Lost Cities

The theme of Lost Cities is that the two players are adventurers setting out on various expeditions. The expeditions are, in reality, five coloured suits of cards numbered 2 to 10, plus three handshake cards in each suit.

Players have a hand of eight cards, the rest forming a draw pile to the side – when the draw pile runs out, the game is over, and points are scored for the cards each player has played in front of them (cards in hand at the end are worthless).

Turns are simple – you play a card, then draw a card. You may play a card to the central discard board (where there is a pile for each suit), or you may play it in front of you, to your tableau. You then draw a card – either from the draw pile, or from the top of one of the discard piles, and play passes to your opponent.

The first card of a given suit you play to your tableau commits you to the expedition of that colour – you’re not required to start any expeditions, but if you don’t you won’t get any points. The cards played must be in ascending order, so once you’ve begun you can only play cards of a higher value to that suit. Thus an expedition comprising the 2,3,4,7 and 9 would be worth 25 points, whereas one with the cards 7, 9 and 10 would be worth 26 points. However, there are costs associated with launching an expedition, and the moment you begin one your score in that colour stands at -20. So in the above examples, the player would score 5 and 6 points respectively. A score of less than 20 in an expedition you’ve started will net you minus points.

The three handshake cards in each suit represent investors, and they will dramatically increase the risk/reward for each expedition by acting as multipliers: doubling, tripling or quadrupling your final score, depending on how many are played. However, handshakes also multiply a negative score – and they must be played before any numerical cards, so committing to several handshakes raises the stakes enormously.

If you manage to play 8 or more cards in a suit you will also score a 20 point bonus (added after the multipliers).

The management of your hand, and timing of play are the keys to success in Lost Cities. If you begin expeditions too early, you can be sure your opponent will hold on to any cards that you might need – but holding off forces you to discard cards you might later need. And since the draw pile is a timer for the game, each player can affect the pace by drawing from the discards to slow down the game end.