Lost Cities is getting a roll-and-write spin-off this spring
Make discoveries with dice rolls.
Two-player card game Lost Cities is seeing the release of a roll-and-write spin-off title coming to North America this spring.
Lost Cities: Roll & Write is an upcoming board game in a series of beloved tiles created by renowned designer Reiner Knizia. (Thanks, BoardGameGeek.) Once again inspired by archeological digs, Lost Cities: Roll & Write sees two to five players embarking on their own expedition in the hopes of finding exciting discoveries.
In a similar manner to the original Lost Cities, Roll & Write includes mechanics based around the colours of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. These different colours represent each of the potential columns that players can mark off with the numbers they roll, with every stage in the columns representing another step being taken in one of the potential expeditions. Investing in these expeditions with dice roll results can earn players valuable points, but they can also cause them to become exhausted if they take things too far.
Every turn begins with the active player rolling three d6 - with each side showing one of the available column colours - and three d10 numbered from zero to nine, before they select one of the d6 and one of the d10. The player then marks off the corresponding number on the appropriately coloured column. Zeros can be used to acquire double points if a player hasn’t yet marked off a number in the matching coloured column. Otherwise, players write their chosen number in the appropriate column as long as it is of the same value or greater than the number that’s written before it.
Artefacts can be gathered if players choose to use their dice results to fill in one of the artefact columns, with each of the artefact spaces giving the player additional points. Otherwise, players can gradually fill the coloured columns with their chosen dice results, with the eventual aim of marking off the seventh box in each of the columns - indicating that a player has successfully crossed a bridge in their journey.
Filling in the ninth place of a dice column causes the player in question to become exhausted. Should all players fall exhausted or if they cross all eight bridges, then the game ends and the points are tallied. Whichever player has the most points at the end of the game is named the winner.
Apart from the Lost Cities series, Knizia is best known for creating the civilisation board games Tigris & Euphrates and Yellow & Yangtze, as well as the co-op title The Lord of the Rings and auction games such as Modern Art and High Society.
The English-language version of Lost Cities: Roll & Write is being published by Thames & Kosmos, with the original being released by Kosmos.
Lost Cities: Roll & Write is set to be released in Germany this month and North America in May. A UK release date is yet to be announced.