My quick reviews are aimed at people who are new to BGG, and who "just a couple weeks ago didn't kow so many games existed!". I write these reviews to help them from drowning in the sea of games and reviews, so If you are a newcomer, read on.



So you are new to the hobby and have been reading around, wondering which one of all these games is the best for you to start your new hobby. You may have asked about games good for 2 players, and heard some advise pointing towards Lost Cities. You may have also heard about it being a game that seems to appeal to females a whole lot more than most games (tip: they get really good at it too), and you may have also noticed that some people seem to dislike the game, and wonder why.

This is what you'd get if you purchased Lost Cities:

(Image by Esa Hanka)

Lost cities is a card game for 2 players, where cards are divided in 5 groups/colors representing 5 archaeological expeditions, each expeditions having cards valued 2 to 10. Each player is deciding in which expeditions to embark, and trying to collect as many cards as possible from each expedition. In your turn you play a card from the 8 cards you have in your hand, and then draw a card to replenish your hand. You can play the card to either one of your expeditions, or to the neutral area between the players (the actual board). Cards played to one of your expeditions must be played in value order (meaning after you've played a 4 to your expedition, you can no longer play a 2, nor a 3 to that expedition). When you replenish your hand, you can draw from the deck or from the cards in the neutral area, which means that every card a player "discards" to the neutral area becomes available to the other player.
Because cards must be played in order, you start your expeditions with lower-number cards and that bears a risk because if you later can't manage to get the appropriate cards (at the right timing), you will score very little or maybe even negative points from that expedition.

Also, Lost Cities is:

Not as expensive as "full board games". It comes with cards that are beautiful and very large.

Not as "oozing with theme" as many other games are.

Filled with tension, and a confrontation that is fierce, but subtle.

Very easy to explain and learn. Two complete newcomers can open it an play it successfully on their own without trouble.

So quick! The game ends in like 15 minutes. Often you can play many games in a row, or just play the one before bedtime/lunch.

Is a light game, but still makes you use your brain. The game feels light, won't burn your brain and even allows for conversation during play, but it still requires some thinking and a bit of focus. After a couple games you even start to notice there are a few strategies that can be followed.

Features risk management. You could say it's a remote cousin of poker, meaning you often need to decide whether to take a risk, and you assess that risk based on suppositions about what cards your opponent might or might not have, suppositions you often make from looking at your opponent and deciphering his/her poker face.

Lost Cities is Tense. There are lots of tense moments specially early on when you both seem to be bluffing each other, trying to hide for as long as possible the true nature of your cards, or when you have to make a tough choice and you try to figure out your opponent intentions (or cards) by staring, analyzing their last moves, or by his/her evasive reactions to your questions.

Allows for a little bit of "take that" or "in your face" confrontation (like hoarding a card your adversary needs, and discarding it right after they can no longer use it). However, interaction is rather indirect

I believe females love this game, because it requires a lot of "observing the other player" detecting his/her intentions, and then trying to indirectly affect his/her plans. ¿Have you ever seen how when a girl is mad at you she expects you to know why? and how if you don't know why, that fact upsets her even more? Girls communicate through mind-reading, instead of open talk like us males do. Their skills at reading your gestures and reactions are put to full use in this game, along with their preferred way of "letting you know", and that's why they love it (or so I believe...)

The end scoring is a bit mathy. Don't worry about it, you will understand it well, its just that you may feel a bit confused the very first time you score a game, but thats it.

Luck plays a somewhat important role in the game. It helps make every play different from the previous, but once in a while you can get really unlucky. If you can't tolerate luck in your games, then Lost Cities might not be for you. In such case I recommend you check Hive

Aging: The game is really fun for a while, but eventually it's appeal starts to fade. It could take months or even years, depending on how often you play it (and how many times in a row you play it). However, you should consider this to be normal (happens to most games). When you factor hours played per dollar paid, Lost Cities is a good deal, so just take it as a necessary step towards richer, more complex and lasting games.

It seems interesting, ¿what now?
You can find more details about the game and it's rules here: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/339610


¿What other good games are there to get started on the hobby?

There's a list I've made, specially intended for newcomers, which might help you find your way amongst the myriads of available games: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/38736