Let’s Compete: The Lost Expedition Head-to-Head

Hey there! Welcome to this exciting version of The Lost Expedition where you and a friend will go head-to-head in a race to reach the lost city before anyone else. Alternatively, you can also try to outlast each other and see who survives the longest. But hold up! Before we jump into the action, make sure you’re familiar with the cooperative version of the game by giving those rules a read.

Getting Started

Alright, let’s set things up. Start by going through the deck of adventure cards real quick and remove any card that has an exclamation mark in its title. Just look out for these numbers: 1, 8, 17, 33, 41, and 52. Once that’s done, it’s time to create two team areas and choose a pawn for each player. Each of you should gather one explorer of each expertise, three ammunition tokens, and three food tokens for your team area. Don’t forget to place four health tokens on each explorer to keep them in tiptop shape.

Hey there! Let me walk you through how to set up the game with ease. First things first, lay out the seven expedition cards on the table. These cards will take us on a thrilling journey, ending in the mysterious lost city. Now, let’s place both pawns on the first expedition card, ready for an adventure!

Next, it’s time to deal out the adventure cards. Shuffle the deck and give each player six cards. These cards will be the key to unlocking exciting encounters and treasures along the way. The fate can be a bit tricky, so let’s flip the leader token to determine who will kick off as the expedition leader. This is a crucial role that will guide us through the challenges ahead.

Two Paths

Every round follows the same Morning and Evening structure, but with a twist.

During both the Morning and Evening phases, you have two choices when it comes to adding cards: one path above the row of expedition cards, and one path below it. You can add as many or as few cards as you like to each path. However, keep in mind that you do not yet know which path your opponent will choose.

The player who is leading always goes first. In the Morning, the leader starts by playing a card on the first path. The other player then has the option to add a card to the same path or start the second path. From there, players take turns adding one card at a time to either path.

After adding three cards to each person’s hand and rearranging them, I face a decision as the leader. I can either choose which path I want to take now or let the other player make the choice. No matter who chooses now, the other player gets to decide in the Evening.

So, if it’s my turn to choose, I want the two options to be very different in terms of the mix of positive and negative cards. This makes it harder for the other player. On the other hand, if I don’t choose now, I want the two paths to be as similar as possible. This makes it fairer for me. The player who chooses a path goes through their cards first and waits for the other player to finish the other path before moving on. At the end of the round, we both draw six new cards, and then the expedition leader token passes to the other player.

When it comes to decision-making, the leader has two options: they can make the choice themselves or let the other player decide.

The Game’s End

There are three possible outcomes that bring the game to an end:

1. If a pawn reaches the final expedition card.
2. If all three explorers from one team are deceased.
3. If the adventure deck runs out of cards for the second time.

If one player ends the game, the other player must continue on their current path until they either reach a game-ending condition or complete the path. If the game ends due to a lack of Food at the end of Morning or Evening, the game immediately concludes.

Ending 1 – If I make it to the lost city before my opponent, I win the game. But if we both reach the lost city at the same time, either in the Morning or Evening, things get a bit more complicated. In that case, the player with the most explorers left standing is the winner. But what happens if we’re still tied? Well, the player who has more cards left in their current path takes the victory. And if all else fails, the player who didn’t start as the leader will have to accept defeat.

Ending 2 – On the other hand, if all of my explorers perish during the course of the game, I lose. If, by some unfortunate twist of fate, all six of them die in the same Morning or Evening, then it’s a race to see who was closest to the lost city. The player who managed to get the shortest distance takes the win. But what if we’re still tied? Well, in that case, the unfortunate player who started as the leader is the one who ends up losing.

Ending 3 – Ah, the third ending. If the adventure deck runs out for a second time, things get a little intense. The player who is closest to the lost city at this point will claim victory. But what if there’s a tie there? Well, then we have to fall back on the number of surviving explorers. The player with the most explorers still standing will come out on top. And if, by some strange occurrence, we’re still tied after all of that, it’s back to the unfortunate leader who will have to face the bitter taste of defeat.