Lost Cities (Xbox 360)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 4.0 stars Excellent
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 8.0 (4.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Brett Todd
• Reviewed on: 05/05/2008
• Released on: 04/23/2008
• Originally published on GameSpot: Lost Cities (Xbox 360) Review

If you don't want to surrender every waking moment to a game, do yourself a favor and avoid anything crafted by Reiner Knizia. Board and card games designed by the British-based mathematician are legendary for their simple yet addictive nature. For proof, check out Lost Cities, a two-to-four-player card game that has arrived on Xbox Live in all its compulsive, just-one-more-game glory.

Gameplay mechanics are straightforward and slightly reminiscent of rummy and solitaire. The object of the game is to build card suits in five different colors that depict archaeological jaunts to, well, lost cities tucked away in hidden corners all over the globe. Each suit in the 60-card deck is represented by numbered cards that run from 2 to 10, along with three investment cards per color that serve as scoring multipliers. You have to play the numbered cards in ascending order in their respective suits in a fashion similar to solitaire (for instance, you must play an eight on top of a seven), so the basics of play are easy to grasp. Depth comes from the multiplier cards, which need to be laid down first in order to have an effect on the eventual score earned by the numbered cards. Put one multiplier down and you raise your score by a factor of two, put down two and your score goes up by a factor of three, and put down all three and your score leaps by a whopping factor of four.

But you can't just throw cards down like crazy, because funding an expedition every time you start a card run loses you points. Start with a numbered card and your expedition begins at a relatively easy-to-make-up -20 minus the number value on the card you just played. Kick things off with a red two, for example, and you begin a red run of cards at -18 on the scoreboard. Start with a blue five and you begin a blue run of cards at -15. You're sent even deeper into the hole for every multiplier you play. One sets you back to -40, two to -60, and three to -80. So you've got to be careful that you only commit to card runs that you can really build up before the deck runs out and the round ends. Otherwise you end up losing big points.

Further complicating things, you can hold a maximum of eight cards at any time, meaning you'll have to discard extras to color-specific piles. You often have to gamble that you're going to draw enough colored cards to make it worthwhile to play an investment card or two, and watch that you don't wind up forced to discard cards that your opponent can use to construct big point runs. Simply dumping unneeded investment cards, for example, can murder you, as your rival is usually more than happy to scoop them up and then play them against you.

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