Lost Ruins of Arnak Basic Tips for Success

Hey folks! I've been waiting to share this video for awhile. Hopefully these basic tips will help you on your path to becoming a decent, not great, player of Lost Ruins of Arnak. I made this right about the time the expansion was hitting the US so excuse me if this may sound a bit dated. If you have additional tips or rule corrections please leave them in the comments.
- Jeremy Howard

[@Medsas]

Great video series! Almost nobody covers strategy tips in board games, there are only two types of videos: reviews and walkthrough/rules... so this was definitely a blind spot that needed to be covered. Hope you do more!

[@teejleague3838]

I agree!!!

[@andrewwalsh9849]

Check out Up Ur Play - Mario Rossi. He has 60 videos on Arnak, each one exploring a different card.

[@snowchamp]

I've made over 30 plays of Arnak and the card that I get which always converts to a win for me is Aeroplane. This card is just too good!

[@atkmonkey]

My strategy is to make sure my turn is before my friend who always takes what I was going to. Sometimes he takes it just because he knew I wanted to.

[@boredboardgamerkramer3838]

We must have the same "friend".

[@tommysratonmars1669]

I believe your interpretation of the idol slot scoring is incorrect. If you put an idol on the idol slot you lose the points that are covered. You will get the 3 idol points regardless if you slot them or not.

[@meeple]

The idea which I should have clarified is to use the idol for the free actions and make sure you leave that last slot uncovered.

[@meeple]

I'm aware you get 3 points regardless

[@sasimirobot]

It wasn't an incorrect "interpretation" , he just made a mistake while speaking like most humans can do from time to time. RALFARD make a youtube video about your idol slot correction catch, and let us judge your super human perfection as more than just just being a passive aggressive neck beard

[@shanerion]

@@sasimirobot he just made a mistake. He wasn’t being passive aggressive, he clearly just misinterpreted what Jeremy was trying to say. You were actively aggressive, though

[@borreholic7238]

Me: Cool, what game are we looking at today? Autogenerated subtitles: Lost Ruins of Our Neck

[@danielluckenbaugh5674]

Haha, that is funny! :D

[@jarilehtonen2909]

usually i want to explore as much i can because it fan😃 revolver nro:1 from icon and that artifact card where you can take your idol back is very useful. Overall a very good game + expedition leaders is awesome! Thanks from Finland for good channel👊 Peace

[@adrienneclaire78]

Thanks for the tips! I have not played yet. Can't wait to play to impress. I agree with someone else in the comments: a series of "tips" videos for games is very appreciated.

[@heathwashburn194]

Good tips. Try to get your assistants early too!

[@J-Wheeler-G]

Timing is key. Not only what you are doing but also when you do it. If you have a really strong card you might want to consider possibly having only 5 cards until the last round to make sure you get it every single round. You really have to do everything, and go really hard on one.

[@Webchain]

Love this! Agree with other viewer, no one talks strategy, me want more!

[@Andrew.Griffin]

Your face on the thumbnail is so serious! You're usually so chill and smiley. Thanks for the tips though! Excellent!

[@meeple]

I took like 20 pics. I was so overthinking this thumbnail.

[@SwordandBoardGames]

I loved the video! I fall in the mediocre category, where nothing here was new for me, but I also don't have anything to contribute! Still entertaining, thanks Jeremy!

[@paulgruber3384]

So great tips! Thanks a lot. 👍

[@starshadow8857]

Some other cards that I think are really good to try and get. From Artifacts deck: Trader's Scales (upgrade a resource & 3 gold a very good combo), Crystal Earring (being able to draw 3 cards& keeping one when you didn't get a good shuffle or on last round can make a big difference in extending your turn), Guiding Stone/Guiding Skull (getting to reveal level 1/level 2 stack and getting the rewards on it w/o having to travel to a dig site is awesome), Stone Key (getting your idol back for another chance to use it and/or getting those covered up points back is great), Star Charts (pay 1 gold to activate 2 campsites is well worth the cost), Guardians Ocarina (getting to use your Meeple again in a round and travel with plane is a tremendous advantage). Regarding the Item cards you mentioned the Cat & Dog and I agree they are good. But don't underestimate the Hat for 1 gold to be able to get a gold and a compass as a free action. Precision Compass (3 compass discount on Artifact cards!), The Flask (exiling a 1 point card to draw 3 cards into your hand in the late rounds can give you a huge advantage to possibly win the game), Journal (if you hold onto this one until round 4 or 5 you can use it to move up higher on research w/o spending resources you might not have or have enough of), Binoculars (free items from any activated level 1 site!!!), Army Knife (can really help you get resources your short on), Fishing Rod (just like the Compass above only it's 3 gold discount on Items, just great and gets you 2 points at end of game for only 2 gold), Army Belt (choosing any 2 of those 3 is awesome and gives you 2 different travel options). I could name a few more but I'll stop here. I also agree you need to split between the dig sites and the research track. At least get one guardian b/c it will give you 5 points at end. I usually go the research track more but that's just my preference. One 4 player game, my friend had 7 guardians defeated b/c he focused on that over the research track and he won the game.

[@xanadu1215]

I feel that you need to start with a plan of either going to get the idles or the research track. After a few turns you know whether or not you're going to accomplish this by the cards that you can buy and draw.

[@eVanDiesel]

Good tips! I certainly need them!!

[@meeple]

thank you

[@cursedinfinity]

I like to get an early destroy on at least one of those Fear cards we start with. Helps your hand in future rounds. Additionally, it helps when you explore and gain another Fear. Three or more Fear in your deck hurts.

[@meeple]

I don't have having 3 or less. I usually find a way to use then until about the third round. I bank on a spot or two to destroy them.

[@shawns3911]

I’ve had this game since October and haven’t played yet …I’m looking to play on Saturday

[@Paul-ro6py]

Great little video. Just got the game after playing at a convention.

[@meeple]

Hope you're enjoying it. Hopefully you snagged the expansion too!

[@headovmetal]

Fantastic! Thanks!

[@1Blackstaffer]

Thanks for the tips! I wasn't a big fan the first time I played this. Maybe the second time will go better....

[@meeple]

There's a high risk factor to the game, but looking at the idols that get randomly placed out will tell you what you're going for on with your first turn.

[@monkeyunit4533]

Nice video! My favorite card are the Precision Compass, that lets you buy an artifact with discount of 3 compasses. This effect is great in any part of the game, and very flexible. It also lets you snatch an artifact when your opponents think you don't have the compasses for it. The dog is alright, but the cat seems terrible ( it's from the expansion right, cause I don't have it) Getting to use an occupied camp site is so bad in round 4 and 5, when usually nobody is going to those camps anymore because there are so many better spots available. I guess you can still use it as a car travel icon, but that can be said for all cards you buy.

[@meeple]

I like the cat because it has importance for the beginning "get to the camps" portion and it has a car for the 4 and 5 rounds. I honestly forgot the cat wasn't in the base game.

[@meeple]

www.etsy.com/search?q=lost%20ruins%20of%20arnak&ref=auto-1&as_prefix=lost%20ruins%20of

[@mitchw4374]

Is that car card in the expansion? Never seen it before

[@LewisBSBBrian]

Love the strategy talk, but I’ll admit my ears perked up even higher when you said “new expansion”. Have they provided any info on this new content? I hadn’t heard anything. Thanks Jeremy, keep up the solid content we all love what you do!

[@meeple]

Oh brother, it's out now! New modules, characters, plenty of content!

[@lukaszmalinowski8675]

At idol management, aint that wrong? those idols that you have provide you with points anyways, so you dont get more points by placing them on the track , you just loose them by covering.

[@smoothrivera1928]

Get that assistant ASAP and explore early! I love Arnak and just got the expansion so I’m looking forward to checking what that adds. By the way, where did you pick up those compass tokens?? Those look sweet!

[@meeple]

www.etsy.com/search?q=lost%20ruins%20of%20arnak&ref=auto-1&as_prefix=lost%20ruins%20of

[@teejleague3838]

You are so awesome! I told my husband today, "Next time I marry, it's gonna be him!" XD We have an awesome marriage, but, seriously, you are so engaging and captivating. I saw you first on Dice Tower and looked up Man vs. Meeple to see more of you. :) I love watching you and I think you're completely delightful!!! (Oh, and my husband really likes your videos, too!!!) I don't really have a good strategy for Arnak, so this was very helpful! I love the game. The only thing I usually do is make sure I buy some good cards toward the beginning of the game, especially one that can let me draw an extra card or get rid of a bad card. Thank you for a great video. Keep it up!

[@meeple]

Thank you so much for the kind words. I'm just happy folks are enjoying this.

[@cgulde1]

How often do you play with 3-4 players? And the expansion characters really change your strategy to play to their strengths. I never focus on guardians. Sometimes it happens to kill them but I will always focus on moving up the research track. 5 points for guardian or far more on the track.

[@meeple]

With this expansion I think guardians are even more important. The mid points on the new tracks are more of a distraction, meanwhile you take out more guardians. Gaining multiple 5 pointers with free action benefits never hurts. Especially with the new guardians

[@TheLazzanova61]

I only played solo so far, still due to the pandemic. My first impression was like: only 5 rounds? That was way shorter than my other favorite games (Terraforming Mars...which is around 9-10 rounds instead). I felt 5 rounds is npt enough to get the most out of the deck building element. I am curious of what you think Jeremy. Also really curious if the game gets a lot better with the expansion...

[@TheStimply]

I also feel that way, playing solo. I suspect that it may not feel that way with 3 or 4 players. On one round only I took more actions than the automa, and barely won with all green automa cards. The game is on board game arena now, so maybe check that out too.

[@TheLazzanova61]

@Beans Hmm... I definately should play this game more often with more players then to get a better experience of the game.

[@thomashaire8863]

You forgot the first E in #3 Idol Management

[@SaschaKleiber]

I have about 20 games so far, but I'm not able to reach 70 points. Usually its 60-65... I don't understand it. :-(

[@ScottnCarol4JC]

Good tips. Thanks.

[@karel_price]

6:45 I think you get less points when you cover up those spots to use the idols. +10 points if you don't cover any, -1 point to use (cover up) the first spot, -2 for the second, and so on. So if you cover all the spots (by using 4 idols), you've exchanged 10 points for resources. The highest temple gives you 11 points for 9 resources. Each idol use gives you 2 resources, so 1 point for 2 resources (the first spot) is always worth it. The 2nd spot (2 points for 2 resources) is break even. The 3rd spot (3 points for 2 resources) is bad. Never take the 4th spot if you can help it.

[@chriselbers3771]

I had the dogcard Yesterday and I won the game!!!!!!!!!!!

[@greytoeimp]

Cat and the dog are good and actually pretty good together, which I haven’t gotten yet. Rune of the dead is nuts, probably better if you can reliably ditch fear 😰 Lastly i think the expansion definitely incentivizes guardian hunting more. I barely beat my gf Bc she went for guardians

[@foyoGames]

Nice Loc cut! Dune was off the chain ...looking fwd to my 1st Arnak play. Btw ...i make vids now too....check me out.

[@meeple]

You have two great games

[@foyoGames]

@@meeple Amen!

[@clvrswine]

Please, never comment again.

[@foyoGames]

@@clvrswineGo to H E Double Hockey Sticks

[@meeple]

@@clvrswine it's ok.