Guy Mullarkey
Australia
Sydney
New South Wales
In the case of losses, I prefer riskier alternatives
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My gaming collection is comprised of two main types of game – multiplayer games that I play on occasion with friends or fellow geeks, and two player games that I mainly play with my wife Nicole (I have a geek list of my top games to play with one’s own part time gamer
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/27881).
Lost Cities has been in my collection for several years now, and was purchased as a potential game for myself and (then girlfriend now wife) Nicole to play together. This one was an instant success and continues to be to the present day, because it is a shining example
of my three rules for a good game to play with non-geek part time gamers:
1. The rules and strategy are simple to learn
2. The strategy knowledge of the game can grow over time, i.e. although you learn how to win the game quickly, you can modify this
knowledge over time
3. The game balances detail and simplicity in a sound way - i.e. not too many complicated components and simple summaries exist e.g. reference cards, details on game cards and pieces etc – in the case of Lost Cities the cards are easy to follow both in terms of
the colours and numbers used.
Simple Rules Summary
The game revolves around five possible quests a player can embark on. Players start with 8 cards each and then pick up one each turn after playing a card. Cards can be played on a mission, or discarded face up on the table in the same colour area. In this way if
a player doesn’t use cards, the other player can pick these up. Each quest has a set of cards numbered 2-10 and three “investment cards’’. You can only play investment cards first (before playing numbers) and these mutiply your result by 2, 3 and 4 respectively(i.e. two investment cards means you multiply your result by 3). You then add number cards (or you can start just with number cards)but can only add them in sequence, i.e. once you have played 3, you can’t go back and play 2. The game ends when the last deck card is drawn. Each quest you have started (by playing a card) is worth -20 points, and you then add all your cards for any quest you have started and do any multiplication if you had investment cards. Your final score is that number less 20. The winner is the one with the highest total score after 3 rounds (or however many rounds you like).
The only negative thing that can be said about Lost Cities, is that in essence it is a card game based on grouping similar sorts of cards together based on their colour, and trying to get as many as possible together, given you can only add numbers sequentially – i.e.
it is a math and chance game effectively. The reason I would rebut this, is that the card artwork and the premise of the game are such that for us at least, we often feel like we are on the journey to these Lost Cities, and it is this ‘imagination impact’ that to me puts this in the ‘special game category’ rather than being consigned to the same category as Rummy or 500!..
Lost Cities is a cornerstone of my game collection and probably one of my most played games as far as 2 players are concerned.
Although the game is relatively simple, it has great replay value, the card art is marvelous, and there are lots of different ways games can end depending on how the cards fall and how vigilant each player is being when the game is being played.
This one is at the top of my list for ‘spouse games’ as it is with many other BGG members, because it is consistently the game selected for our gaming sessions and it is still providing us both with a lot of pleasure. Jambo is now starting to threaten a little as Nicole grows to enjoy more complex two player games, but Lost Cities will always stay close to #1 and I suspect from an emotional standpoint will always be a game that we talk about as one of the ones we played early in our relationship (prior to getting married, we started
playing while we were dating) and as such it is more than ‘just another game’ for us
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In the case of losses, I prefer riskier alternatives
