Lost Ruins of Arnak: Twisted Paths Review — Does the Latest Expansion Elevate the Journey?

Welcome to this week’s review! This week I’m taking a look at the latest expansion for one of my favorite games. So without further ado, let’s jump into it.

Lost Ruins of Arnak is one of my favorite games of all time. The base game is an excellently designed worker placement and deckbuilding game that looks great on the table and has a captivating theme. The first expansion, Expedition Leaders, added more variety as well as six asymmetric leaders that I couldn’t imagine playing without. The expansion is so great that it was my number one favorite expansion for any game. The second expansion, The Missing Expedition, once again added more variety and two new leaders, but the major selling point was a 1-2 player, six chapter cooperative campaign. I had a ton of fun playing through each of the chapters solo and would easily recommend this expansion for anyone that enjoys playing Arnak solo. 

The latest expansion, Twisted Paths, adds a new double-sided map board, and each side introduces some changes to the worker-placement actions, as well as a new research track. Previously, I regularly played with the Snake Temple side of the original board because it changed up some of travel costs. Therefore, I felt like the only thing missing from Arnak at this point was another map board to shake things up, and luckily the new expansion comes with two very different maps.

The first side, the Spider Temple, introduces a new resource called dark tablets. Dark tablets can be used in the same way as normal tablets; however, unlike normal tablets, dark ones can also be used to invoke altars on the research track. To invoke an altar, one of the player’s research tokens must be higher than the altar space and they must spend a dark tablet from their supply. The research track has five altar spaces that, when activated, allow the player to use an artifact card without purchasing it. Additionally, the first player to invoke the altar gets to choose an artifact from the card row to trigger, and then that card will remain in that altar for the rest of the game. Other players can trigger that same altar, provided they meet the requirements above; they will just activate the artifact already in that space instead of selecting a new one.

However, using dark tablets has a cost. At the end of the game, depending on how many dark tablets have been used, each player will score negative victory points for each tablet they placed on altars. To help mitigate some of these negative points, each altar rewards victory points to the player(s) who have invoked it the most, with altars further up the research track rewarding more points. Finally, the Spider Temple board introduces some changes to travel costs for sites and a few of the sites provide ways of gaining dark tablets.

Contrasting to the darker esthetic of the Spider Temple, the second board, the Owl Temple, arguably introduces the most change. First off, the research track offers opportunities to purchase temple tiles on certain steps along the track without needing to reach the later stages. For example, a ten-point research tile is available on the third row to be purchased.

In addition, the research track includes secret passages that players can explore with their magnifying glass. By exploring a secret passageway, the player may receive a reward, such as a temple tile, but their magnifying glass remains in that spot for the rest of the game and can’t be moved. When this happens, the player gets to place a new research token, their lantern, at the bottom of the track. Advancing the lantern functions very similarly to the magnifying glass; however, the lantern typically offers more powerful rewards compared to the magnifying glass. Lastly, the map for the Owl Temple changes the second row of the level one sites to now require two coins in addition to three compasses to discover a site, but in exchange, the site rewards the player with two idols instead of one.

Overall, the Owl Temple feels the most different from what has come before. The secret passages and the temple tiles scattered throughout the temple now introduce more objectives to consider beyond just reaching the highest point along the track. Of the two sides, I’m currently preferring the Spider Temple more, but that could always change once I’m able to grasp some of the more nuances of the Owl Temple.

In addition to the two new maps, the Twisted Paths expansion also comes with two mini expansions for solo play that were previously released as print-and-plays. The first one is the addition of rival objectives. At the beginning of each round, you’ll draw a certain number of objectives from a stack of five, and the goal is to try to complete them before the solo opponent does so. For example, one goal is to be the first to purchase an item, while another is to be the first to discover a site.

While I appreciate that these give you some mini goals to focus on each round, I likely won’t always include them because sometimes the goals can run counterintuitive to your strategy. For example, maybe I’m playing with the Baroness, so I’ll generally want to purchase a new item each round, but that objective may not always be in play every round. In addition, there is some luck involved depending on how quickly the AI will accomplish the objectives, since the AI doesn’t take the objectives into account when choosing an action.

Lastly, the second mini-expansion adds a third set of purple rival action tiles that are a step up from the red version. For example, the tile to purchase an item also allows the rival to purchase an artifact as well. Personally, I haven’t played with these yet, as I feel the red tiles already offer a nice challenge without feeling too grueling. However, if you’re someone that wants a more difficult solo challenge or you’re just a glutton for punishment, then I imagine you’ll enjoy this addition.

The Twisted Paths expansion was previously included in the Adventure Chest, so I thought I’d take a moment to quickly discuss my thoughts on the new big box and insert. First off, the insert does an excellent job of smartly organizing all the components from all the previously released expansions. I’m not usually one to splurge on inserts, but this one drastically speeds up the setup and takedown experience. To set the game up, I just have to pull a couple trays holding the cards and components, give out leaders, and place idols and research bonus tiles. I don’t think I fully realized how much I’d appreciate an insert for this game until I started organizing the insert by un-bagging everything. Previously the content for the game was spread across multiple boxes, which was always a bit of a hurdle when wanting to play a quick game. It’s also clear that a lot of thought and attention to detail went into designing the insert because similar components are grouped together, while less used ones are hidden beneath others. Overall, I greatly appreciate my more organized version of Arnak – one that doesn’t require me to open dozens of bags and multiple game boxes just to play. Even taking the Twisted Paths content out of the equation, I’m still glad to own the Adventure Chest.

Overall, I’m really happy with the new editions to Arnak. The two new boards offer even more variety, and the insert and big box make a significant difference in the setup and cleanup experience. While I’ll likely never say no to more Arnak content, this expansion feels like the perfect sendoff to one of my favorite games.

With that, I’ll wrap up this week’s review! If you’ve played Arnak, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the game and/or expansions. In addition, if you’ve played the new Twisted Paths expansion, I welcome any thoughts on your experience? I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of the games I’ve mentioned or future content suggestions in the comments below. Happy gaming!

If you liked this post and want to be notified when new content is released, then follow me on Instagram @themeepledigest.