Lost Ruins of Arnak by CGE Czech Games Edition, an Exploration Strategy Board Game

As others have said, this is an excellent board game. The art is absolutely beautiful, and it is genuinely fun to explore the new sites with their corresponding guardians. The research track is sometimes said to be less fun, and it is more or less buying victory points. However, as an academic, I can really appreciate that thematic implementation of an expedition. The search and discovery it represents, with the magnifying glass going first followed by publishing research, is satisfying along with the research assistants it enables you to recruit along the way that come when you publish your research (i.e. move your journal token up the track). The art in the research track is fun as well, and I think it has Latin notes scribbled in small font along it as well, as the researchers get progressively more excited by their discoveries! I thought this was going to be a downside, but it surprised me in how much I enjoyed the track as a thematic game mechanic. Two other important notes: 1) With new items and artifacts played out in each game, along with the new worker placement sites and guardians that are randomly laid out each game - the game is highly replayable with lots of variety. 2) The game uses a lot of mechanics, part worker placement, part deck building (with thin decks), part resource management, and part exploration. However, in my mind, I like this a lot as it forces you to not focus too much on just perfecting one particular mechanic or part of your engine and forget what you are playing. By masterfully integrating a number of different mechanics, it allows those mechanics to fade into the background as you focus on thematically running an expedition. My only negative is that there are a lot of options to choose from, and towards the end game it can invite analysis paralysis that can delay the game. I hope that this goes away with more play throughs. In general, there are enough options and mechanics to choose from each turn that no matter what you do, it will net you points in a positive way with some fun combos to boot. There is just the right amount of randomization and luck to make you feel rewarded with an earned victory when a strategy pays off, and also not feel too bad about it when you don't win. I look forward to trying the Expedition Leaders expansion soon!

This game is wonderful. It combines a couple of my favorite mechanics, deck-building and worker-placement, into one game and the theme and artwork make it sing. It is strongly improved with the expansion that adds asymmetry to the explorers the character's play, I honestly wouldn't play it without the expansion at this point. I also own Dune Imperium Uprising, which also combines worker placement and deck building into one game. I love both and play both, though this one plays a lot better at 2 players, not having to rely on an AI "third player" to balance things. So if its just me and one other friend we will usually reach for this instead of Dune. The quality of this game is pretty good. The plastic tablets and arrowheads are nice, but then offset by standard cardboard gold and compass tokens. Those were upgraded quickly. The board, cards and everything else is good quality, so the value is definitely there for the cost. With two board options and different strategies to play the replay ability is pretty infinite. Adding in the expansions with additional boards and the new explorers kicks it up to 11 for me. I would highly recommend this game to anyone who is into the hobby.

Ruins of Arnak is an amazing euro-game about finding the lost ruins of Atlantis....er....Arnak! RoA mixes two of my favorite game mechanics in one game-worker placement and deck building-into a frantic and fun race between players to be the first to discover the lost ancient temples of Atlant-um-Arnak. Players will use their workers and decks of cards to do three main objectives: 1) to explore the island of Arnak and gather resources and knowledge while fighting off powerful and fearsome monster guardians! 2) Use those resources to buy more cards to give yourself more special abilities and more powerful moves,; 3) use those cards and resources to move up the REASEARCH TRACK that allows a player to recruit helpers, gain special abilities and ultimately decipher the lost language of Atlantis...er....Arnak and discover the location of it's greatest temple! To put is simply, Arnak is a great game! If you love archaeology themed games, then this is a no-brainer! It has enough variety in the base game for many replays AND has TONS OF POTENTIAL for expansions that could make the game endlessly re-playable! Ruins of Arnak is rare among euros in that the game actually has a cool theme that the game mechanics actually support. This is the kind of game both euro-gamers and AmeriTHRASHERS can enjoy equally. The game is also gorgeous to look at and will be a real head turner when set up on the table.

My wife and I have thoroughly enjoyed every play of this game (now at 21 times played). The mechanics were easy to grasp and there are enough decisions to be made to keep the game interesting without making it cumbersome. We love the two-track element of this game with the combination of exploration and research. The research track was just a cool race for points and some special rewards for accomplishing goals. Exploring the jungle and building our decks was enjoyable as well. It's obvious the designers meant this to be a fun experience due to the fact that the guardians really weren't all that harmful. Gaining some fear cards but having no other detrimental outcome made flipping over a guardian tile much less nerve wracking as a decision (It should be noted, however, that the fear cards you get for not defeating a monster can cost you. I had 2 fear cards in my hand at the end of the game and lost by 1 point. So they can matter). We recommend this game to anyone looking for a really fun, easy to learn, well-themed game. The art is great, the components are solid and it's got all the hallmarks of a great family game.

This game is epic! The production and theme are premium and gameplay a blast. The solo mode is super smooth too. I highly recommend the addition of the Leaders expansion to improve an already great game.

Lost Ruins of Arnak is a fantastic board game that offers a unique blend of deck building and worker placement mechanics. The game's primary objective is to explore the mysterious ruins of Arnak, gather resources, and uncover ancient artifacts. The game provides a challenging but rewarding experience for players as they try to balance managing their workers, constructing buildings, and acquiring new cards for their deck. The game features excellent production quality, with detailed artwork and high-quality components that add to the overall aesthetic of the game. It really feels like you're going on an adventure as you play. The deck-building mechanism works exceptionally well in the game, allowing players to tailor their deck to their preferred playstyle, making each playthrough unique and exciting. The worker placement mechanism adds another layer of strategy, as players must carefully decide which actions to take, considering their resources and the other players' moves. Lost Ruins of Arnak is a game that can be played solo or with up to 4 players, making it an excellent option for both casual and experienced gamers. The game provides a good balance of strategy, luck, and decision-making, ensuring that players are never bored and always engaged. The game's medium-weight complexity makes it accessible to a wide range of players, and its replayability value is excellent, ensuring that players will return to the game time and time again. Arnak's excellent production quality and engaging gameplay make it a game that will provide hours of enjoyment for players of all levels. Whether playing solo or with friends, Lost Ruins of Arnak is a game that will keep players coming back for more.

All around brilliant game. Instructions were thorough. As we were reading the rules, anytime an immediate question would pop up in our head, it was answered with the very next section we got read. Fairly simple concept, but you do have several options to pick from each turn. Game plays over a series of 5 rounds, but you could have roughly 2-6 turns each round. Set up takes a decent amount of time (especially the first time), but after the first setup, it goes fairly quickly. My only peeve with the game were towards the game tokens. There are 5 game tokens. 3 out of the 5 are just awesome looking. Plastic custom pieces. Then the other 2 of them were cardboard. What the heck?? So I went to Etsy and found someone who 3D printed both of them for about $13. They look great and it really makes a difference when you can play with quality tokens! The game is awesome. I recommend for all tabletop gamers. I paid $60 on Amazon. And that’s a fair price. I wouldn’t pay more than $70 for it though.

Combines deck building, worker placement and resource management into one great game! It's probably one of my new favorite Euro games which is pretty hard to do since I don't play that many. (Agricola and Suburbia are the only two that I like.) Pros: While it doesn't have any direct interaction you can counterplay your opponent with either taking a worker spot or buying a card from under them. The card you can buy are one of a kind. Each of them have similar effects but you will be the only one with that actual effect. Except the Artifacts have some unique things going on. Finding a new worker site is probably the best action you can do rather than going to an old one. Neutral Research is just another track but at least you get something after each level even if half the time it's just exploration tokens. Sometimes the cards you want never show up in that game. Bad Research is super good. You will have to do some and you will want to get to the top before the end of the game just to even have enough points. Overall Great Euro game! I want to get the expansion to get those individual player things but I can play the base game for at least another 20 plays. There's a 4 game solo campaign that looks fun and will play soon.