Top 82
Lost Cities
A two-player card game in which you build five expeditions by playing numbered cards only in ascending order. Every expedition begins 20 points in debt, so the tension of whether to start another color follows you through every turn in this signature Reiner Knizia design.
Rules
In this two-player card game, each of five expeditions begins with a decision about wagers, followed by number cards played in ascending order. Starting an expedition commits you to a 20-point cost, so every turn asks which colors to open and when to stop waiting.
Components — 60 cards in the base game
| Type | Per color | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Expedition cards | One each from 2 through 10 = 9 | 45 |
| Wager cards | 3 | 15 |
| Expeditions | Red, blue, green, yellow, and white | 5 |
A 72-card box still uses 60 cards for the base game
The current KOSMOS set includes 12 purple expedition cards, but the base game returns those 12 cards to the box and uses only five expeditions. The sixth expedition appears only as the long-game variant in the editions section.
Setup
- 1Place the board between the players with the five-expedition side face up.
- 2If the set contains 72 cards, remove the 12 purple expedition cards, then shuffle the remaining 60.
- 3Deal 8 cards to each player. Keep hands hidden from the other player.
- 4Stack the remaining cards face down beside the board as the draw pile. All five color-coded discard piles begin empty.
- 5Choose a starting player. The players alternate turns.
Each player builds expeditions only on their own side of the board. Expeditions of the same color on opposite sides are independent.
A turn — play or discard, then draw
- 1Choose 1 card from your hand and either play it to your expedition of that color or place it face up on that color's discard pile.
- 2Then replenish your hand with 1 card: take the top card of the face-down draw pile or the top card of any nonempty discard pile.
- 3Drawing ends your turn. After an ordinary turn, you are back to 8 cards in hand.
You cannot immediately take back the card you just discarded
If you discard a card, you may not draw that same card during the draw step of the same turn. You may draw the top card of a different discard pile.
Ascending expeditions and wager cards
| Card | When it may be played | Restriction |
|---|---|---|
| Expedition card | To an empty expedition or after the last card of the same color | Must be higher than the last number |
| Wager card | Before the first number card of that color | Up to 3; none may be added after a number |
Wagers multiply gains and losses
A wager card by itself starts an expedition. If the number-card total is below 20, the result is negative, and 1, 2, or 3 wager cards multiply that loss by 2, 3, or 4 as well.
Reading the discard piles
Discarded cards form one pile per color, and only the top card of each pile is available. A useful card underneath cannot be taken until the cards above it are removed.
- Before discarding an unused high card, check whether it fits directly onto your opponent's expedition.
- Drawing from a discard pile does not reduce the draw pile, so it can delay the end of the round.
- Drawing from the face-down pile moves the game one card closer to the end. The rules allow the pile to be spread slightly and counted.
The ending pace is part of the decision
When ahead, reducing the draw pile may matter; when you need more time to play cards, using discard piles may matter. In every case, only the top card of a pile is available.
Scoring each expedition
- 1Add only the values of the numbered expedition cards. Wager cards add no number to the total.
- 2Subtract the 20-point expedition cost from that sum.
- 3With 1, 2, or 3 wager cards, multiply that result by 2, 3, or 4. Negative results are multiplied too.
- 4If the expedition has at least 8 cards, including wagers, add 20 points after the multiplier. This bonus is not multiplied.
- 5An expedition with no cards was never started and scores 0.
| State | Score |
|---|---|
| No cards | 0 |
| No wagers | Number total − 20 |
| 1, 2, or 3 wagers | (Number total − 20) × 2, 3, or 4 |
| At least 8 cards | Result above + 20 |
This is the same order used by the Lost Cities score calculator above
Enter each expedition's number total, wager count, and total card count. The calculator applies (sum−20)×(wagers+1), then the eight-card bonus, matching the existing scoring function and its official-rule example tests.
Immediate end and the three-round match
- 1The round ends immediately when a player takes the last card from the draw pile.
- 2Each player scores every started expedition and adds the five expedition results.
- 3Record the round scores, reshuffle all cards, and set up the next round in the same way.
- 4After 3 rounds, the player with the higher combined score wins.
There is no extra play or hand cleanup after the last card is drawn. Score the expeditions exactly as they stand.
Edition scope and history
| Item | Verified scope |
|---|---|
| This guide | Two players, five expeditions, 60-card base card game |
| 2018 KOSMOS set | Contains 72 cards in six colors; the base game removes the 12 purple cards, while all 72 belong to a separate long-game variant |
| Original game | Designed by Reiner Knizia, published in 1999, and winner of the 2000 International Gamers Award |
| Separate game | The 2008 Keltis was released in the United States as the two-to-four-player Lost Cities: The Board Game |
BGG lists the original card game for two players at about 30 minutes with a 1.48 complexity rating. The two wiki URLs are included only as cross-checking sources for history, editions, and Korean publication context; all gameplay rules and numbers come from the two official rulebooks.
The sixth expedition and the board game are outside this guide
Adding the purple cards creates the separate 72-card long-game variant. Keltis / Lost Cities: The Board Game uses pieces moving along tracks and is a different board game, so its contents, turn structure, and scoring do not belong in this card-game guide.
Frequently confused rules
Q. Does an expedition I never started cost −20 points?
No. A color with no cards scores 0. A single wager card does start an expedition, however, so it scores (0−20)×2 = −40.
Q. May I play the same number twice in one expedition?
No. Every new numbered card must be strictly higher than the last numbered card in that expedition.
Q. May I add a wager after playing a numbered card?
No. Wagers may be played only before the first numbered card of that color. Up to three wagers may be stacked before that first number.
Q. After discarding, may I draw from a different color's discard pile?
Yes. You may take the top card of any discard pile. The prohibited move is taking back the exact card you just discarded during the same turn.
Q. Is the eight-card bonus multiplied by wagers?
No. First multiply (number total−20) by the wager multiplier, then add 20 once if the expedition contains at least eight cards.
Q. If my box has six colors, should I shuffle all of them?
Not for the base game. The 2018 KOSMOS set removes the 12 purple cards and uses 60 cards across five expeditions. All six colors and 72 cards belong to the separate long-game variant.
Sources
Thames & Kosmos — official English rules for five-expedition Lost CitiesKOSMOS — official 2018 German rules for Lost Cities Das DuellBoardGameGeek: Lost Cities (50)Wiki cross-check — English Wikipedia: Lost CitiesWiki cross-check — Namuwiki: Lost Cities (Korean)Rule summaries are reference content written by us, not quotations from the official rulebook. Always check the official rulebook for exact rules. Diagrams are original schematics, not rulebook illustrations.
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Last updated 2026-10-09
💡 Master tip
Opening all five colors is a reliable way to lose — focus on two or three. The shrinking draw pile is the game's clock, so when you are ahead, choose your draws with an eye to bringing the round to an end sooner.
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Expedition score calculator
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