Expeditions
Blackjack River Research
Against the Clock
Caravan
Club FightRules summary
Goal
Score the most points from your expeditions. The game is 1 round or 3, and the player with the highest total at the end wins. Players tied for the highest total share the win. With 4 players you play in partnerships and each team scores together. With 1 player, score as many points as you can.
Cards
Use a standard deck without the Aces and Jokers: 48 cards. Each suit is one expedition.
- 2 to 10 are the numbers, worth their face value.
- J, Q, and K are that expedition’s 3 investment cards. They’re worth nothing themselves and multiply the expedition’s score.
With 4 players, add the 2, 3, and 4 of every suit from a second deck: 60 cards.
Starting hand
Deal 6 cards to each player. With 1 player, first set half the shuffled deck aside unseen, 24 cards. They’re not used in the round.
Setup
Each suit has one discard pile in the middle of the table. Each player builds their own expedition of each suit on their own side, and with 4 players partners share one side.
Play
- Play one card, then draw one. Every turn is exactly one of each, in that order.
- Add the card to an expedition, or discard it. A card goes only to its own suit’s expedition or discard pile. A discard goes face up on top of that suit’s pile.
- An expedition only goes up. Each number must be higher than the highest number already in it. You can skip numbers, but a skipped card can no longer go into that expedition.
- Investments go down first. You can put up to 3 investment cards on an expedition before its first number. Once it holds a number, it takes no more investments.
- Draw off the deck, or the top card of any discard pile. You can’t draw the card you discarded this turn.
- The round ends when the last card is drawn off the deck. It also ends if 8 turns in a row for every player (16 turns with 2 players, 32 with 4) each discard a card and then draw off a discard pile. Score every expedition.
Scoring
Score each of your expeditions on its own:
- Add up its numbers and subtract 20.
- Multiply by 1 more than the investment cards in it, so ×2, ×3, or ×4. This applies to a negative score too.
- Add 20 if the expedition holds 6 cards or more, investment cards included. This comes after the multiplier.
An expedition with no cards in it scores 0, not −20. One that holds only investment cards scores −20 times the multiplier. Add your expeditions together for the round, and add the round to your total.
Examples
One player’s expeditions at the end of a round, each laid out in the order it was played:
- 12 points 6 + 8 + 10 = 24, and 24 − 20 = 4. Two investment cards make it ×3.
- −24 points 3 + 5 = 8, and 8 − 20 = −12. One investment card makes it ×2, a bigger loss.
- 46 points 4 + 5 + 7 + 8 + 9 = 33, and 33 − 20 = 13. One investment card makes it ×2 for 26, and 6 cards add 20 after the multiplier.
The fourth expedition was never started, so it scores 0. The round is worth 12 − 24 + 46 + 0 = 34 points.
Variants
4 players. Partners sit opposite each other and build one set of expeditions together. Either partner can add to any of the team’s expeditions. Instead of playing and drawing, you can spend your turn handing 2 cards face down to your partner, if you hold at least 6 cards. You can’t do this on two of your turns in a row.
1 player. A discarded card is out of the game, so you only ever draw off the deck. The round doesn’t end when the deck runs out. You keep playing a card each turn, drawing nothing, until your hand is empty.
Playing with your own deck
You need paper and a pencil to keep score. Write down each player’s or team’s points for every round and their new total.
How this version differs
This version is adapted from Lost Cities by Reiner Knizia to a standard deck.
- Four expeditions, from 48 cards. The published game has five expeditions and 60 cards, 75 with 4 players. Each expedition still holds 9 numbers and 3 investment cards.
- Hands are 6 cards. The published rules deal 8. With 4 players you can pass to your partner from 6 cards, where the published rules need 8.
- The 20-point bonus needs 6 cards in an expedition. The published rules pay it at 8.
- With 4 players you can’t pass on two of your turns in a row. The published rules set no limit.
- A round where nothing moves ends. After 8 turns in a row for every player that only discard and draw off a discard pile, the round is scored as it stands. The published rules have no such limit.
Strategy tips
- An expedition costs 20 before it pays. 2, 3, 4 and 5 together come to 14, so the decision that matters is the first card on an expedition, not the fifth.
- Count what an expedition can bring you. Over a two-player round, the numbers of one suit that reach your hand come to about 22 plus 60% of what you already hold in it. That counts every card you’ll see, not the ones you’ll manage to play in order, so it’s a ceiling: a suit you hold nothing of barely pays its 20 even if every card arrives in the right order.
- A round is about 18 plays each. The deck starts at 36 and every draw off it uses one card, so two players get 18 plays each, and every card either of you takes off a discard pile adds one more turn to the round. At four seats each partner gets about 9, which is 18 for the team, and the solitaire plays all 24 of its cards.
- Lay an investment only when the numbers to justify it are already in your hand. It must go down before any number, and the multiplier applies to a loss too: ×2 on −14 is −28.
- Six cards in one expedition pays a flat 20. Investments count toward the six, and the bonus comes after the multiplier, so it’s the same 20 whether the expedition is doubled or not. It’s reachable in anything you commit to, which makes depth the thing to play for: a sixth card is worth its own value plus twenty.
- Discarding is part of the game. The Expert bot discards about 9 times a round, over 40% of its plays. Four expeditions at 20 each means most hands hold more than you can use, so the real choice is which card goes. The safe throw is a number both sides have already played past.
- Your discards are your opponent’s draw pile. Their board shows which 20-point bets they have made, and a 9 thrown into one of those is a 9 handed over.
- Play low cards early or lose them. A 2 goes down only before any other number, so if you mean to set off, set off early.
- At the end, play what scores now. A card still in your hand when the deck runs out is worth nothing. Count your plays left (the deck divided by the players), and when you can’t lay everything, skip the low cards and play the high ones. On your last play, take whatever adds most to the board, even the card you were saving.