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Lost Ruins of Arnak box art

Base game

Lost Ruins of Arnak

Kritiku rating

Early

7.8

Published
2020
Reach
Widely known
Players
1–4
Play time
30–120 min
Weight
Medium
Ratings
2

How it plays

Build the strongest expedition by exploring sites, overcoming guardians, researching the temple, and collecting useful cards and resources. On your turn, take one main action: place a worker, discover a site, defeat a guardian, advance research, play or buy a card, or pass. After five rounds, score research, temple tiles, guardians, sites, cards, and remaining fear; most points wins.

Main mechanics

  • Trading & negotiation
  • Deck / bag building
  • Hand management
  • Drafting
  • Worker placement
  • Trading & negotiation: Deals between players move the game forward.
  • Deck / bag building: You shape your own deck or bag of resources as you play.
  • Hand management: Timing which card to spend is the core puzzle.
  • Drafting: You pick from a shared pool and pass the rest along.
Full publisher description

On an uninhabited island in uncharted seas, explorers have found traces of a great civilization. Now you will lead an expedition to explore the island, find lost artifacts, and face fearsome guardians, all in a quest to learn the island's secrets. Lost Ruins of Arnak combines deck-building and worker placement in a game of exploration, resource management, and discovery. In addition to traditional deck-builder effects, cards can also be used to place workers, and new worker actions become available as players explore the island. Some of these actions require resources instead of workers, so building a solid resource base will be essential. You are limited to only one action per turn, so make your choice carefully... what action will benefit you most now? And what can you afford to do later... assuming someone else doesn't take the action first!? Decks are small, and randomness in the game is heavily mitigated by the wealth of tactical decisions offered on the game board. With a variety of worker actions, artifacts, and equipment cards, the set-up for each game will be unique, encouraging players to explore new strategies to meet the challenge. Discover the Lost Ruins of Arnak! description from the publisher

Criterion breakdown

ComplexityDepthSkillInteractionTable ExpProduction
  • Kritiku average
Criterion
Kritiku
Complexity

Standard

3.0
Depth

Robust

3.0
Luck vs Skill

Balanced

3.0
Player Interaction

Low Conflict

2.0
Table Experience

Brilliant

5.0
Production

Handsome

4.0