Birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, and just about any other “special occasion” always lead to a gift of some board game time in my home. I recently had a birthday and my wife spoiled me with two board games and two card games, all of which are so much fun to play. The night of my birthday we released the Lost Cities board game, which was a welcome addition to our collection as we own and enjoy the Lost Cities card game. My wife and I have had this on our top list board games for families for quite some time so I was really excited to get it and wanted to play it the first night.
Lost Cities Board Game: Game
Gameplay in the Lost Cities board game version feels more interactive. You can move your little explorers along the paths to earn points. You can choose different paths to try to get different rewards before your opponents. Playing this with two players may not be as much fun as with three or four because basically what you don’t get, your opponent WILL get. Although they mitigate it by removing some of the cards available in the two-player version. This is a good quick game as long as you don’t think TOO MUCH about your turn. There is also a “short version” which can be a very good option for a late night.
Lost Cities Board Game – Fun Factor
At first glance, this game feels like a nice, light and enjoyable game to play with your spouse. There are some interesting strategic moves you can make, but much of the game is dictated by the luck of the cards you draw. For some people, this can make it a lot of fun because they don’t have to stress about losing to a bad hand. But personally I hate games where I lose and have little to no control over the fact that I’m getting drunk.
Lost Cities Board Game: Contention Factor
So far I’ve played this twice, once with a group of three players and once with just my wife. In the three-player surrender, my wife started out dominating the board, but she was brutalized in the last two rounds and ended up losing. She got frustrated because she complained about bad cards and the other two players complained that she was winning BIG in another aspect of the game. So when she ended up losing outright, it just annoyed her that everyone had sided with her and been a little rude in the first round as well. The time I played ALONE with my wife, I was the one who irritated the whole game. I just couldn’t get the cards I needed and was angry throughout the game, even to the point where I didn’t want to finish a round. I hate the “luck” factor of the game. So even though it doesn’t seem like a very aggressive and offensive game, bad feelings tend to wake up. It seems that it is mainly because we are all very strategy oriented in our game, so the frustration comes with the problems of bad luck.
While I wouldn’t consider Lost Cities one of the best board games for families, it’s definitely fun to play from time to time.