The objective of the game is to mount profitable expeditions to one or more of the five lost cities (the Himalayas, the Brazilian Rain Forest, the Desert Sands, the Ancient Volcanos and Neptune's Realm).

[1] Lost Cities is a fast-moving game, with players playing or discarding, and then replacing, a single card each turn.

The game's board, while designed to supplement the theme, is optional and consists only of simple marked areas where players place discards.

In 2018, some newer international versions of Lost Cities were expected to also include Expedition 6 as well as two-sided boards.

Lost Cities was published by Sierra Online for the Xbox Live Arcade platform on April 23, 2008.