A). Marty is the Main Investigator for the Final Scene: during the Main Investigator phase, he associates Character tokens to the cards as usual. He may now use the Rings collected by the group by placing them on the cards revealed around the board (1B). This is useful to focus on a certain detail of the card. If the players find all the associations, they win the game, but a single mistake makes them lose the game...
Items
Items can be used only once during the game. Return the Item token to the box when used.
- Paris Map: before the Resolution phase, move the Investigation token from any player one space on the World's Fair board.
- Binoculars: before the Resolution phase, players may use the Binoculars to ask the Main Investigator which card is associated with the Beast. Then, players may change the associations. In a 3-4-player game, the Investigator reveals only one card out of the two associated with the Beast.
- Trap: before the Resolution phase, the players may place the Trap on a card around the board. If, during the Resolution phase, the card with the Trap is associated with the Beast, it will not move at the end of this round.
- Vortex: swap this token with one of the items from Greenville 1989: Duck, Rubik's Cube or Simon. If you do not own Greenville 1989, choose the ability you prefer among these three items and keep the Vortex token instead. You may now use this Item during the game.
- Plastic Duck: name a Character in play. Before the Resolution phase, players may use the Plastic Duck to ask the Main Investigator which card is linked to this Character. They may then reposition the different Character tokens on the cards to take advantage of this information.
- Rubik's Cube: before the Resolution phase, players may use the Rubik's Cube token and point a card to the Main Investigator, who may then exchange the Validation token with another one. Then, the players may still change their choices.
- Simon: before the Resolution phase, players may use the Simon token to ask the Main Investigator how many correct guesses they have made. Then, they may reposition the different Character tokens on the cards to take advantage of this information.
Increasing Difficulty
During setup, immediately move the Beast token one space closer to the players.