Lost Ruins of Arnak

Overview

Lost Ruins of Arnak combines deck building and worker placement in a game of exploration and discovery. Players lead rival expeditions to a newly discovered island, exploring jungles, finding artifacts, overcoming guardians, and advancing research. Limited to one main action per turn, players must decide which action will benefit them most. The player with the most VP after 5 rounds wins.

Components

1 Double-sided main board
4 Double-sided player boards
1 Double-sided supply board
110 Cards (items, artifacts, fear cards)
8 Wooden archaeologists (2 per player)
8 Wooden research tokens (2 per player)
16 Site tiles, 16 Idol tiles
15 Guardian tiles, 12 Assistant tiles
18 Research reward tiles, 24 Temple tiles
5 Blocking tiles, 15 Rival action tiles
Tokens: 27 coins, 27 compasses, 16 tablets, 12 arrowheads, 9 jewels
10 Fear tiles, 1 Starting player marker, 1 Moon staff
4 Quick reference sheets

Setup

Place the main board (choose side A or B for different difficulty).
Each player takes a player board, 2 archaeologists, 2 research tokens, and a starting deck of 6 cards.
Shuffle starting decks; draw 5 cards as starting hand.
Set up site tiles, idol tiles, guardian tiles, and the card market.
Place resources in the supply.

Turn Structure

The game plays over 5 rounds. Each round, players take turns (one main action per turn) until all players pass.

On your turn, take one main action and any number of free actions.

Main Actions:

Dig at a Site: Place an archaeologist at an available site on the board. Pay the travel cost. Gain the site’s reward. If the site is newly discovered, place a guardian.
Discover a New Site: Place an archaeologist at an undiscovered location. Pay the travel cost. Reveal a site tile and gain its discovery bonus. Place a guardian.
Overcome a Guardian: Pay the required resources to defeat a guardian at a site you occupy. Gain VP and the guardian’s reward.
Buy a Card: Purchase an item or artifact card from the market. Items go to your discard; artifacts require additional resources to play.
Play a Card: Play a card from your hand for its effect.
Research: Advance one of your research tokens on the research track, paying the required resources.
Pass: Once you pass, you take no more main actions this round. You may still take free actions.

Free Actions:

Play item cards from your hand for their effects.
Use assistant abilities.
Use fear cards (forced into your deck by guardians — clog your hand).

Actions

Action	Cost	Benefit
Dig at Site	Travel cost (boots/compass)	Resources, cards
Discover New Site	Travel cost + exploration	Site bonus + guardian challenge
Overcome Guardian	Resource cost on guardian tile	VP + reward
Buy Card	Coin cost	Add card to deck
Play Card	Card from hand	Card effect
Research	Resources (varies by track level)	Advance on research track + rewards

Scoring / Victory Conditions

After 5 rounds, score VP from:

Guardians defeated
Research track position (escalating VP)
Temple tiles collected
Idols
Cards in your deck with VP
Remaining resources (some convert to VP)
Fear cards in your deck (-1 VP each)

Highest total VP wins. Tiebreaker: later in turn order.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

Fear cards are negative: they take up hand space and cost -1 VP each at end.
Idol tiles are collected from sites and provide significant VP.
Research track provides escalating rewards and is a major VP source.
Artifacts are powerful cards that require both coins and resources to buy and additional resources to play.
Solo mode available with a rival AI using rival action tiles.
Board sides A/B offer different difficulty levels and site configurations.
Moon staff determines first player and rotates each round.

Player Reference

Round Structure:

Players alternate taking 1 main action per turn
Free actions anytime
Pass when done
Round cleanup: discard hand, draw 5, refill market

Resource Types: Coins, Compasses, Tablets, Arrowheads, Jewels

Key VP Sources: Guardians, Research Track, Temple tiles, Idols, Cards