Lost Cities: Roll & Write

In Lost Cities: Roll & Write, you want to start your expeditions on the six coloured paths with the lowest possible numbers on the dice. Each turn, decide whether to continue an expedition or start a new one. The acceleration fields and artefacts offer opportunities to advance quickly, but you will need to think carefully about which paths to take on each roll. If you progress well, victory awaits - but if an expedition is blocked, you will lose points as quickly as you gained them! For more detail, each player has their own score sheet, which has eight columns: six coloured columns corresponding to the colours of the Lost Cities (red / orange / yellow / green / blue / purple), an artefact column and a dice column. You will fill or mark all these columns from the bottom to the top.

On a turn as an active player, you roll all six dice - three six-sided coloured dice and three ten-sided dice numbered 0-9 - then choose one number die and one coloured die, then mark that number in that coloured column on your sheet. If you choose 0 and have not started that coloured column, you can mark the 'double dot' circle at the bottom of the column. If you choose a number other than 0 and you have not started that column, you write the number in the lowest space in the column; if you have started that column, you may add another number to that column only if it is of the same value or higher. (A 0 is written as a 10 in a column.) The other players choose a number die and a colour die from the two of each that are left, and then mark one of their columns in a similar manner.

If you place a number on an arrow in a column, then you can 'speed up' any coloured column by filling in the lowest empty space with the same number that is currently at the top of that column. If you write on another arrow, you speed up again! If you place a number on an artefact square, you mark a space in the artefact column. If you have filled all nine spaces in a column and can write a number again, you mark an artefact. If you wish, you can refuse to choose a number-color combination. If you do so, you mark a die in the dice column. If you mark a number in the seventh box of a colour column or tick the seventh box of the artefact or dice column - and you are the first player to do so - you get a 'bridge bonus' of 20 points for being the first player to cross that bridge.

If you tick the ninth box in the dice column, you are considered "exhausted", but you continue playing. The game ends after the turn when all players are exhausted or when all eight bridges have been crossed. Players then score points for each coloured column according to the number of squares they have filled, doubling that score - whether positive or negative - if they have ticked the 'double point' circle at the bottom of the column. Players also score points for the number of spaces marked in the artefact and dice columns, but if you are exhausted, you score 0 points for that column. Add your bridge bonus points to the sum of these eight columns, and the player with the highest score wins.

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