The complete guide: five coloured expeditions, laying cards in ascending order, wager cards, scoring and controls on muta.pro. Read it — and straight to the table.
Lost Cities is a two-player card duel about risk and calculation. Before you lie five coloured expeditions, and you develop each by laying cards in ascending order. The trouble is that any expedition you start begins with a debt of −20 points, which you still have to work off. The task is to score more points than your opponent over the game: invest only in promising directions and drop weak ones in good time.
The deck has five colours (Mountains, Jungle, Desert, Sea, Volcano). In each colour there are number cards from 2 to 10 and three wager cards (multipliers). Each player is dealt 8 cards into their hand, the rest form the draw deck, and beside it are the shared discard piles for each colour. Players take turns; the game runs while the deck has cards.
Each player has five personal rows — one per colour. A card of a given colour can only be placed in the expedition of that same colour. You can run several expeditions at once or focus on two or three.
On your turn you must play exactly one card. Either lay it into your expedition of the matching colour, or discard it onto that colour's shared discard pile if you don't need it.
Within an expedition the values go strictly upward: each new number card must be higher than the previous one. Skipped values are lost forever — if you open an expedition with a 6, cards 2–5 of that colour can no longer be played into it.
A wager is placed in an expedition only before the first number card. Each wager doubles the expedition's total: one — ×2, two — ×3, three — ×4. It amplifies both profit and loss, so a wager is only worth placing where you are confident of a big plus.
Having finished laying down, you refill your hand to eight cards: take the top card of the deck or the top card of any discard pile. A card you discarded yourself on this turn cannot be taken straight back.
As soon as the draw deck runs empty, the game ends immediately. Then the scores of all expeditions of both players are tallied, and whoever has the higher total wins.
Points are counted for each started expedition separately, and then summed. Untouched colours give 0 — nothing is lost for an empty expedition.
Starting in the negative. Any expedition into which at least one card has been played immediately gets −20 points. The sum of the values of the cards laid down is added to this debt: to come out in the plus, you need to gather more than 20 points of cards.
Wagers multiply the total. Multipliers placed at the start of an expedition apply to the whole result — both to the debt and to the points earned. One wager gives ×2, two — ×3, three — ×4. A strong expedition with a wager brings a huge plus, a weak one — a catastrophic minus.
Bonus for a long expedition. If an expedition has 8 or more cards, it brings an extra +20 points on top. This bonus often outweighs the risk and justifies the multipliers placed.
Every expedition is a −20 debt. Open a colour only if you expect to score noticeably more than 20 points in it.
A multiplier doubles the loss too. Place a wager when you already see a path to a big plus, not "on a hunch".
By opening with a low value, you will close off the path for the skipped cards. Start an expedition higher up.
The discard is open to both. Don't hand your opponent a card that fits perfectly into their expedition.
The main calculation of Lost Cities is simple: any expedition you start begins with −20 points, so the first question before each lay-down is — will I score at least 21 points in this colour? The deck holds only the numbers 2–10 per colour, a maximum of 54 points without wagers. Opening an expedition with three or four small cards is a sure minus.
Open a colour only if you already hold cards worth 20+ points in it or see a real path to draw them. A single seven "for the future" is a bid for −13.
Every extra expedition is a new −20 debt. Focus on two or three directions where a ladder is already forming in your hand.
Open with a 3 — and the 2 can no longer be played into that colour, while the ladder is short. Start an expedition on 5–6 if you expect a continuation from above.
Eight or more cards in one expedition give +20 on top. This changes the maths: a long row pays off even middling values.
Three low cards give 12 points against the −20 debt — the expedition is 8 in the minus. That row was not worth opening.
A wager card scores no points itself — it multiplies the whole expedition total, including the −20 debt. One wager gives ×2, two — ×3, three — ×4. They are placed only before the first number card, so the risk decision is made blind, at the very start. This is the key moment of the whole game.
By placing a multiplier, you publicly promise yourself a big plus in that colour. Do it only with a strong opening hand, not "on a hunch".
Jumping straight to ×3 is risky. More often a single ×2 wager in a reliable expedition is worth more than a double in a doubtful one.
The biggest games are born where a multiplier meets a row of 8+ cards: a high sum, the +20 bonus, and all of it ×2 or ×3.
A wager (the gold ★ card) in front of a strong ladder: (34 − 20) × 2 = +28 points. The multiplier pays off only on a good hand.
The discard piles are open to both players, and you can draw either from the deck or from the top of any discard. So each of your discards is a gift or a trap for your opponent, and their discards are a signal of which colours they have dropped. Lost Cities is a game of open information more than it seems.
Before discarding a card, look at your opponent's expeditions. A discarded 8 that fits perfectly on top of theirs could cost you the game.
If your opponent discards high cards of a colour, they have dropped that colour. So those cards are almost certainly "dead" to them — you can calmly develop your own row.
Taking a card from the discard instead of the deck is tempo: you know exactly what you get. But your opponent sees what you took and understands your plans.
Your opponent has a ♣ ladder up to 7. Discard the eight — and they take it next turn: better to hold it or play it yourself.
Most lost games are not bad luck but unpaid −20 debts and wagers placed at the wrong moment. Let's break down the typical beginner slips.
Before laying down, mentally count: sum of the values minus 20, minus the multiplier. If the total is in the minus — better to discard the card.
The game breaks off exactly on the last draw card. A few turns before the end, stop opening new colours.