Console Monster writes: "Lost Cities. Hear that and you'd think something along the lines of an Indiana Jones-esque platformer. Well, that's what I thought anyway. Exploring mythic caverns, finding cities that have been lost in time and taking magical artefacts. However, this isn't true in the slightest. Lost Cities is in fact a card game that has been available to buy in shops for quite a while and has made a jump, UNO style, to the Xbox LIVE Arcade. However, unlike UNO this is neither addictive nor very fun. In fact, it is extremely confusing to start with.
Running through the tutorial didn't really help me. It was only after learning from my mistakes and my many losses that I realised what it was I had to do. The aim of the game is to play through 3 rounds and score the most points at the end of the session. Each player has a hand of cards which contain different colours - yellow, blue, white, green and red. These colours represent "lost cities" and each colour has 9 number cards, from 2 to 10, and 3 "investment" cards. When a card is placed on the corresponding place on the bored, 20 points are taken away to start the expedition. The investment cards can be added before you start, each giving a multiplier of x2, then x3, and if you put the last investment card down - x4. However, each time you place an investment card, it knocks 20 points off. To get back into the positives, you need to use the number cards and place them in numerical order to earn points. However, they don't have to be exactly in order. For example, you can place a 2, then a 5 but after that you cannot place anything between 2 and 5, you must continue up to 6 and beyond. You can discard any card you don't need, but be warned; your opponent can pick it up..."
This week Elizabeth (@elizhargrave) , designer of Wingspan and Mariposas, joins Tiny (@Tiny415) and Aaron (@Ind1fference) to talk about: Tussie Mussie, ButtonShy, GenCant, Wingspan, Mariposas, Cartographers, The Boys, Star Trek Lower Decks, Star Trek Discovery, Spotify, SnapChat, Just One, Truffle Shuffle, Endangered, Illusion, Forbidden Desert, Pandemic, Innovation, Jaws, Salon de Paris, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Dirty Money, In Too Deep, Exchange, Patchwork Doodle, AZUL Summer Pavilion, Studies in Sorcery, Unstable Unicorns, Lost Cities Rivals, Sprawlopolis, Bitter Sweet, Resistance, Robocop, Gotham, Smallville, and more.
John Bedford (Modojo): Kairosoft's sushi simulator tops the bill in today's bargains round-up.
While other board games remain content to try to boil down or otherwise crowbar their game on to the iOS platform, Lost Cities feels completely at home thanks to its casual simplicity.
