Review: Lost Ruins of Arnak

Introduction & Overview

Day 3 – After two days spent in vain scrutinizing the ocean, a small speck on the horizon, barely visible among the foam of the waves, filled us with hope. As we drew closer, a flock of bright scarlet birds approached the ship, chirping and whistling as if welcoming us. After consulting the navigational charts, the officer assured us that this island did not appear on any of them. His words supported the theory we all secretly shared; those rugged plateaus, that emerald jungle… it could be Arnak!

This is how Lost Ruins of Arnak is presented to us, designed by the married couple Michal “Elwen” Štach and Michaela “Mín” Štachová, this being their debut work. It was first published in 2020 by Czech Games Edition (CGE) in an English version. The illustrations are by Jiří Kůs, Ondřej Hrdina, Jakub Politzer, František Sedláček, and Milan Vavroň.

It is published in Spanish by Devir (language dependence is not very high, although some cards contain text in their effects). It allows games for 1 to 4 players, with a suggested minimum age of 12 years and an approximate duration of 30 to 120 minutes. The MSRP is €59.99. For this review, a copy of the Spanish version by Devir was used, kindly provided to us as a review copy by the publisher itself.

Important: if you already know the game and/or are only interested in my opinion about it, you can go directly to the Opinion section. The Content and Mechanics sections are especially intended for those who do not know the game and prefer to get a general idea of how it works.

Components

Inside a two-piece cardboard box (lid and bottom), measuring 37.5×27.5×7.5 cm (large rectangular box size like Through the Ages), we find the following elements:

Double-Sided Main Board (cardboard)
Double-Sided Supply Board (cardboard)
12 Assistant Tiles (cardboard)
15 Guardian Tiles (cardboard)
10 Level I Site Tiles (cardboard)
6 Level II Site Tiles (cardboard)
15 Solo Opponent Action Cards (cardboard)
Scoring Pad (paper)
Moon Staff (cardboard)
Starting Player Tile (cardboard)
16 Research Tokens (cardboard)
8 Archaeologist Pawns (2 in each color) (wood)
4 Journal Tokens (1 in each color) (wood)
4 Magnifying Glass Tokens (1 in each color) (wood)
12 Arrowhead Tokens (plastic)
9 Gem Tokens (plastic)
10 Multiplier and Fear Tokens (cardboard)
18 Research Reward Tiles (cardboard)
5 Blocking Tiles (cardboard)
27 Coin Tokens (cardboard)
16 Idol Tiles (cardboard)
24 Temple Tiles (cardboard)
27 Compass Tokens (cardboard)
4 Double-Sided Player Boards (cardboard)
16 Starting Cards (4 of Each Color)
94 Cards (63.5×88 mm.):
- 19 Fear Cards
- 40 Item Cards
- 35 Artifact Cards
Rulebook

How to Play

Lost Ruins of Arnak is a game with main mechanics of worker placement and deck-building through which players will attempt to advance along research tracks, gathering the necessary resources through various available actions—mainly sending explorers to sites, acquiring cards, or playing card effects from their hand. Sites are structured into three levels, requiring players to use cards showing the necessary transportation to reach them, as well as spending compasses (one of the resources) to discover new locations, though doing so means confronting dangerous creatures that grant victory points if defeated, or negative cards if the explorer ends the turn without overcoming them. The game takes place over five rounds, at the end of which a final scoring takes place based on track progress, accumulated idols, and points on acquired cards.

Key Concepts

Let’s begin with the Main Board. It features four distinct areas. The upper area contains the card supply, with five spaces that also double as the game’s round track, where the moon staff tracks remaining rounds and divides the supply into two halves, one for each card type. Draw decks and discard piles are placed on the top horizontal slots. On the right side, we find the research track, consisting of a series of levels with rewards depending on which of the two markers each player possesses reaches them. In turn, levels show 1 to 3 spaces connected to one or more on the next level via a cost. At the end of the track is the temple, where temple tiles are stacked to form a pyramid. Along the bottom edge is the supply board, which also features three spaces for assistant tiles. Finally, occupying most of the board are the sites, structured into three levels: starting, level one, and level two. Each site space displays action spaces alongside transportation icons that players must use to occupy them. Starting spaces are available from the beginning of the game, while level I and II spaces must be discovered by players using available resources.

There are five types of Resources players can acquire during the game. On one hand, basic resources: coins (primarily used to buy items) and compasses (used to acquire artifacts or discover new sites), though they can also pay certain research costs or defeat guardians. On the other hand, valuable resources: tablets, arrowheads, and gems. These resources are primarily used to advance on the research track, though they also serve to defeat guardians and, in the case of tablets, to reactivate artifacts.

When a player discovers a new site, they draw a Site Tile from the corresponding level and place it on the action space, immediately triggering its effect for the first time. Once discovered, the site can be visited by any player without paying the discovery costs—only the transportation costs.

Players must battle Guardians that appear whenever a site is discovered. These guardians require specific resources to be defeated, granting victory points at the end of the game, as well as a free action that can be used on any future turn.

Whenever a player discovers a site, they also receive one or two Idol tokens (depending on the site level). These idol tokens provide an immediate benefit, as well as victory points at the end of the game. Additionally, idol tokens can be used to execute free actions during a player’s turn.

To occupy a space at a site, each player has two Explorers. These pawns occupy action spaces, temporarily blocking them while standing on them. To place an explorer at a site, the player must cover the transportation cost indicated on the main board.

The core engine of the game is the research track, along which Research Tokens progress. As an action, players can advance one of these markers up one level, following the connections between spaces and paying the required toll. Doing so awards the player a benefit (or penalty). The magnifying glass can reach the temple, unlocking temple exploration, which is the only level where arrival order matters. It is also important to note that the journal marker can never pass the magnifying glass marker.

Fichas de Investigación — Research Tokens

One of the main bonuses obtained on the research track is Assistant Tiles. Each player can hold up to two assistants, which generally provide single-use free actions each round (refreshing at the end of the round). Each tile has two sides: basic (grey background) and upgraded (gold background). The basic side shows the upgraded effect on a second line. Whenever a player acquires or upgrades an assistant, it becomes ready to provide its benefit.

Additionally, certain spaces feature Reward Tiles, claimed by the first player to reach the corresponding space, enjoying the effect immediately and discarding it afterward.

If a player has reached the temple with their magnifying glass, they can choose to explore it, earning valuable Temple Tiles worth victory points. These tiles cost resources depending on their level: level I tiles have three possible costs, level II tiles cost the combined costs of the two level I tiles supporting them, and level III tiles cost all three level I tile costs combined.

Another important mechanic is deck-building. There are three types of cards, all sharing transportation symbols in their upper-left corners: boots, cars, ships, and airplanes. An airplane acts as a wild for any transportation method, while ships and cars can also count as boots. However, ships cannot be used as cars and vice versa.

The first card type is Starting Cards. Each player receives four cards that grant free actions if not used for transportation.

The second type is Fear Cards, obtained if a player fails to defeat a guardian and their explorer pawn remains at the site with the guardian at round end. Fear cards can also be gained through other means. Each fear card subtracts one point at game end.

The third type is Items. These have a coin cost in the lower-left corner and a victory point value in the lower-right corner. Each item card displays an effect that can be triggered during the round if held in hand. When bought, item cards are placed directly at the bottom of the player’s deck (not shuffled).

The fourth type is Artifacts. These cost compasses (lower-left corner) and offer victory points (lower-right corner). Each artifact triggers its effect immediately upon purchase, and can be activated again if drawn into hand by paying an extra tablet resource. At the end of the round an artifact is bought, it is placed at the bottom of the deck along with other played cards.

Finally, each player has a Player Board (Camp Board) to place their draw deck on the left, acquired assistants on the right, a resource storage area in the center, and four idol spaces if used as a free action to gain indicated benefits. Each space shows a point value lost if covered by an idol tile.

That is enough to get started.

Preparación de la Partida

Set up the main board on the desired side.
Place the supply board along the bottom edge.
Place resources in their respective spaces.
Prepare the fear card deck in the top-center area.
Shuffle the item card deck and place it on the right side of the supply track.
Shuffle the artifact card deck and place it on the left side of the supply track.
Place the moon staff on space number five.
Reveal the first artifact card, placing it to the left of the moon staff.
Reveal the first four item cards, placing them in the four spaces to the right of the moon staff.
Place as many tablets in each temple reserve space as there are players.
Shuffle the reward tiles and place one on each space based on player count. Return remaining tiles to the box.
Shuffle assistant tiles into three stacks on the bottom spaces of the research track. If playing on the Snake Temple side, place as many assistants as players in the middle track space.
Shuffle level I and level II site tiles into two separate stacks.
Shuffle guardian tiles face down into a stack.
Shuffle idol tiles, placing one face up on each site space. Additionally, place one face down on each level II site space.
In games with fewer than 4 players, cover 2-boot spaces on starting sites. For 2 players, cover all of them with blocking tiles; for 3 players, reveal 3 blocking tiles and place them on corresponding sites.
Each player chooses a color and receives a player board, two explorers, 4 starting cards, 2 fear cards (shuffled into a deck on the reserve space), and two research markers (magnifying glass and journal) placed below the research track.
Randomly choose a starting player and give them the starting player marker.
Based on turn order, players receive starting resources: 2 coins; 1 coin and 1 compass; 2 coins and 1 compass; 1 coin and 2 compasses.

We are ready to begin!

Game Flow

A game of Lost Ruins of Arnak takes place over five rounds. In each round, starting with the first player and continuing clockwise, players alternate taking turns.

On each turn, the active player chooses one main action:

Dig at a Site. The player chooses a site with at least one free space to place an explorer. They must pay the travel cost by playing cards or activating elements (assistants/defeated guardians) providing required transportation. The player then resolves the site’s effect.
Discover a New Site. The player returns 3 compasses to the supply for a level I site or 6 compasses for a level II site. The player chooses an open new site space, pays travel costs (like above), and claims idol token(s) present (gaining immediate face-up bonuses, then flipping the token face down). Draw a site tile from its deck, place it on the action space, and resolve its effect. Finally, reveal a guardian tile and place it on top of the newly discovered site.
Defeat a Guardian. If a player’s explorer is at a site with a guardian, the player returns the indicated resources to the supply and claims the guardian tile, placing it face up in their play area to use its bonus action whenever desired.
Buy a Card. Two options:
- Buy an Item. Pay the coin cost, placing the card at the bottom of your deck. Slide remaining cards left and reveal a new item card in the rightmost slot.
- Buy an Artifact. Pay the compass cost and place it directly in your play area, activating its effect immediately.
Play an Action Card. Play an action card from hand to resolve its text. If it is an artifact, pay 1 tablet to trigger its main effect.
Research. Advance a research marker (magnifying glass or journal) up one level by paying the toll path requirements. If the space has a reward tile, claim and discard it immediately. Gain indicated level benefits based on token type. Reaching the top with the magnifying glass allows spending resources to claim temple tiles (level I costs printed resources; level II costs the sum of underlying level I spaces; level III costs all level I spaces combined).
Pass. The player takes no more turns this round. They may discard any unplayed hand cards or keep them. Gain 1 fear card (placed in play area) for each site with an undefeated guardian where their explorer remains. Shuffle played/gained cards and place them at the bottom of the deck.

Additionally, at any point during their turn, a player may take free actions (marked with a lightning bolt), such as playing free-action cards or exhausting assistants. Players can also hire a pilot by returning two coins to the supply.

Turn then passes to the left.

The round ends when all players have passed. Prepare the next round (unless it was round five) as follows:

Discard the item and artifact cards adjacent to the moon staff.
Shift the moon staff one space to the right.
Shift artifact cards one space to the right.
Reveal a new artifact card in the newly opened left space.
Retrieve all explorer pawns.
Pass the starting player marker to the left.
Refresh exhausted assistants.
Draw up to 5 cards from your deck to form a new hand.

A new round then begins.

Game End

The game ends after round five. Final scoring takes place as players sum up:

Points from final levels reached on the Research Track.
Points from claimed Temple Tiles.
3 points per Idol token held.
Points visible on uncovered idol spaces on the player board.
5 points per defeated Guardian.
Points printed on all acquired Item and Artifact cards.
Subtract 1 point per Fear card in deck/hand/play area.

The player with the most points wins! In case of a tie, the player who reached the temple first wins. If none of the tied players reached the temple, the player with the most research track points wins (combining both markers). If still tied, players share victory.

Variants

Solo Mode: The player faces an AI bot using the reverse side of an opponent player board. AI actions are driven by a tile stack featuring five basic actions and five selectable actions from two sets (green or red). The bot does not gain resources—it simply blocks spaces, advances on the research track, removes reward tiles, and races to the temple.

Personal Opinion

The year 2020 will go down in history as an anomaly marked by the pandemic. Life changed completely, and the board gaming world was no exception. Both major in-person events, Essen and Gen Con, were canceled—at least their physical editions, since the virtual celebrations were complete disasters that barely generated buzz for a handful of titles.

One of those few titles is the one we are looking at today. Lost Ruins of Arnak was the new release from Czech publisher CGE. As usual, it caught everyone’s eye, though admittedly with some skepticism since recent releases from the studio hadn’t quite taken off—namely Sanctum (read its tocho-review here) or Adrenaline. Let’s see how it plays out on the table, but not before thanking Devir for providing the review copy that makes this tocho-review possible.

In Lost Ruins of Arnak, we take on the role of archaeologists searching for a lost temple to uncover its hidden secrets. To achieve this, we must carry out arduous research to locate the temple’s entrance—a feat requiring substantial resources. Resources we acquire by excavating sites where various treasures await.

Detalle Campamento — Player Board Detail

Mechanically, we are looking at worker placement blended with a rather unique twist on deck-building. Players alternate turns across five rounds, executing actions that essentially boil down to occupying action spaces, buying cards, or playing card effects from hand.

Let’s break it down step by step. First, worker placement has a distinguishing twist: pawns aren’t simply placed on pre-existing spaces on the board. Out of the seventeen action spaces depicted, only the initial five are revealed at setup. The remaining twelve must be discovered by players using one of their turn actions. Once discovered, that new action space becomes available to all players.

The catch is that discovering action spaces carries a cost, balanced by an idol reward that provides free actions or serves as currency. However, upon claiming that idol, a guardian monster spawns at the site. If the player fails to defeat it before round end, they receive a fear card (you start with two, which subtract points at game end despite providing basic boot travel). Defeating a guardian grants a extra free action and awards five victory points during endgame scoring.

Furthermore, occupying action spaces requires spending card travel symbols corresponding to the transportation needed to reach the site. Travel comes from cards in hand, though players can spend coins to hire wild transportation.

Basic sites present no issue as their simple boot requirement is easily met. Discovering higher-level sites demands steeper travel costs, forcing careful hand management.

Moving on to deck-building: an interesting mechanic is how two distinct card types operate. Items behave traditionally—going into your deck upon purchase and waiting to be drawn into hand. However, unlike typical deck-builders with discard piles, newly bought cards go directly to the bottom of your deck. If your deck has fewer cards than your round draw, you are guaranteed to draw that shiny new item next round (or even this round with draw effects!).

Detalle Objetos y Tablillas — Items and Tablets Detail

Artifacts, on the other hand, trigger their effect immediately upon purchase, resolving right in your play area. At round end, played artifacts are shuffled with other used cards and placed at the bottom of your deck. To re-trigger an artifact when drawn later, you must pay an extra tablet resource. If you can’t or won’t pay, the artifact can only be used for its travel symbol.

I also find the shifting card market supply clever: early rounds feature mostly items, while later rounds shift toward artifacts. This design choice makes complete sense, as buying items in round five yields little value since you won’t redraw your deck.

Both worker placement spaces and cards feed into gathering resources to climb the research track. Players move two markers up interconnected branch paths with various resource tolls. Advancing yields victory points, fixed rewards, and race bonuses for being first to reach specific spaces.

At its core, it’s a tight mid-distance race. Pushing early to snag race bonuses is vital, but sitting back and rushing late doesn’t work either because you need the track’s engine-building rewards—especially assistants. Securing an assistant that generates compasses frees you from needing compass sites, easing resource pressure significantly.

The gameplay loop of alternating single actions keeps rounds tight as players scramble to build synergies and gather resources. It embraces the mantra “don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today”—where today is the current round and tomorrow is the next.

Comparing it to other games, it shares DNA with Grand Austria Hotel (read its tocho-review here) in how sharply focused players must be on fulfilling specific resource demands. Where Grand Austria Hotel derives variability from dice drafting and customer/staff cards, Arnak finds it in dynamic site reveals and card market shifts. Both games are tactical, offer combo potential, and demand turn-by-turn optimization.

The main triumph of Lost Ruins of Arnak over Grand Austria Hotel lies in its brisk pacing. Without a shared central action draft board, turns move blazingly fast—a 2-player game can wrap up in under an hour. Lightning-fast turns leave a satisfying impression of making dozens of meaningful choices in a short play time.

I thoroughly admire how tightly tuned the game is: reaching the top of the research track with both markers before the penultimate turn is quite difficult, leaving just enough room to grab a few temple tiles. There was a risk of leaving too much breathing room, which would flatten late-game tension, but that never happens here.

I do spot two potential drawbacks that might turn some players off. First is how guided the core game flow feels. The research track is mostly static outside of bonus tiles, meaning opening moves can feel repetitive as players scramble to grab that crucial first assistant tile. A sense of “doing the same thing every game” can creep in. More variance on the track layout itself might have been welcome.

Granted, variable sites and card decks provide strategic variance from game to game. It should be approached as a efficiency race similar to Lewis & Clark (read its tocho-review here)—a track where managing resources efficiently gives you the edge over opponents.

The second issue is that despite blending two powerful mechanisms (worker placement & deck-building), both feel somewhat constrained. You’ll often wish for more workers or more opportunities to cycle your deck. Certain cards might only be played once (or never!), which can feel unusual. A similar deck-building implementation exists in Rococo (read its tocho-review here), where deck manipulation is lightweight and individual cards see limited play.

Nevertheless, it remains a balanced, tense design that leaves you wanting another playthrough right away. It’s snappy, fun, and genuinely engaging. I frame it this way to set realistic expectations—much like Pulsar 2849 (read its tocho-review here) from the same publisher, which competes in a similar space to Grand Austria Hotel with slightly lower complexity while remaining a fantastic design. Arnak may not dethrone the all-time heavyweights, but it delivers an excellent experience.

Detalle Artefactos — Artifact Market Detail

A minor quibble is the luck factor in guardian reveals. In a game with such tight margins, drawing a guardian whose defeat cost aligns poorly with your current resources can derail a round, while an opponent gets lucky drawing a guardian requiring resources they already hold. While the risk yields idols, guardian defeat points alone don’t always feel high enough to justify blind site reveals on their own (especially on the harder board side where idols are mandatory for track progression).

Interaction is also fairly subtle. Blocking action spaces and turn order timing matter during pivotal moments, but once multiple sites open up, optimizing your own board state often takes priority over blocking rivals.

On the flip side, lower direct conflict allows the game to scale gracefully across player counts. It scratches a combo-driven itch similar to games like Everdell (read its tocho-review here), where focusing on your own engine is paramount. Down time remains minimal even as players finish rounds at slightly different times. It plays magnificently at two players thanks to its brisk pace, while four players introduces welcome tension over shared action spaces, card supply, and research track bonuses.

As for production, CGE spared no expense. Component quality is top-notch, featuring gorgeous plastic tokens for tablets, arrowheads, and gems. Cardboard tiles are sturdy and punch out cleanly. The card stock could be slightly thicker, but has a smooth finish and great springiness (sleeving recommended for longevity). The rulebook is structured logically and filled with clear visual examples.

Visually, the game is stunning—from its evocative box cover art to a vibrant main board depicting a sunset landscape shifting from oceanic blues to warm horizon orange tones. The graphic design and iconography are exemplary. An outstanding production overall.

And let’s wrap this up. Lost Ruins of Arnak is a highly entertaining game blending deck-building and worker placement mechanics. Its greatest strengths are constant endgame tension and a brisk pace that leaves you eager for another play. Its main drawbacks are a somewhat linear loop that can feel repetitive over time and lighter player interaction than some might prefer—though this keeps scalability smooth at any player count. It stands as a solid mid-weight game with extra polish that, while executing fantastically well, falls just one step short of absolute perfection. For all these reasons, I give it a…