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The search for the explorer and spiritualist Alexandra David-Neel will be a long and arduous journey. Travel through Ceylon and India and across the Himalayas to the forbidden city of Lhasa in Tibet. Up to six players can take part in this collaborative adventure game, deciding together how to proceed at every juncture. Card by card, the team learns how the adventure unfolds, exploring locations, and moving toward one of five possible endings of the game. Let's go on an adventure! Follow a multitude of different paths and explore various far-off lands. Only one path leads you to Alexandra David-Neel!
You play Lhasa by flipping over the story cards, building out the map, and making decisions that will impact the ending you receive! The game is simple to play and will lead you through the game mechanics as you move through the story. The game contains five different endings to explore, depending on your decisions.
- easy to pick up for history/story lovers; simple to learn for a one-to-six player setup
- unique tactile / visual components (embossed shapes) and wallpaper motif
- clever integration of narrative choices with map placement and pattern scoring
- not highly strategic; some players may find it slow or lacking depth for puzzle-solving
- story-heavy and decision-driven format may not appeal to those seeking quick, tactical play
- some confusing moments about card placement and where to flip/read next
- historical storytelling and choose-your-own-adventure style
- historical narrative-driven adventures (sample mini-adventures and longer campaigns) with a historical backdrop
- cards are read aloud to form a narrative; decisions drive the path of the story
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- AI presence (grandma) for two-player games — a third dummy player (grandma) introduces randomness and interference in two-player setups.
- card-driven narrative progression — draw and resolve narrative cards; read text and determine the next action in the story path.
- deck cycling / reshuffle — after three passes through the deck, reshuffle and continue until end conditions are reached.
- Pattern matching scoring — players score based on matching sets and embossed icons on cards; penalties apply for over-collection of certain icons.
- set and path progression — end-of-story decisions lead to moving through a map and determining narrative outcomes.
- tile placement / drafting — players draft and place tiles to build wallpaper-like patterns; scoring based on pattern matching.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- this is fundamentally a deck building game
- the rubble thing it's quite unique it's a gimmick for something that could just be a straight display of cards but it's clever and thematic to what's going on so I do like that
- I think there's some clever things enough that you can play to the next game
- this is not my sort of game