Lost Lumina
Lost Lumina
Regular price
€21,21
Regular price
RRP:
€26,07
Sale price
€21,21
Collections: 2 Players, 20-30 Minutes, A-Z Glossary, All Board Games, Board Games, Dice Rolling, Drafting, Hand Management
SKU: ZBG-DRNLL001
3+ in stock
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Lost Lumina: How to Play
Lost Lumina is a fantastic two-player, head-to-head game of card drafting and area control that plays in around 15–25 minutes. The mix of beautiful artwork, rich strategic decisions, and high replayability makes it the kind of game that keeps finding its way back onto the table, especially on a cozy game night when you want something quick but still satisfying.
Despite its elegant presentation, Lost Lumina has plenty going on under the surface. Every draft matters, positioning is key, and small decisions can quickly snowball into big advantages. So, how do you actually play Lost Lumina?
Setup
Lost Lumina: How to Play
Lost Lumina is a fantastic two-player, head-to-head game of card drafting and area control that plays in around 15–25 minutes. The mix of beautiful artwork, rich strategic decisions, and high replayability makes it the kind of game that keeps finding its way back onto the table, especially on a cozy game night when you want something quick but still satisfying.
Despite its elegant presentation, Lost Lumina has plenty going on under the surface. Every draft matters, positioning is key, and small decisions can quickly snowball into big advantages. So, how do you actually play Lost Lumina?
Setup
Thankfully, getting started is quick and painless. Place the game board in the centre of the table and shuffle all the character cards together, placing them face down as a central deck on the board. Set the dice nearby so they’re within easy reach.
Each player then takes one of the two sets of fifteen follower meeples. Once that’s done, you’re all set. With everything laid out, you can jump straight into your first game of Lost Lumina without any fiddly setup getting in the way.
Playing Lost Lumina
The game is played over two main phases: the Prepare Phase, followed by the Journey Phase.
The Prepare Phase
The Prepare Phase is where the foundations of the game are laid. Both players begin by drafting the cards they’ll use for the rest of the match. To do this, each player draws two cards, chooses one to keep, and passes the other to their opponent. You’ll continue drafting like this until both players have ten cards in hand, with any remaining cards returned to the box unseen.
Drafting this way is important, because you’ll end up knowing half of the cards your opponent is holding. Paying attention here can really pay off later, as it gives you a chance to plan around what you know is coming.
Once drafting is finished, it’s time to place your first followers on the map. Players take turns placing one follower at a time until one player has placed three followers and the other has placed two. There’s only one real rule to keep in mind: you can’t place a follower in an area already occupied by your opponent. Placing multiple followers in the same area yourself is perfectly fine.
With cards drafted and followers on the board, all the setup decisions are locked in. From here on out, it’s time to see how well your planning pays off as you move into the Journey Phase.
The Journey Phase
The Journey Phase is where the real gameplay happens. Starting with the player who has fewer followers on the board, players take turns until the endgame is triggered. Each turn consists of one or two steps. You will always begin with Reinforcements and, if conditions are met, you may then move into Battle.
Reinforcements
To take Reinforcements, you discard a card from your hand and gain a number of action points equal to the blue number shown in the top-left corner of the discarded card. These action points are then spent to influence the board in one of two ways.
You can place one follower into a location where you already have followers, spending one action point per follower placed. Alternatively, you can move any number of your followers to an adjacent location, spending one action point for each space moved. You’re free to mix and match these actions however you like until all your action points are spent.
Once you’ve finished reinforcing, check the board. If any of your followers now share a location with your opponent’s followers, a battle immediately breaks out in that area.
Battle
Battles occur in every area where your followers share a location with your opponent’s followers, and they can be resolved in any order you choose.
To begin a battle, both players select a card from their hand and place it face down in front of them. Different cards trigger abilities at different points during the battle, so it’s worth paying attention to when those abilities activate when choosing which card to commit. Once both players have selected a card, they simultaneously reveal them.
First, resolve any Battle abilities marked with the eye symbol. After that, resolve any abilities marked with the lightning symbol.
Next, both players roll a number of dice equal to the number of followers they have involved in the battle, then choose one of the results to use. This is also the point where any Battle abilities marked with the dice symbol are resolved. Once per battle, you may spend any number of followers from your supply, removing them from the game, to reroll an equal number of dice.
You then calculate your battle strength by adding together the chosen die result, the strength of your battle card (the red number in the top-left corner), and the number of followers you have in the battle. At this point, resolve any Battle abilities marked with the sword symbol. If both players have a red sword ability, only the attacker’s ability is activated.
After all abilities have been resolved, the player with the highest battle strength wins the battle. In the event of a tie, the defending player wins. The losing player returns all of their followers from that battle to their supply.
Finally, resolve any Battle abilities marked with the flag symbol, which activate at the end of the battle. Once all abilities have been resolved, both players discard their battle cards, with the active player discarding first. You then move on to the next battle, if there are any remaining.
Endgame
The game ends in one of two ways. If, at the end of a battle, a player has no followers left anywhere on the board, the game immediately ends and the remaining player is victorious.
Alternatively, the game also ends when neither player has any character cards left in hand. When this happens, you proceed to scoring. You score 1 point for each follower you have on the map, and 2 points for each follower in a region where you control two or more areas. The player with the highest score wins.
Tips
When drafting cards, it’s helpful to try and balance cards that have high action points and high battle points. This will help as you begin to learn how to use your abilities effectively, giving you the flexibility to both fight effectively and mobilise your followers.
Try to remember what cards you are giving your opponent, as they may use those same cards against you in battle.
Also, keep an eye on your follower supply. I may have lost a few games by accidentally running too low on followers and getting easily wiped out.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I really enjoy Lost Lumina. The artwork is gorgeous, and the small bits of lore scattered throughout the game and rulebook really help immerse you in this little world. The gameplay is fun and rewarding, with strategic depth right from the very start as you draft your cards.
Battles can genuinely go either way. I haven’t yet come across any characters I would consider weak, as those with lower strength often have abilities that can completely change the tide of a fight. Even with the dice rolls, it never feels overly luck-driven, as there are plenty of ways to mitigate bad results and your success is never entirely dependent on them.
Lost Lumina is a game that’s easy to learn, satisfying to master, and always leaves me wanting to play “just one more round.”
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