Beating the Arnak Solo Rival at Full Difficulty

Lost Ruins of Arnak has a full solo game in the base box: a rival expedition run by a small stack of action tiles. At its easiest it is a gentle practice partner. With all five red tiles, it is one of the toughest tests in the game. This lesson explains how the rival works, then how to beat it at full strength.

All rules here follow the solo variant in the current English rulebook from Czech Games Edition.

How the rival plays

You set up a two-player game. The rival uses another player board with its gray tent side up, all the archaeologists not in your color, and only a magnifying glass on the research track. You play second, so you start with a coin and a compass.

The rival’s stack has 10 action tiles: all 5 archaeologist tiles, plus one tile from each of 5 green and red pairs. Red is the aggressive version. The number of red tiles is the difficulty, from 0 to 5.

The rival is the starting player in every round. On its turn, it flips the top tile and does that action. You alternate turns as in a two-player game. The rival does not pass until it has played all 10 tiles, even after you have passed.

What the rival takes from you

The rival never gains or spends resources and never takes Fear. Everything it does is about what it takes:

• Dig: it puts an archaeologist on a site offering the resource shown, to keep it from you. It prefers higher rows, then uses the decision arrow.
• Discover: it discovers a site, takes the idols, and places a site tile. A guardian appears only in rounds marked on the tile.
• Research: its glass moves up a row. It removes any bonus tile it reaches. It also removes the top assistant from the tallest stack on the supply board, so assistants leave the game faster than in a normal two-player game.
• Overcome a guardian: if it has an archaeologist on a guardian’s site, it takes the guardian. If not, it researches instead, without taking an assistant.
• Buy an item or artifact: green takes the lowest-point card in the row, red the highest.

Some tiles show that the rival does nothing in round V.

The decision arrow on the rival’s stack settles every left or right choice. Keep the tiles oriented as the rulebook says so the arrows stay balanced.

How the rival scores

It scores its glass position, temple tiles, guardians, and cards as you would. Idols score 3 each for unique face-up ones and 2 each for duplicates and face-down ones. If its glass is already in the Lost Temple when it researches, it takes a 6-point temple tile.

A plan for five red tiles

1. Recruit assistants early. The rival removes an assistant every time it researches. In a two-player game you might expect the stacks to last. Against the rival, an assistant you want in round III may be gone by round II.

2. Race the bonus tiles that matter. The rival removes bonus tiles as it climbs, and it climbs every time a research tile comes up. Pick the two or three bonus tiles you need most and get there first.

3. Expect its dig tiles. All 5 archaeologist tiles are in the stack, so every round the rival will try to deny each of their resources once, in an order you cannot see. Look at the sites that offer the resources you need and expect the higher one to be taken. Take your most important space early, and keep a second source in mind for anything your research depends on.

4. Expect the best card to go. A red buy tile takes the highest-point card of that type. If a strong card in the row also has high points, buy it before the rival’s tile comes up.

5. Use your extra turns. The rival plays exactly 10 tiles a round. You can keep taking turns as long as you have useful main actions. A deck with free actions and draw effects pays off more here than against people.

6. Do not ignore guardians. The rival overcomes guardians on sites it occupies. Every guardian it takes is 5 points it scores and one fewer for you.

A ladder to follow

• Start at 1 or 2 red tiles.
• Add one red tile after two wins in a row.
• At each new level, write down the rival’s score and yours by category after every game. The category where it beats you is your homework.
• When you can win at 5 on the Bird Temple side, play the rival on the Snake Temple side.

Solo campaigns

The rulebook points to a free four-chapter solo campaign, The Search for Professor Kutil, at arnak.game. Each chapter has its own rules and goals, and it plays with a companion web app or print-and-play files.

For a longer story, The Missing Expedition expansion is a six-chapter campaign for one player or two working together. The expansions lesson covers what else is in it.

Solo play can sharpen your game for the table, not replace it. Our list of the best solo board games makes that case for many games beyond this one.