Lost Cities | AppleVis

Description of App

Lost Cities by the world-renowned board-game author Reiner Knizia takes you on a journey to undiscovered countries and mythical places. Compete against a friend, a stranger or one of 4 different computer players, in what has been called a "two player Solitaire with an extra portion of suspense". Designed and polished for the iPhone by TheCodingMonkeys, makers of Carcassonne for iOS.

online matches against game center friends or strangers
voice acted interactive tutorial
comprehensive rules section
4 different AI players with emotions
full-length atmospheric soundtrack
a plethora of single- and multiplayer achievements
fully playable via VoiceOver

Version

1.60

Free or Paid

Paid

Apple Watch Support

Not Known

Device(s) App Was Tested On

iPhone

iOS Version

8.1

Accessibility Comments

I think VoiceOver support of this game is exemplary. I recommend playing with hints turned on, as you will hear information about cards of the same colur when you touch a card. This can be helpful, because you won't have to look at the whole board to get the info.

VoiceOver Performance

VoiceOver reads all page elements.

Button Labeling

All buttons are clearly labeled.

Usability

The app is fully accessible with VoiceOver and is easy to navigate and use.

Other Comments

This is basically a card game. I suppose the discover lost cities part is more relevant if you can enjoy the game's graphics, which apparently are beautiful. There is a spoken tutorial, i.e. the tutorial character explains the game to you while both of you are playing. You can play with other players on Game Center. When I let the game automatch me with another player, I always found someone within a few seconds. At currently $4 some might think it a little pricey for a card game. However, I think VoiceOver support has really been well made, not just labels stuck on the cards and buttons, but the hints give you the info that is relevant to your current playing situation. Also, there is no dragging cards across the board, you can do everything by double tapping. And I find it's great fun to play the game.

App Store Link

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lost-cities/id465062454?mt=8

Developer's Website

http://lostcitiesapp.com/

Recommendations

14 people have recommended this app

Most recently recommended by Jim D 2 years 1 month ago

Options

Comments

Its great this is now

Its great this is now accessible, I purchased this back when it wasn't, but I never got around to asking for my money back from Apple. I have read the rules, and I think I understand them, but how do you access the tutorial? I can start a new game, and scroll through the character list, but I have no clue what all the stuff about them having a shield or other equipment means,, or what there trend stat means. I guess all this is answered in the tutorial, but I see no mention of this anywhere in the new game menu or the options menu. Any help would be appreciated.

Just go to the menu and

Just go to the menu and select rules. At the bottom of the screen you'll find the tutorial.

I buy an Iphone 5 on

I buy an Iphone 5 on wednesday night, I finally! get through the apple id shenanigans on thursday at 5.pm, i buy lost cities, and within five minutes I know the games' interface, and within half an hour I win my first match against the easiest computer opponent. If "accessabler" was a cromulant word, i'd say there is nothing "accessibler" than this. A game that I, a vo novice can pick up and play just with basic gestures (sandra is dead right that everything can be done with flicks and double taps), indeed play rather successfully! the only thing I found a little confusing was understanding the turn order, sinse if you select a card to play or discard, it doesn't actually leave your hand until you pickup a card from either the draw pile or one of the discard piles. Thus sometimes, i'd play a card and wonder if I'd not played it correctly sinse it was still apparently in my hand, and it didn't get played until I picked up another card. I also liked the fact that the draw pile was really easy to find sinse it was at the bottom right hand corner, which sped the game up nicely.. All in all a very fun and strategic card game that I think will more than justify the princely some of two pounds sixty I paid for it, and something I'd recommend to anyway.

tournaments

I've had this game for sometime and am absolutely addicted to it. :) Sometime ago a friend (and fellow user on this site) said that she was involved in a tournament for this game. Unlike her however, I hadn't seen any info on Twitter about it so I asked the twitter account holder for this game and they directed me to a website which I couldn't access at all. Sorry, don't have the website on me right now but was wondering how we find out about such tournaments if they still exist? Thanks. :)

Fantastic Accessibility

This may be one of the most VO-friendly games I've played. When I play a game like this, I expect it to be (at best) accessible, but a little bit clunky. It's obvious that the developer didn't stop at making sure VO could read screen elements; they put in the extra effort to make the experience more streamlined and enjoyable. I think the fact that the cards slot automatically into the right lane, and that VO reads your opponent's move when they make it, are both great features. This commitment to accessibility would be enough to make me recommend the app - but it sure doesn't hurt that it's absurdly addictive and fun! (My one gripe: according to the rules, you can cancel a card you played by tapping it before you draw. I can't seem to do this, but I'm not sure if it's an accessibility issue or just me doing it wrong. If I tap the lane I played the card in, it just causes me to draw. If this is an accessibility issue, it's certainly not crippling.)

Cancelling drawing a card, and tournaments

Hi! I'm a big Lost Cities fan myself, and I thoroughly enjoy playing it, mostly against humans, but I have occasionally played against computer opponents. VoiceOver Accessibility in this game is excellent: the only bug I've found is that, when you draw a card from a discard pile, VO reads your opponent's previous move, but things get back to normal if you go out of the game screen and come back in. I only know one way of cancelling a move, and that is, when you double-tap the card, hit Cancel in the little menu which appears, which also includes "Discard, and often Play if the card is high enough. As for tournaments, the only one I know about was organised by someone I follow on Twitter: I don't think there are official Lost Cities tournaments, just private ones organised by groups of players who want to do that. Although I wouldn't describe this game as extremely easy, it's certainly fun, and it brings out the competitive spirit in people, that's probably why there was a tournament: that's nearly over now, though, and I got knocked out, but that won't stop me continuing to play this excellent game, however much I lose at it.

only one criticism

my only criticism is that when you pick up a card off one of the discard piles, voice over doesn't confirm what you've done. by this i mean when you pick up a card off the draw pile, voice over reads back what you've done plus the score. when you pick up off a discard pile, voiceover reads back what your opponents last move was, and what the score was then, completely ignoring what you've just done. ... or at least on my Iphone it does anyhow! :)

It does that for all of us

That bug with VoiceOver reading the opponent's last move when you draw a card from a discard pile is the same for everyone as far as I know: I certainly get it. I've found a workaround, though: double-tap at the top left-hand corner of the screen, where there will be a button labelled Main or Games. If it's labelled Main, you'll go to the main screen of the app, and you can go into Game List from there to get back into your current game, at which time your move will be read correctly by VoiceOver. If the top left-hand button on the screen is Games, that'll take you into the game list straight away, and you can come back into the current game by double-tapping it in the list under Online Games, then you'll end up back in the game you're playing where VoiceOver will now read your turn properly. I hope this helps!

aha!

ah! thanks for that. probably something i should have worked out myself! :) *engages brain*. :)

The Game's Soundtrack

I'm also a Lost Cities fan, but there's one issue I hope can be fixed. The game comes with it's own soundtrack, but it only plays when Voiceover is switched off. Turning it back on stops the music. I'm guessing the developers thought that the music might be distracting for some people, which is understandable, but I wish they at least had an option where you could turn it on or off while VO is running. I was able to purchase the soundtrack through CD Baby, but it's also available on iTunes and other places if anyone's interested.

I agree completely about the

I agree completely about the soundtrack - I was actually wondering why it wasn't playing.

I didn't even know there was

I didn't even know there was supposed to be a sound track; Lol! Also, I'm not sure if it's just me, but I notice sometimes (perhaps 50% of the time), when I make my very first move, it only shows me a few cards instead of the seven, I might get four shown to me; a bit annoying but it seems to right itself once I've made the first move.

I've had a similar issue -

I've had a similar issue - the cards are actually there if I drag my finger over them; but if I try to navigate to them by flicking left through my hand, I only get the first three or four and then it stops at the draw pile. Corrects after the first turn, and like I said, the cards are there - I just have to locate them manually instead of flicking...so I don't mind too much. I really would like to see an update that allows VO to operate simultaneously with the soundtrack. I love good game music - and from what I've listened to from Lost Cities, it's got a pretty decent score.

I've thought of trying this

I've thought of trying this game, how ever I suck at solitaire anyways so not sure I'd do well in this game or not. and card games really are not my thing. BTW why do the devs call it lost cities?

I finally turned VO off last

I finally turned VO off last night during a game and heard the sound track for the first time; it really sucks that we don't have access to it when VO is on; hopefully as the above commenter said, this will be fixed.

yeH I heard it to. Wow it

yeH I heard it to. Wow it sounds amazing. I want to have the option of hearing it at lower volume of corse whilst vo is on. yeah!

Should be optional, though!

I agree that it would be great to have the Lost Cities soundtrack music in the background while playing the game with VoiceOver, but I personally think there should be an option to turn it on or off, as not all VoiceOver users will want the music even though some do. Speaking for myself, I might want the soundtrack music when I'm playing Lost Cities with no other sounds in the background, but sometimes I play this game while listening to music, either on my iPhone or elsewhere, in which case I'd want to turn the Lost Cities soundtrack music off.

lol. I believe I suggested

lol. I believe I suggested that, that, and a toggle between full blast or like 50 percent lower that way it's not too over baring. but like the sound of on hold music on steroids. lol!

Coin cards questions.

Hello to all. I have been trying and learning Lost cities for a while and everything makes sense to me except using coin cards. I know the coin cards are there for a reason, but I am not sure how and when to use them. I have read in the tutorial that the coin cards are supposed to be used at the beginning of a lane. On the other hand, it has been mentioned that they multiple the points value. So when I put a coin card at the beginning of a lane I have minus 40 points instead of minus 20. Please, could anyone explain what function do the coin cards have in the game? I hope my questions make sense. Thank you for your help in advance.

They multiply subsequent cards in that color.

Coins

Coins double whatever points you have in a lane, and at the beginning of a game each lane is worth minus twenty points. So at the start of a lane when you put a coin down it will be at minus fourty points. However, as you lay cards down, they are doubled in value, so if you put a two after the coin it is worth four ,three is worth six ,and so on. It may look bad at the beginning of the game for using coins, but it pays off at the end of the game. Also, the more coins you put down the more your cards will be worth. Two coins tripples your score, and three quadrupled it.And remember that coins can only be played at beginnings of lanes. Hope I explained this right and that I didn't confuse you further.

Thank you.

Hello. thank you very much for your explanation. It makes perfect sense now. All your help is very highly appreciated.

Lost cities question.

Hello all, does Lost cities have an option where players could choose a random player to play with (but I mean a real person, not just the computer). Or can you only play with people who you have added to the game centre before? I hope my question makes sense. Thank you for your help in advance.

random players

Hello there, yes,Lost cities does have a option to setup a match against random players,the ones you haven't added to your game center. I am just a little curious,as I haven't played this in ages,has the latest version fix the music not playing with voiceover on?

Random players question.

Hello. Thank you for your response. Please, how can I setup a match against random player? When I choose "auto match" option, isn't it just a game against a computer or bot? Thanks.

Installing on Ipad.

Hello all.
please, is it possible to instal lost cities on Ipad?
Thanks very much.

Since I had the same problem

Since I had the same problem just now I'm cappable of giving you an answer. :-) When in the App store on your Ipad On the top of the screen you click on "Ipad apps" you should get a popup menu where you can choose Iphone. tap on that. You should get a list with all the apps you have on your phone, lost cities included. If you haven't gotten it yet you can search for it like with any other app.
hth, Guenni

music working!

hi all i have just put this game back on my iphone and as of now, the music plays but it stops as voice-over reads, and carries on when it stops speaking

does anyone know how the

does anyone know how the online games work, now that there isnt any game center in the phone? i got somehow an invitation or whatever, and wasnt able to access or whatever to do with it.

App crashing with latest iOS update

Hi,

Has anyone else been experiencing Lost Cities crashing when trying to enter an existing game? This has been happening to me with iOS 10.3.1 on an iPhone 6S. It actually started on 10.3, but is continuing with the latest software update. When I enter the game and sit in the main menu, it's fine. When I double-tap continue or next player to enter one of my games, the app crashes completely and it takes me back to the home screen of my phone. I turned off Voiceover immediately after entering one of my games as a test, and the app didn't crash. I know this because the music still played. As soon as I turned on Voiceover, though, the app crashed again. This test was repeated several times with the same results. I can't play without Voiceover, so this is really unfortunate. I thought maybe it had something to do with the music volume and Voiceover not being able to work together, so I lowered the music volume completely. No dice. The app still crashes. I have three or four games waiting to be played, and I can't get to them. Please help!

Lost Cities broken under iOS 13.0

Lost Cities is one of my favorite iPhone games! Reluctantly, I upgraded to iOS 13.0, this evening, and fount that when VoiceOver is on, Lost Cities is broken! It works fine, when VoiceOver is turned off.

The Problem: Double tap a card that you wish to play or discard, and nothing changes on the screen. Usually, the options of "play" or "disczard" would appear, and after choosing one, it would be possible the double tap the button showing the number of cards left to draw, and get your next card, or choose from the discard pile.

I suspect that this is a VoiceOver issue/bug that will show up in other apps, but Apple Accessibility insists that the dev just has to update the game. What changed in VoiceOver from 12.4 and 13.0 that could cause this issue?

This has been a great accessible game for many years, and is an addiction for many of us. I will write to the dev, and hope that they can take the time to troubleshoot the issue.

Very disappointed,
Diane

A workaround

I noticed this as well, but there is a workaround for this issue, even thogh it makes gameplay a little slower. Instead of double-tapping on the card you want to play or discard, perform the pass-trough gesture, that is, double-tap and hold on the card, then, if you want to play it, slide your finger up towards the middle of the screen or higher; if you want to discard it (and that is the trickyer part) slide it until about a third off the screen, where the discard piles are located.
It takes a bit of practice to work through this, but at least it makes the game playable. Though it would be better if the developer fixed the menu issue, but at least we can continue playing this awesome game.
Hope this helps!

What response if any did you

What response if any did you get back from the dev? I remember they were very good at fixing issues, but I have not played the game since about 2014 or so.

So, I tried to find contact

So, I tried to find contact for the dev and cannot find any to let them know about this issue. The last time I think this was updated was sometime in 2016 so unless this app were abandoned I dunno. The site you click on takes me to a place where they talk about exploring lost cities, not the card game. I don't quite get it.