Have you ever dreamed of planning Parisian metro rail lines? Me neither! But stick with me anyway, because this game is the best time you’ll have planning travel routes.
In Next Station Paris, you use 4 different colour pencils to plan 4 metro rail lines across Paris. Plan the best routes, travelling through stations, districts and monuments throughout the city to score the most points.
“Train now arriving”
Each player starts with a map of the city of Paris. There are 4 different coloured pencils which correspond to the 4 rail lines you’ll create. The colour of your pencil determines your starting station.
11 station cards are shuffled and revealed one by one, each showing a symbol that corresponds to symbols on your map. Once the card is revealed, every player simultaneously draws 1 straight line from the starting station to the symbol on the card. You can only draw a line over the dotted lines on your map. After your first go, you can draw from either end of your line. There are a few rules to be mindful of when drawing your lines: you can’t create a loop (by going back through a station you’ve already been to on your current line), and you can’t cross over an existing line (unless you use an overhead crossing).
There are 2 special cards you can also turn over in a round: a Free Entry or Guided Tour card, or a Railway Switch card. The Free Entry or Guided Tour card allows you to either go to any station of your choosing, or if you can, go to a Parisian Monument and then any station of your choosing. Monuments are basically just like another station but you can go to one when any card is turned over as they don’t depend on a certain symbol. (Where possible, I always try to be one station away from a monument so I can use this card when it comes up.) The Railway Switch card is immediately followed by turning over another card, and allows players to split from any station on their current line to a new station matching the card, resulting in 3 ends to your line that you can keep adding to for the rest of the round.
Drawing a line to your next station is always optional, and there might be times where you can’t go at all if you’ve boxed yourself in or don’t have many open stations to travel to.
“Doors closing”
When the fifth blue Metro card is turned over, the current round is finished. You then score points for your current line.
There are 13 districts on your map. You score for how many districts your line passes through, the most stations visited on your line in a single district, and how many monuments your line goes through.
Once you've scored the round, you shuffle the cards, pass the pencils around so you get a different colour, and then the next round begins.
“This train terminates here”
After you’ve created a line for each of the 4 colours, the game ends and you’ll count up all the points scored by your metro network, by adding up all the points scored by your 4 metro lines. You gain extra points for how often 2, 3 or 4 of your lines meet at a station and how many times you've used an overhead line.
The player with the most points wins (surprising, I know).
“Please mind the gap”
There are some advanced rules you can try once you've played a few times which add new end of game challenges to score extra points. The shared objective cards are shuffled and 2 are placed face-up where everyone can see. All players can attempt to fulfil these objectives and you score an extra 10 points at the end of the game for each objective you manage to complete. A shared objective could be having one of your metro lines pass through at least 7 districts, or connecting every station in a district. Secondary district cards give you special benefits when you manage to go through one of the 4 corner district stations. Benefits include adding extra sections to your lines or scoring an extra station or district at the end of the round.
The advanced modes can be quite fun, and definitely add some extra complexity to the game after you’ve played it a few times. Plus, they help you score more points, and who doesn’t want more points?!
“Change here for other lines”
If you've played Next Station London (the original) or Next Station Tokyo, Next Station Paris feels quite different. It’s more flexible due to having a large central platform which you can go through with any symbol. It’s essentially a wild station, but because it’s right in the middle, you can pass all your lines through here, and it can help get you out of some sticky situations if you’ve blocked yourself off. The overhead crossings are also new for this game, allowing you to cross over your own line in certain spots, where you’re not allowed to in other games, and results in some more points.
Personally, I find Next Station Paris less complicated and it is easier to score high points. I would definitely recommend it if you like the other versions as it adds some new dimensions while still keeping the base mechanics.
“Stand clear of the doors”
I really enjoy this game. It works well with 2-4 players, and there’s also a solo mode you can try. It takes some strategic thinking and planning ahead to score high, and every game you can try out a new strategy.
This game can be a little complicated to learn at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s very enjoyable. Once you’ve played once, you’ll want to play again to improve your strategy and gain more points! Scoring is a bit tricky and time-consuming, but overall it’s quick to set-up and play. Who knew planning metro lines could be so fun?!
