The Arnak Research Track: Glass, Notebook, and Assistants

The openings lesson told you to research early. This lesson shows what you are actually buying when you do. The research track is a ladder of rows with two climbers on it, and each one pays you differently. Once you see how they work together, research stops feeling like a slow detour and starts feeling like the spine of your game.

All rules here follow the current English rulebook from Czech Games Edition, using the Bird Temple side.

One research action, one step

A research action moves one of your two research tokens up one row:

1. Choose the token. The magnifying glass or the notebook.
2. Choose the space. You can only move into a space connected to your current one. Sometimes there is only one choice. Other players’ tokens never block you.
3. Pay the cost on the bridge between your old space and the new one.
4. Collect. Take the bonus tile if one is there, and resolve the row’s effect.

Costs are paid before any reward, so a token you gain on arrival cannot pay for the step that got you there.

The one rule between your tokens

Your notebook may never move to a row above your magnifying glass. It can share a row with the glass, even the same space, but never pass it. The rulebook’s memory trick: first you discover something, then you write it down.

That means the glass always leads. If your glass stalls, your notebook stalls with it.

What the glass does

The glass is your racer. Its job is to be first.

• Bonus tiles. Most spaces start with a face-up bonus tile. Only the first token to reach that space takes it, glass or notebook. Some spaces get a tile only in three- or four-player games.
• Row effects. Each row shows one effect for the glass and one for the notebook, printed at the end of the row. You get your token’s effect every time, whether or not a bonus tile is still there.
• The Lost Temple. Only the glass can reach the top row. Earlier arrivals take higher-scoring spaces, and each arrival picks a bonus tile from a face-down stack with one tile per player.

What the notebook does

The notebook is your builder. Certain rows show an assistant symbol for the notebook. Move your notebook there and you recruit an assistant: choose one of the top tiles of the 3 stacks on the supply board and put it silver side up on your board.

Other rows show an upgrade symbol. Move your notebook there and flip one of your assistants to its stronger gold side.

Why assistants reward speed

An assistant can be used once per round, and all assistants refresh at the end of each round. Simple arithmetic follows:

An assistant recruited in round I can work five times. The same assistant recruited in round IV works twice. That is why the notebook’s early steps are worth more than they look.

The supply holds 12 assistants in 3 stacks of 4, and only the top of each stack is visible. The best ones go early. Using most assistants is a free action, so they also give you extra effects without spending your turn. The exception is the assistant that buys a card at a discount: using it is your main action.

The upgrade trick

Upgrading an assistant to gold also refreshes it. So if you have already used an assistant this round, upgrade that one: you get its gold effect right away, on top of the silver one you already used. The rulebook shows exactly this example.

Both tokens score

At the end of the game, each research token scores the points printed on its row, and higher rows are worth more. The notebook is not just an assistant collector. Every step it takes is also points.

A simple rhythm for Level 1

You do not need a full plan yet. Use this rhythm:

• Round I: move the glass at least once. Take a bonus tile if one is in reach.
• Round II: move the notebook up to recruit your first assistant, then use it every round.
• Every round after: at least one research step, and look at the next two bridges on your path so your digs collect what they cost.

Arnak is a game where small early investments compound. Our guide to engine building games explains why a slow first round can still be the strongest one.