Paris: La Cité de la Lumière FAQ
45 questions players ask · Updated Nov 12, 2026 · Full rulebook
Phase 1: Placing of Cobblestone Tiles and Awarding Buildings
Phase 2: Place Buildings and Take Actions
- Can you activate an Action postcard without performing its action?
- Can you activate an Action postcard without an Action token left?
- Can you pass during Phase 2 while you still have Action tokens or a building you can place?
- When does Phase 2 end, and can one player take several turns in a row?
- Can buildings be placed on streetlight spaces in normal play?
Scoring
- If none of my buildings touch each other, do I still score a largest building group?
- Do both players score their largest building group at the end, or only the player with the biggest group?
- Do the Lampadaire and Grande Lumière postcards score for both players, or only for the player who claimed the postcard?
- Which spaces count as free when scoring Le Penseur (the Statue)?
- What does 'in front of' the Statue mean, and what happens if that square is occupied?
- Do the free spaces the Statue scores need to be your own colour?
- How does La Grande Lumière count for the Painter's scoring?
- Do stamped Action postcards score an extra point each at game end?
Action Postcards (First Games)
- Does the Jardin des Plantes count as a building for scoring, the largest building group, and the Painter's area?
- Can Metropolitain's building cover more than one streetlight?
- Can Metropolitain cover a streetlight placed by the Lampadaire, or the Grande Lumière?
- Can Metropolitain's building cover a streetlight on a space that is neither purple nor your own colour?
- Can Metropolitain place a Jardin des Plantes over a streetlight, and can it place a Fontaine des Mers over one?
- When can Metropolitain or Chartier be used: only on the next turn, or on any later turn?
- Is an Action postcard flipped and marked as used right away, or do Metropolitain and Chartier wait?
- Can you take Chartier with no building, and can you place its tile without a building on it?
- Can a Fontaine des Mers or Jardin des Plantes go on the purple Chartier space?
- Can Chartier's purple space be treated as the opponent's colour instead of placing the purple tile?
- Does placing a Chartier tile and its building use up your whole turn?
- Do the Painter's and Dancer's areas count only orthogonally connected free spaces?
- Which pieces limit the Painter's area, and does the Painter need line of sight to streetlights?
- Must the Painter be placed immediately when claimed, or can it be held for a later turn?
- Can a Bouquinistes Annex be added to a Jardin des Plantes?
- Does the Bouquinistes Annex count as part of the building it is attached to for scoring and largest group?
- Can you use two postcards in one turn, including one saved from an earlier turn such as Metropolitain or Chartier?
Action Postcards (Optionals)
- Who scores the Fontaine des Mers points: both players, or only the player who claimed the postcard?
- Do streetlights limit the Dancer's area?
- Does La Grande Lumière light a building diagonal to it, and do buildings block its light to buildings behind them?
- Is the Fontaine des Mers a building, so that it counts toward my largest building group?
Paris: EiffelExpansion
- Does the Arc de Triomphe count as 3 spaces for the largest group, and do streetlights under it still count?
- Can the Arc de Triomphe be placed over a building, and can the Painter or Dancer's area pass under it?
- Can the Eiffel Tower be placed where four Cobblestone tiles meet at a corner?
- How many points does the Obélisque de Louxor score for each building in its line?
- Do the Arc de Triomphe or Obelisque de Louxor block light from the Grande Lumière?
- Do stamps on Eiffel expansion postcards (a red and a blue stamp) score points for both players?
- Does the Hôtel des Invalides count spaces that hold buildings or special pieces in its end-game scoring?