Lost Cities

You must get points by starting expeditions (each color represents a different expedition) and getting more points than the starting price for the expedition. Playing a # card (1 to 10) on an expedition costs -20, since you start a new expedition. So to make it worth your investment, you must add #cards that sum up to 20+ (for example, #2 + #3 + #5 + #7 + #10 = 27, minus the -20, so you get 7 points total for this expedition).

You can make more points by using development cards, but the starting price is also multiplied. One development card gives x2 to #cards but costs -40, up to 3 development cards which gives x4 but cost -80.

Make sure you play small #cards first, because you cannot put smaller cards on your color once you play. For example, if you play a blue #3 and draw a blue #2, you can discard it but you can’t play it. A good strategy is to keep your high point color in your hands and play other colors while you amass your desired color. By doing this, you run the chance to get more #cards of your color, and also more development cards.

The catch is that you have a limited number of cards to draw from the pile, and your adversary draws from the same pile. If, by the end of the pile, you seem to have a lot of cards to play but not enough turns to draw, a good strategy is to draw from the discard piles (discarded cards in the middle). This way, you don’t draw anything interesting, but at least you don’t reduce the draw pile, giving you more time to complete playing your hand.

For Excavator, development cards do count. So you have a possibility of 13 cards for a given expedition, and you must play at least 9 of them. You will also get this while doing Investor. You must win the 3-round game.