The Lost Expedition: A Game of Survival in the Amazon

This review is for the SOLO play variant only. The same game can however be played 'head to head' by two players competitively, or by 2 to 5 players cooperatively. First of all the packaging and artwork on the cards are superb. The whole thing just feels 'quality' and, in my opinion, has lots of atmosphere. The game itself is very compelling and, whilst there is a 'luck of the draw' element when it comes to the cards, the player does have some control over the order in which they're played. This requires careful thought, strategy and planning which makes the game challenging and interesting. Every game is different and I never get bored. If you spend time reading and thinking about each card as it's played you can really get into the atmosphere of the game. This is what really makes it for me. In standard [solo] set up the game is extremely difficult to win. Infact, in my experience, it's near impossible. I've found that increasing the starting amount of health per explorer (from 3 to 4), ammunition (from 3 to 4) and food (from 3 to 6) balances the game up a lot better and brings a near even (50%) win rate. For me this makes playing far more enjoyable as you feel 'in with a chance'. The game comes with a comprehensive instruction booklet. Additionally I found watching a couple of independent 'how to' YouTube videos very helpful in terms of enhancing my understanding of exactly how to play the game. An expansion pack called 'The Fountain of Youth' is available to buy separately. That said, even without this, the base game is superb, challenging and has a real 'just one more attempt' allure. I do have the expansion pack but have not yet used it. However, having looked through it, I'd say it will definitely add some very interesting extra dimensions to the game which can only increase it's already compelling playability. Overall 5 stars, all day long.

Great quality components: cards are tarot sized with brilliant artwork. The box is small and neat. The game itself is an excellent short story-driven game. It is heavily luck based, but is easy to set up, play and pack away.

I only played it solo so far, and it works very well. I put some thematic music on while I play and I get completely immersed in the expedition. The artwork is beautiful. It is hard to win (I think I won around one third of my games), but for the first few games, I was more about looking at the cards and trying things out than actually trying to win. It can also be played cooperatively with several other players, or competitevly with two teams (trying to reach El Dorado first). I haven't tried those out yet. I think the cooperative game would be a bit less engaging than solo play (but great if you have young children to play with!), but competitive game might be good to spend some time. Lastly, the box is really sturdy and about the size of a thick book.

A good cooperative/solitaire/competitive game with gorgeous art and production value. This may be the prettiest card games I’ve ever played. It’s also pretty easy to teach and can be a good introduction to cooperative games. The addition of solitaire and competitive modes make this an excellent value for money.

Based on the real life expedition of Major Percival Fawcett to find the Lost City of Z, or El Dorado, the Lost Expedition is a card game that can be played solo, cooperatively or competitively from one to five players. The game sees you stocking up on supplys such as ammo and food before making your way through the jungle to reach the end (or try and reach the end) to claim your reward. The game starts with you laying cards out that will give you a series of challenges to complete, these take turns in a morning section and then they change slightly as it becomes evening and you try to struggle through hoping to find some respite. The order in which you lay out your cards is very important, this could mean the difference between you smartly sneaking through some absolutely horrendous moments present to you and the possibility of rewards such as health, ammo and food. Make no mistake, this game is quite difficult especially when playing solo but I suppose a trudge through a creature infested jungle, with diseases and traps wouldn't be a stroll through the park albeit a park that's out to get you at every turn. The moments when you feel a sense of absolute dread because you're out of supplies and you're looking at possibly (almost likely) losing one (or more) of your explorers and then seeing a way to get past by playing the cards correctly keeps you on edge and yet you can finally breathe for a moment when you succeed. The art and stories that it tells each time through how you play your cards always plays out differently and gives you the feeling of a new adventure each time and adds to sense of being on a journey. If you're easily frustrated then this game may not be for you, I've beaten this game only a handful of times and died a lot more but i feel making this game easy would take away from the feeling it gives you and you possibly wouldn't care for it. If you want that sense of adventure and want to bring your friends along with you then I recommend it.

Superb game. Very difficult but not quite as impossible as The Cursed Earth from the same designer. Brilliant cards and exciting gaming.

Very good quality but a little boring as no real game play variety, we enjoyed it more as a group who were interested in the subject matter looking up th e tribes etc

A lovely little board/card game, which works with 1-4 players. It can be tough to win and even when you play it often a wrong set of cards can lose you the game. Even being tough doesn’t put you off and quite often just one more go comes up. The cards are strong and beautifully drawn, the game is so easy to play and could probably be played with younger children with an adult setting the game up. You have to plan and balance your supplies and health to win the game and allows for some lateral thinking and making tough choices . Would recommend it for anyone but especially those people like me who enjoy co-op experiences . Hope this helps

Es muy entretenido para jugarlo en solitario. El juego viene en inglés pero es facil de entender las instrucciones, si se tiene dificultad ver los tutoriales en español que hay en Youtube. Aunque la dependencia del idioma al jugarlo es casi ninguna. Llegó muy bien empaquetado y en perfectas condiciones, sin retraso ninguno.

I love that this is a solo game. My 6 and 4 year old love to help me. It’s really hard to win and there is alot going on and a lot of stratagy in such a simple game. If you need a game to play by yourself this is THE GAME TO PLAY! it can also be played as 2 player, I’ve only done that a couole of times. My boys love the graphics on the cards. They have a snake and a jungle cat that can give you meat or injure you. They have natives that can be bad, good or indifferent depending on how you play the game. Each game is never the same so you’ve never get bored of it. I have one kid in carge of injuring the people, eating or gaining food and the bullets. The other is in charge of pulling the cards and we decide together how we want to play the cards. We all enjoy it.

Muy clever. Jirnbilsyrado. Y con un destacable modo de un jugador. Es una gran experiencia para jugadores nuevos y experimentados.

The product, packaging and the concept of the game is great

Very easy to learn, hard to master game in which you lead your team through the jungle to find the lost city of el dorado. Basically you've got a some food, some bullets, a bunch of hp and other survival skills, and you deal from the deck of card 6 encounters in the morning, and 6 in the evening. These are things you'd encounter in the jungle. For example, if you encounter a snake, you could lose a bullet but gain food. Or if you had no bullet....you'd lose an HP. The whole game is oriented around you managing your resources so that you can deal with these encounters, while hoping to get the encounter card that allows you to move forward in your travel. Survive long enough to find 8 of these, and you will find El dorado. Simple, right? Its very addictive. You try your best to save your resources or your teammate so that you can live to see the next morning. Best yet, takes 1 minute to setup, and 1 minute to take down. Great game. The cards and components are top quality, and I love the art style - as someone else said, Tintin art style. Now can we get a mini version of this game so i can pocket it on the go?