Lost Cities

Lost Cites is a cardgame for two where the players are exploring various lost cities. Which cities you choose to explore and how well you do, depends upon the choices you make and the cards you draw during the game.

Put the game board on the table between the players. The board has five fields, one for each expedition. Shuffle the cards and give eight to each player. The cards show the picture of one of the five cities/expeditions, and a number from 2 to 10. For each expedition there is also three investment cards.

Course of the game

When it is a player's turn, he plays or discards a card, then draws one. Each player plays their cards on their side of the board, and they are played in ascending order. This means that if you have played RED 5, you may not play RED 2, 3 or 4 later in the game. Each expedition has it's own discard pile, and if you don't want to play a card on an expedition, you may discard one. When you draw a card, you may draw from any of the discard piles or from the draw pile.

Winning the game

The game ends immediately when the last card is drawn from the draw pile. Each player calculates his score: Add the values of the expedition cards, substract 20 from each started expedition and multiply the result with any played investment card. Then add any bonuses. The player with the most points wins the game.

Usually you play several rounds, and the player with the most points after these (often three) rounds is the overall winner.

Catchy and addictive

So this is the mechanics of the game. Quick, simple and with a theme that feels pasted on just before the game went to print. But still this game has taken the gaming world by storm. Why? Because the game is extremely catchy and highly addictive! With a couple of simple grips Reiner Knizia has improved the basic mechanic and come up with an exquisite game. The players are constantly faced with tough decisions: which expeditions to start and which to leave? Should you play an investment card and hope to get more expedition cards in this colour later, or should you wait and see? Should you discard a card in an expedition your opponent has started, thus giving him more points, or should you start it yourself?

All started expeditions give an automatic 20 points "penalty", and this is a brilliant mechanic. It gives the players something to ponder about, they must restrain themselves and can't start every expedition, because only when you have played expedition cards worth 20 points it will start to earn points.

The investment cards multiply the score, but do you dare to play one of these if you have no expedition cards? If you don't get any expedition cards for this city later, it will cost you dear. And when should you play the "10" you have on your hand? Should you wait any longer for the "8" or "9"? Could it be that the other player has them on hand?

A round of Lost Cities can be very intence and exciting, and with the right players it also gets a psycological side as well: "Why did Karen smile a little bit when I played a red investment card? Does she has a lot of red expedition cards on her hand?

A brilliant game - and my wife's favourite. We have played this game a lot, and we have actually worn out a deck already!

Pictures of the game —>

Reader comments

Remo :

Dette må være Knizias enkleste spillkonsept. Jeg liker den strategiske delen av spillet, men det blir litt for mye "2-manns-kabal". Som et enkelt og raskt tidsfordriv fungerer det bra, og litt utfordringer blir det. Det finnes flere spill av denne typen, så sjekk dem ut!

Vidar Aas:

Har spilt dette spillet litt i det siste og liker det bedre og bedre. Fin blanding av strategi og flaks og det går fort unna. Kjempefint familiespill!

Rachel David:

I own an upscale gift shop and try to carry unusual games and gifts for all ages. I think your game would be a welcome addition. Where would I purchase them wholesale?Thanks for your help.

jen:

Help, please! I got this game for Christmas, and just got around to finding time to play it the other night, but the English instructions were not included. Can anyone tell me where to find a printable version of the instructions online? Thanks so much, Jen

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