Last Updated on February 27, 2025 by The Official Game Rules Team

Lost Cities is a two-player card game where you embark on expeditions to five ancient lost cities. Players strategically play cards to build ascending sequences in their expeditions, aiming to score points while managing the risk of failed ventures. This page provides a clear breakdown of the rules, guiding you through the card playing, expedition management, and scoring that define this engaging game. With its focus on strategic card placement and calculated risk, Lost Cities offers an engaging experience for players who enjoy head-to-head card games. Get ready to explore, strategize, and discover the Lost Cities.

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see our disclosures here.

How to Play Lost Cities

---

Objective

The goal remains the same: to score the most points by creating successful expedition routes to the lost cities.

Setup

• Place the game board between the two players.
• Shuffle the 60 playing cards and deal 8 cards to each player.
• Place the remaining cards face down to form a draw pile next to the board.

Card Basics

• The deck consists of 60 cards:
  • 45 Expedition cards: Numbered 2-10 in five different colors, representing the five lost cities.
  • 15 Wager cards: Three in each of the five colors. These multiply the score of an expedition.

Gameplay

1. Starting the Game: The oldest player goes first.
2. Playing a Card: On your turn, you must first play a card from your hand:
   • Start a New Expedition: Place a card in a new column on your side of the board. This initiates an expedition to that color’s lost city.
   • Extend an Existing Expedition: Add a card to a column you’ve already started. The new card MUST have a higher value than the previously played card in that column.
   • Discard a Card: If you can’t or don’t want to play a card to an expedition, discard it face-up onto the corresponding color’s discard pile on the game board.
3. Drawing a Card: After playing a card, draw a new card from either:
   • The face-down draw pile.
   • The top of any of the five face-up discard piles.
   • Important: You cannot draw the card you just discarded.
4. Opponent’s Turn: The other player now takes their turn, following the same steps.

Scoring

1. Game End: The game ends immediately when a player draws the last card from the draw pile.
2. Calculating Scores: Each player calculates their score for each completed expedition (columns of cards):
   • Sum the Cards: Add up the face values of all the cards in the expedition column.
   • Expedition Cost: Subtract 20 points for the cost of funding the expedition.
   • Wager Multiplier: If you played any wager cards at the start of the expedition, multiply the result:
     • 1 wager card: Multiply by 2
     • 2 wager cards: Multiply by 3
     • 3 wager cards: Multiply by 4
   • 8+ Card Bonus: If the expedition column has 8 or more cards, add a 20-point bonus.
3. Total Score: Add up the scores from all five expeditions. The player with the highest total score wins.

Important Notes

Negative Scores: It’s possible to have negative scores for an expedition if the card values don’t outweigh the 20-point expedition cost.

Ascending Order: Cards in an expedition column MUST be placed in ascending order (2, 3, 4…).

Wager Cards: Wager cards can only be played at the BEGINNING of an expedition column, before any numbered cards.

Discarding: You MUST play a card on your turn, even if it means discarding a valuable card.

Lost Cities offers a thrilling blend of strategy and risk-taking, making it a great choice for a quick and engaging card game experience for two players.