The Lost Ruins of Arnak

In The Lost Ruins of Arnak, players take on the role of explorers on a mysterious island, where traces of an ancient civilization are waiting to be revealed. Your mission is to explore this uncharted territory in search of artifacts and relics, while confronting powerful guardians who protect the island's secrets. The game mixes elements of deck-building and worker allocation, providing a rich experience in exploration and resource management. Each match presents a new set of challenges, as players use their cards not only to expand their decks, but also to assign workers to different strategic actions. As you advance in exploration, new opportunities open up, but each turn requires careful decisions, as you can only perform one action at a time. The choice between maximizing immediate benefits or planning for the future creates an engaging and tense dynamic. The Lost Ruins of Arnak also stands out for its game mechanics that minimize randomness. With compact decks, players are encouraged to develop diverse tactics and strategies each session. The combination of actions, artifacts and equipment ensures that no two games are the same, encouraging the exploration of new approaches to each challenge. Join the adventure and discover the mysteries of the forgotten ruins of Arnak!

Age 12 + 120 min 1 to 4 players

Artists: Jiří Kůs; Ondřej Hrdina

Designers: Elwen; Mín

Date: 2020

Note: 8.7

Mechanics: Allocation of workers, Contracts

Topics: Adventure

Table of Contents
- How to Play
- Tips for playing
- Game mechanics
- Game components
- Additional Information

How to play The Lost Ruins of Arnak

The first thing to do is to lay out the main board and organize components such as item cards, artifacts and the location and monster tiles. Make sure each player has their starting deck cards: two workers, resource cards and research cards.

In each round, you will have a series of possible actions: exploring a new location, defeating a guardian, carrying out research actions and buying cards. Use your resource cards wisely to maximize your actions, balancing between collecting resources and advancing on the research trail.

Smaller locations can be explored with a smaller amount of bus tokens, while larger locations provide more resources but also bring guardians. Being able to defeat these guardians is crucial, as it avoids penalties and provides additional benefits.

Manage your hand of cards carefully, buying items and artifacts that will complement your strategy. Purchased items go to the bottom of your deck, while artifacts have an immediate effect and can be essential at critical moments in the game.

The research trail offers crucial victory points and benefits along the way. Deciding when to invest in it versus when to explore or focus on defeating guardians is vital to defining your winning strategy.

The game ends at the end of the fifth round, so plan your actions and resources to optimize your number of points until the end. Protecting workers sent to locations and using cards effectively to get additional bonuses can be the difference between victory and defeat.

Main objective

The main objective of the game "The Lost Ruins of Arnak" is to lead an expedition on a mysterious island, exploring its ancient ruins in search of lost treasures and secrets. Players must efficiently manage their resources, cards and workers to explore different locations, collect valuable artifacts, face mythical guardians and discover scientific and cultural breakthroughs. Successful actions provide victory points, and the player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner, reflecting their ability to balance exploration, research and treasure acquisition.

Tips for playing The Lost Ruins of Arnak

Here are some tips for doing better in the game The Lost Ruins of Arnak:

  • Prioritize getting cards that offer multiple actions to maximize your turn.
  • Keep a close eye on your opponents' progress in researching and acquiring artifacts.
  • Balance the use of cards between exploration and acquiring new resources.
  • Use your compasses effectively, deciding whether it's better to explore new locations or buy new cards from the market.
  • Quickly unlock aids to obtain continuous skills throughout the game.
  • Don't underestimate the power of idols, they can offer essential resources and victory points.
  • Watch out for the fear cards, they can damage your potential in the endgame.
  • Invest in technology and artifacts that improve your ability to manipulate or gain resources.

Video about the game

Mechanics of The Lost Ruins of Arnak

  • Worker allocation: In the game, each player has two archaeologists who can be placed in different locations on the board to carry out actions. Places already occupied by other players cannot be used, requiring strategic planning. Actions include collecting resources, exploring new locations and acquiring artifacts. The efficient allocation of workers is crucial to maximize resource collection and exploration opportunities.
  • Deck building: Players start the game with a basic deck of cards representing actions, items and skills. During the game, new cards can be acquired, either by buying them with coins or by exploring locations. These cards go into the discard and, when the deck runs out, are shuffled to form a new deck, which allows for gradual customization and improvement of the actions available to the player.
  • Bags and parts: Players manage a variety of resources, such as arrowheads, tablets, gems and compasses. These are used to pay for actions and acquire new cards or assistants. Efficient management of these resources is essential, as it determines the ability to perform more powerful or frequent actions. Additional bonuses are given for reaching certain exploration and research milestones.
  • Contracts: Although not officially referred to as "Contracts" in the game, there is a mechanic in which players can acquire and fulfill item and artifact cards that offer immediate or recurring benefits. Completing these cards can give access to special resources or abilities, providing strategic advantages over opponents.

Game components The Lost Ruins of Arnak

See all the items in the game below The Lost Ruins of Arnak:

  • 1 double-sided supply tray
  • 40 item cards
  • 27 compass cards
  • 1 scoring notepad
  • 35 relic cards
  • 4 player boards with different sides
  • 16 altar pieces
  • 2 archaeologist figures for each player
  • 4 starting cards in each shade
  • 6 pieces of top-level location
  • 19 letters of fear
  • 1 lunar staff
  • 10 pieces of lower level location
  • 1 diary card and 1 magnifying glass card of each color
  • 15 guardian pieces
  • 12 arrowhead plugs
  • 16 tablet tokens
  • 1 first player indicator
  • 27 coin tokens
  • 10 spares
  • 18 exploration bonus pieces
  • 5 locking pieces
  • 15 opponent action pieces for solo mode
  • 9 ruby tokens

Additional Information

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