Lost Cities rules: how to play and how to score

Lost Cities quick rules

The goal

Each player launches expeditions in five colors by laying cards on their side of the board. An expedition costs 20 points: it only pays off if its cards are worth more. Wager cards multiply its result, gains and losses alike. The game ends when the draw pile is empty, and the most points wins.

A turn

You always have 8 cards in hand. On your turn, you lay a card in your expedition of its color, or discard it face up onto the tile of its color. Then you draw the top card of the draw pile, or the top card of a discard pile, but never the one you just discarded.

Expeditions

In an expedition, each card must be higher than the one before: you may skip values, never go back down. Wager cards are only laid at the start, before any numbered card, one to three per expedition. Each card exists only once.

End of game and scoring

As soon as the draw pile is empty, you score. For each expedition you started: the sum of its cards minus 20, multiplied by 2, 3 or 4 with 1, 2 or 3 wager cards, then a 20-point bonus if it has at least 8 cards. An empty color doesn’t count. On a tie, the youngest player wins.

Three games and achievements

You can play three games in a row and add up the scores; the higher score starts the next game. With the achievements variant, five goal cards are laid out at the start, and each achievement won is worth 10 points.

Beginner traps

Don’t start an expedition too early: without enough cards, it loses points, and a wager card multiplies losses too. Watch what you discard, and don’t wait too long to lay your big expeditions.

How to score Lost Cities

Each started expedition

The sum of its cards, minus 20.

Wager cards

The result is multiplied by 2, 3 or 4 with 1, 2 or 3 wager cards, gains and losses alike.

8-card bonus

20 more points for an expedition of at least 8 cards, wager cards included, after multiplying.

Empty color

A color where you laid nothing doesn’t count.

Achievements (variant)

10 points per achievement card won.

Ties

The youngest player wins.

Worked example

Emma has four expeditions. Yellow: 2, 4, 6, 9 and 10, so 31 − 20 = 11. Red: 1 wager card then 3, 5, 7, 8 and 9, so (32 − 20) × 2 = 24. Blue: 4 and 6, so 10 − 20 = −10. Green: 2 wager cards then 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, so (27 − 20) × 3 = 21, plus a 20-point bonus for 8 cards = 41. Total: 11 + 24 − 10 + 41 = 66 points.

Common mistakes

• Forgetting the 20-point cost of a started expedition.
• Multiplying the 20-point bonus too: it is added afterward.
• Forgetting that an expedition with only wager cards is started: it costs 20 points, multiplied.
• Counting an empty color as a −20 expedition.

How to set up Lost Cities

Setup takes a minute.