Customer Reviews

Lost Cities Board Game

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is my first game review I have ever written. When I saw that noone had reviewed this game yet, I thought I should write one. I have over 70 Board Games and love looking for new ones!

I did some homework on the 2 player version and found out that it was a must buy game. I wanted to get it, but we have game night about twice a week at our house with at least one other couple and thought that if they could make this game 4 player I would get it...they did!

We have had this game only for a couple of days, and my wife and I have already played it about 7 times and LOVE IT. Our other friends have come over to play it as well and they love it too. The board is beautiful (visually appealing games are always a bonus) and the game-play is unique with little pieces that are well made and also look good. The great thing is that the game is just as much fun 2 player as it is 3 or 4 player (4 is max).

The game is played in 3 "expedition rounds". The basis of the game is laying down cards in order - lowest to highest, or highest to lowest to move your explorers (5 in all) along trails that are 9 steps long (all the steps have point values on them). Along the way the explorers will pick up artefacts and money that they will use to combine with the money that is awarded when each round of play comes to an end. One of the things we like about this game is that all the games we played so far have been very close scores at the end. We love games that one person can't run away with the game and take all the joy of everyone else feeling left out.

The game honestly takes about 5-10 minutes to learn how to play and about 5 minutes to set up each round of "expeditions". If you love games that are easy to learn how to play, but are still a challenge to win and have a huge amount of "replay-ability"...buy this game, you won't be dissapointed! We play tons of games and already have plenty of favorites, but this one jumped right up there into the favorites list.

Thank you for reading my first review ever...sorry it was so long,
Jeremy(age 32)

"How did Santa know that I would like this game so much?" asked our almost 8-year-old daughter last night, after we finished the short version of the game. It was not always thus; we got this game for Christmas 2009, and she has spent the last 18 months learning how to see the larger strategies to be found within the game, going from finishing a very distant fourth to now losing to me by just a whisker last night. At one point she said she really wasn't interested in playing this anymore, but now she has come full circle and loves striving for that elusive first win against parents who show her no mercy.

And of course, understanding that being dealt a garbage hand isn't the end of the world is the key to understanding and loving this game. You can get the crappiest cards in the world and still win, if you know what to do with them, and when to play them. It's all about management and timing. You can also capitalize off the carelessness of opponents. This being a Knizia game, the opportunities for truly screwing over your opponents isn't going to be here. This is definitely something to keep in mind, so if your gaming instincts tend to be more vicious and bloodthirsty, then this probably isn't the game for you. However, it is a great way to spend an evening with the family! We love it.

I was looking for something for my wife and I to play together. I didn't like seeing us retreat into our respective computer "caves" once the kids went down to sleep. I picked this game up, along with a couple of others, as our first foray into the world of euro games.

*game-play*
The game is basically a management style game. If you can imagine overseeing several archeological expeditions, each lobbying for funding, then you can see yourself in the role of deciding which expeditions get priority based on how much profit they can bring you. You place your tokens on up to five different paths. You advance your tokens by playing cards on card stacks corresponding to each path. You play cards in ascending order from zero to ten. The further you can advance your tokens, the more points you get. Don't advance them far enough and you actually lose points. There are also events on each path that grant more points or additional opportunities for advancement. You can think of the game as five simultaneous "races." That's the game in a nutshell.

*strategy*
The interesting element about this game is that you don't have to build your card stacks in consecutive order. You only have to play cards that are of equal or higher value. If you have a "1" on one of your card stacks, you could play a "7" on it if that's the lowest card you have in your hand. You'll get to advance your token but the trade-off is that you now have less potential cards that you can play on that stack making further advancement that much harder. This one dynamic is what really makes this game shine. It's always a decision as to whether to play the cards in your hand now or wait a few more turns hoping to get better cards. Move too quickly and you risk running out of gas too soon allowing the other players to move past you. Move too slowly and other players may gobble up points along the path before you do. I've observed many instances where either me or my wife take several seconds just staring at our cards trying to decide what to do. The strategy of the game is fairly simple but it's balanced very well with the luck factor so that it's not always obvious as to what the "right" move is.

*board game version*
There is a card version of this game which I haven't played so I can't comment on that. What I can say is that having a board as a shared playing area adds some nice elements. It's more than just a visual representation of your card stacks. There are "event tiles" on each path that can be taken or activated for extra points and additional moves. You also have a special "researcher" token that doubles the points gained or lost on the path that token is placed on. These elements help add to the game's strategy. Seeing your tokens move in relation to other player's tokens also adds some exhilaration to the game as it feels like you're racing other players. The main drawback of the board version is that there are a lot of pieces that are hard to keep track of and a bit tedious to setup. This is mostly due to the 25 event tiles that you have to place on the board for each round.

*summary*
This is a fun game that can be played as a couple or as a group of four. The game is easy to learn and the strategies are simple but engaging. This is great for nights when you feel like playing something light and casual.

This game is great. It's way fun playing it with only two players, which I have found that most games are not as fun played with only two players. It's also a blast with a group. Do yourself a favor and get this game! I would also recommend this version over the 2 player card game version.

This is one of the best games I have played in a while. It is great to play with 4 people but it was even better with 2 players. This is wonderful for the whole family.

My family enjoys the Domininion family of the Rio Grande Games so I decided to try this game from the same company. I enjoy it and like that each game can move pretty quickly. However, this one does not require quite as much strategy, my husband and 8th grade son aren't quite as fond of it as the Dominion series since it doesn't really require as much thinking. I think it's a good game though and great to play with elementary and early middle school aged kids.

This game is lots of fun. A huge improvement over the card game experience. Plays well with two, three and four players. The game has lots of small bits which may become a chore to keep track of.

I am not a gamer, but I played this at my friends house and had to buy it. It has the perfect balance of skill with luck. I like games that have some strategy and this has that. I would highly suggest getting this game!

We are owners of a couple Rio Grande Games, of German origin. The games are extremely well made, the pieces are of the highest available quality. My wife and I play this game two handed mostly, and it's even more fun 3 handed, as the game seems to go faster. We love this game so much we bought a cheap 6 deck card shuffler to make the transition between rounds quicker (although this is NOT necessary, we are just lazy shufflers!). My *only* complaint with the game, and it's hardly a complaint, is if you lose ONE of the action tiles (there are 25) the game is literally unplayable. We have to be extra vigilant to keep my three year old away from the board when we play. All in all it is our go-to favorite. The game two handed takes about 10-15 minutes two handed per round, with 3 rounds played for a full game. There is a short version too, but the full game is much more fun. It's the only game my wife can consistently beat me at, much to my dismay.

My husband and I recently got into hobby games as a way to pass the miserable winters where we live. After much time spent on Amazon and the most well-known board game website, this was one of our first purchases. We really enjoy this game a lot, especially my husband!

Yay!
- quick to learn, simple rules
- game incorporates a card game into a board game, which is fun
- plays GREAT with two players, but would be great with three or four
- doesn't take long to set up
- two can play in about 45 min with an option for a quicker version
- not too heavy on strategy, but definitely has some!
- we think this game has great replayability and will be nice to introduce others to

Boo!
- doesn't really have a theme, if you're into theme
- lots of little pieces - get a ziploc to store them!