Lost Ruins of Arnak Endgame and Scoring Math

Lost Ruins of Arnak ends after round V, and the scoring is easy to see coming. Almost every point sits on the table where everyone can see it, and the cards in each deck were bought in plain view. If you count before the last round, the final tally holds no surprises, and you can make round V your best round.

Where the points come from

Two things are missing from that table: leftover resources, and your Funding and Exploration cards. None of them score anything.

Round V changes what cards are worth

An item goes to the bottom of your deck when you buy it. In rounds I to IV, that means you draw it next round. In round V, there is no next round. Unless an effect lets you draw it, an item bought in round V is worth only its printed points.

An artifact is different. When you buy it, you may use its effect right away, without paying its tablet cost. So in round V, an artifact gives you its effect and its points. When you are choosing between cards in the last round, that difference usually favors artifacts.

Temple tiles: the price list

Once your magnifying glass is in the Lost Temple, each research action with it buys one temple tile. The temple shows three costs: a coin and 2 tablets, a jewel, and a compass with an arrowhead.

Each stack holds one tile per player, and an empty stack is closed. Two things follow:

• Pay costs together. The 11-point tile costs exactly what the three 2-point tiles cost together, but it scores 11 instead of 6 and takes one main action instead of three. Each 6-point tile works the same way: 6 points for the price of two 2-point tiles.
• Arriving early matters. The first glass in the temple gets the most arrival points and the first pick of the stacks.

Idol slot math

Each idol is worth 3 points whether it sits in a slot or not. Each slot on your board shows points it is worth if it stays empty: 1, 2, 3, and 4 from left to right, and you always fill the leftmost empty slot first.

So your first idol slot costs 1 point for a reward, and your fourth costs 4. Early in the game, a reward that feeds research is usually worth that first point. Late in the game, ask whether the reward finishes a temple tile or a research step. If it does not, leave the slot empty.

Guardians and Fear in the last round

At the end of round V, you still take your archaeologists home and still gain Fear from guardian sites. Each Fear card is minus 1.

Overcoming a guardian in round V is worth 5 points. You need an archaeologist on its site to do it, so it also saves the Fear card that archaeologist would bring home: a 6-point swing. Compare that with what the same resources would buy at the temple.

Exile still counts too. Exiling a Fear card in round V is a full point.

Research: count every step

Each research token scores the points on its row, and higher rows score more. In round V, look at both tokens:

• Can your notebook climb one more row? That row’s points count at the end.
• Can your glass reach the Lost Temple? The temple row is worth more than any row below it, and arriving first decides ties.

Remember that research costs are paid first, before any reward from the new row. A bonus resource on the space you reach cannot pay for the step that got you there.

A count to run before round V

When round IV ends, take one minute:

1. Add up what you have on the board now.
2. List your resources and the cards you are likely to draw.
3. Match each resource to a step, a temple tile, or a guardian.
4. Find the one move that is worth the most points, and make it first, before someone takes the space or the tile.

The tiebreaker is worth remembering: if scores tie, the player who reached the Lost Temple first wins. If nobody did, the higher research score wins.

If a friend asks how heavy Arnak is before they agree to all this counting, our explainer on board game weight covers what the complexity ratings mean.