Lost Cities: Game of the Month November 2020
Lockdown life and a busy day job once again took its toll on the number of games I played this month. Fortunately, my wife and children were still willing to get some games to the table when I was available. As a result, family games and two player games were the go-to choices.
Despite not playing the usual vast array of games, there were a few contenders for this month’s accolade. Azul: Summer Pavilion, Little Town, Miyabi and Air, Land & Sea, could’ve easily been the pick of the month. However, my game of the month is… Lost Cities.
I hired this game from Lazy Horse Games as I was keen to try an older game. I loved it instantly. Fortunately I won a voucher to buy a game from @curiouslybooksandgames via Instagram. The decision to buy Lost Cities was made quickly – I knew I would be sad to see it go at the end of the month!

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Over two decades old, but new to me, Lost Cities is a Reiner Knizia classic. It is the third of his games to have collected the Game of the Month accolade this year! A two player card game where you choose which regions are worth exploring. Starting an expedition costs 20 points so you need to pick and choose carefully based on the cards in your hand.
It is a joy to pick up and play. On your turn you play a numbered card to a corresponding region in ascending order or discard a card from your hand. Handshake cards double your tally and can only be played at the start of your expedition. Be warned though, these can double a negative too! You then draw a card from the shared discard pile or blind from the draw pile. The simplicity of the gameplay is not reflected in the decision making process.
This simple to play gameplay is supplemented by beautiful Vincent Dutrait artwork making the slightly dull end of game scoring more forgivable. If you are looking for a quick game with plenty of choices and a splattering of strategy, maybe investigate this older game ahead of something shiny and new!
Buy Lost Cities
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Reviewer’s Note
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