Components

27 coin tokens 27 compass tokens

16 idol tiles

4 double-sided player boards 24 temple tiles

main board, Bird Temple side
(Snake Temple on other side)

1 sticker sheet
15 guardian tiles
1 notebook token and
1 double-sided supply board 1 magnifying glass token
in each color

10 level site tiles

16 tablet tokens

4 basic cards in each color

2 archaeologist
figures in each color

6 level site tiles 12 arrowhead tokens

19 Fear cards
18 research bonus tiles
12 assistant tiles
9 jewel tokens

1 moon
staff
1 starting player 5 blocking tiles 10 reserve tiles
40 item cards
marker

15 rival action tiles

35 artifact cards 1 pad of scoring sheets used in solo variant

2
Day 3 – After two fruitless days of searching empty
ocean, a smudge on the horizon, barely discernible among
the sparkling waves, gave me a glimmer of hope. As we
drew nearer, a flock of brilliant scarlet birds flew toward
our vessel, chirping and whistling as though in welcome.
Consulting her charts, our navigator assured us that
the island was indeed as yet uncharted. Her words supported
a hypothesis we all silently shared – those rugged plateaus,
that verdant jungle!
 – this could be Arnak!

Tutorial Video

cge.as/arv

3
 Setup
Main Board
Use the side with the Bird Temple for your first game. 3

11
10
The Snake Temple side follows
special rules which are 2
explained on page 19.
6

1 4 8

5 7

Card Row
The card row offers items and artifacts
you can get during play. Be sure they are
divided into separate decks. They have
the same backs, but they can be easily
distinguished by their faces and by the
icon in the upper right corner.
Island
Idol Tiles. Mix these up and randomly assign them to sites.
1  Artifacts. Shuffle the artifacts
7 Level sites. Each site in region gets one face-up idol.
deck face down and place it on the
marked space. Level sites. Each site in region gets one face-up idol and one face-down idol,
8 as depicted on the board.
2  Fear. Place the Fear cards on
the marked space. They are all the Blocking Tiles
same, so place them face up.
9 Some action spaces may need to be blocked depending on the number of players.
3  Items. Shuffle the items deck Treat blocked spaces as though they were not printed on the board. They will be
face down and place it on the unavailable for the entire game.
marked space.
In a four-player game, do not use the blocking tiles. (This page illustrates a three-
4 Moon Staff. Place the moon player game.)
staff in the card row, as shown,
indicating it is round I. In a three-player game, block 3 spaces. Mix up the blocking tiles face down
and flip over 3 at random. Each corresponds to one site.
5 Deal 1 artifact to the card row,
face up, to the left of the moon
staff. Use the 3 tiles to block the space at each of those 3 sites. (On the board, place
them face down.) Return the 2 unused tiles to the box.
6 Deal 5 items to the card row, face
up, to the right of the moon staff. In a two-player game, block all 5 spaces. Each site will have space for only
one archaeologist.

4
Research Track
Temple Tiles. Make stacks Research Bonus Tiles. Shuffle the tiles face down and deal them to:
10 of temple tiles on the
temple. Each stack has as 11 Lost Temple Bonus Stack.

many tiles as there are Make a stack with as many research bonus tiles as there are
players. As shown, 11-point tiles have players. Place this stack face down at the top of the research
one stack at the top, 6-point tiles have track.
two stacks in the middle, 2-point tiles
have three stacks at the bottom. Return
12 Bonus Tile Spaces. Most spaces on the research track get 1 bonus tile.
Spaces marked like this get a tile only in a four-player game.
unused tiles to the box.

These spaces get a tile only in a three- or four-player game.

 istribute research bonus tiles randomly to the appropriate spaces, then turn
D
them face up. Return unused tiles to the box.

12

16
18 17

15

9 14

Supply Board
13 Resources. Place all resource
tokens on the supply board.
13
14 L evel Site Tiles. Shuffle the site
tiles marked and place them
face down on the supply board.

15  Guardian Tiles. Shuffle the

guardians and place them face down
on the supply board.

16 L evel Site Tiles. Shuffle the site tiles

marked and place them face down on
the supply board.

17 Assistant Tiles. Turn all assistants silver

One-Player Game side up. Shuffle them into 3 random stacks

of 4 tiles each. Place them on the supply
These components are used board.
only in the solo variant.
The solo variant uses the 18  esearch Tokens. Players’ research tokens
R
also go on the supply board, as will be
2-player setup. Full rules
explained on the next page.
are on page 20.

5
 Player Setup
Day 6 – We found a good place to pitch our tents, with fresh water nearby.
Our quartermaster has ensured we will be well supplied. For the fortnight, this shall be our home.

Each player should choose a color and take the player board, research tokens, 2 archaeologist figures, and 4 basic cards in that color.

Player Board Research Tokens

Keep your player board in front of you and Your research tokens go on a starting
set the archaeologist figures on it. spaces for using space below the research track. The first
idols you discover time you research, you will use your
magnifying glass, so place it atop the
notebook.
spaces for
rewards you assistants
can get from you recruit
using idols

your
deck your
archaeologists

Thematically, your archaeologists are in the tents and your resource tokens are in the supply
crates, but you can organize this space however you want.

Your Starting Deck

Each player has their own deck, and all decks start the same. Your deck should have the 4 basic cards in your color, plus 2 Fear cards:

2 Funding cards 2 Exploration cards 2 Fear cards

Shuffle your deck and place it face down on your player board.

Play Order Recommended Table Layout

The starting player is the one who most
Player boards can sit around the main board like this.
recently traveled to a place they had never
visited before. Give this player the starting
player marker. Play will proceed clockwise.

Starting Resources
Starting resources depend on play order, as shown.
Player 1:
Player 2:
Player 3:
Player 4:

6
 Gameplay
Day 7 – How strange it is to be here, to finally see what we have strived so long to find!
I feel, sometimes, as though we are encamped on sacred ground. What wonders lie ahead? What dangers? We have
no inkling of the secrets this island holds, but we vowed to unveil them, and that we shall do!

Goal of the Game

Your task is to lead an expedition to explore the uncharted island of Arnak and discover the secrets of a vanished civilization.
You will equip your expedition with useful items, search the jungles for mysterious artifacts and intriguing archaeological sites, struggle
to overcome the guardians of those sites, and – perhaps most importantly – piece together the fragments of Arnak’s ruins into a coherent
body of research that could lead to the discovery of the Lost Temple.
Your expedition’s various accomplishments are worth points which will be added up at the end of the game to determine which player
has led the most successful expedition.

Game Overview
The game is played over 5 rounds.

Players take turns choosing various actions that help them uncover the secrets
of the island. Over the course of the game, more of the island will be explored
and more actions will become available. Actions can earn you resources,
opportunities, and points.
Resources
Coins represent funding for your
Each round proceeds as follows: expedition. They are used to buy items.
1. Draw. All players draw from their decks until they have a hand of 5 cards.  ompasses represent time and energy
C
2. Take turns. The player with the starting player marker starts. Players take spent exploring the island. Thus, they
turns clockwise around the table. You are limited to one main action on are used to discover artifacts and new
your turn, plus an unlimited number of free actions. archaeological sites.

3. Pass. On your turn, you may pass to indicate you are done playing for the  ablets represent ancient texts you can
T
remainder of the round. The other players continue taking turns until all decipher. These texts might teach you
players have passed. how to use the artifacts you find.

4. Set up for the next round. All cards in your play area are shuffled and  rrowheads represent remnants of
A
returned to the bottom of your deck. The board is set up for the next weapons you discover. They are often
round. The starting player marker is passed to the left. necessary for overcoming the guardians
of the island.
5. Move the moon staff. At the end of each round, move the
moon staff to mark the passage of time. J ewels are mysterious talismans of the
As the moon waxes, the expeditions explore the island, acquire bird god Ara-Anu. They are hard to find,
useful items and artifacts, and research the legends of Arnak. but often essential for completing your
After 5 rounds, the moon is full and it is time to see who led research into the mysteries of Arnak.
the most successful expedition.

7
 Your Turn
Day 8 – Though our eagerness to begin is mixed with a certain amount of trepidation, now is not the time to let
our courage fail. If there are dangers, well, we came here to confront them. To the jungle then, and no delay!

On your turn, you have several options. Your choices will depend on the cards in your hand and the situation on the game board.

Main Actions
Choose one of these actions as the main action for your turn:

Dig at a Site (page 9)

Discover a New Site (page 10)
Overcome a Guardian (page 11)
Buy a Card (page 12)
Play a Card (page 13)
R
 esearch (page 14)
Pass (page 17)
You always perform exactly one main action per turn.
You may also be able to perform one or more free actions,
as explained below.

Your Hand
You can play a card either for its travel value or its effect but not both.

Travel Value
You can use this travel
value to pay for certain
actions – like the Dig at a
Site action on the facing page.

or
Effect
You can play the
card for its effect. Your Play Area
This effect means you
Fear When you use a card, it goes face up on the table in front
of you, next to your player board. This space is called
take a token from A Fear card has no
your play area.
the supply board. effect. However,
it can be used for its
Free Actions travel value.

An effect with this icon does not count

as the main action of your turn.
Play Area
On your turn, you can play as many Player Board
free actions as you like. They can
be played before, after, and even Your play area is basically a spread-out discard pile.
during your main action. Cards accumulate from turn to turn. They are not
recycled into your deck until the end of the round.

8
 Dig at a Site
Day 9 – We brought a ladder to the site and climbed to get a better look at the carvings. As we had hoped, it was
writing! If such wonders lie so close to camp, who knows what we shall find once we truly begin to explore!

As your main action for your turn, you can send one of your archaeologists to dig at
any of the 5 sites. You will also be able to dig at and sites after they have been
discovered.

To Dig at a Site
1. Pay the travel cost depicted on the space to which you want to send your
archaeologist. The space must be unoccupied. (That is, it must have no archaeologist
figure on it, and in a 2- or 3-player game, it must have no blocking tile.)
2. Move your archaeologist from your player board to that space.
3. Resolve the effect depicted at the site. (A full key of icons is on the back page of this
rulebook.)
Note: If both your archaeologists are already on sites, you cannot take this action.
Example: Red spends a card with a to send her archaeologist to the site
illustrated here. She places her figure on the space and takes two tokens.
The next player to use the site this round will need to cover a cost of . Even
Red could do this, on a later turn, despite having one archaeologist already there.
This site has two spaces
If both spaces are occupied, no one else can be sent to dig there this round.
for archaeologists.

Paying Travel Costs Hiring a Pilot

As you would expect, you can pay a cost of
You can use the on You can always spend two coins to generate
by spending a card with the icon – take the
your Fear card to pay a plane which can be used to pay for any travel
card from your hand, and put it face up into your a travel cost of . icon, as shown in the Travel Hierarchy below.
play area, ignoring its effect. You can also pay
with higher travel values, as shown in the Travel
Hierarchy on this page.

Two Icons
If a cost requires two icons, you can cover it with travel values from two sources.
It’s also possible that you have a card that gives you two icons all by itself. Travel Hierarchy
Such a card can also cover a one-icon cost, but in that case, the extra icon will You can always pay a cost by spending a higher
probably be wasted. It does not carry over to your next turn. travel value. This travel hierarchy is also on
your quick reference sheet.

Examples:
pays for
anything.

cannot
pay for
and vice versa.

Any travel
value pays
for .

9
 Discover a New Site
Day 10 – Our archaeology team returned with fantastic tales of dwellings in the cliffs adorned with lapidary
masterpieces still intact. Yet their joy at their discovery was mingled with dread of the monster that lurked above.

At the beginning of the game, only 5 sites are available

for digging. But during play, you can find new ones. You
1
can discover any or site that does not yet have
a site tile.

To Discover a New Site

1 
Traverse the wilderness.
Decide whether you want
to discover a site or
a site. Check the board,
and pay the depicted
cost. Then choose an
undiscovered site in that
region and pay the travel cost to move your 2
archaeologist from your board to that site’s
space.

2 Take the idol. Immediately resolve the idol’s

effect. If the site has two idols, you take them
both, but use only the effect of the face-up one.
Keep your idols on your player board face down
on the illustrated supply crates.

3 Discover the site. Take the top tile from the stack
that matches the site – or . Place it on the
board face up. The site has now been discovered
and you immediately resolve its effect.

4 Awaken the guardian. Draw the top tile from

3
the guardian stack and place it face up on the
site tile.
The guardian does not affect you immediately. However,
at the end of the round you will gain a Fear card when
you take your archaeologist back from a site that has
a guardian on it. (See page 17.)
To avoid this, you may try to overcome the guardian as
an action on a later turn. (See the facing page.) Or you
might be able to escape the guardian with the help of
certain cards that allow you to move your archaeologist
or the guardian.
Once your archaeologist is gone (for example, in 4
a later round) the discovered site is another place
archaeologists can be sent to dig. The cost printed
on the board applies only when you discover these sites,
not when you dig. You can send an archaeologist to dig
at a site that still has a guardian; returning from such
a site at the end of the round gives you a Fear card, even
if you were not the one who awoke the guardian.

10
 Overcome a Guardian
Day 11 – We fought the monstrous creature hand to hand, knife to claw! The beast went down!
But none could strike the death blow. We stood in awe. The beast bowed its head, acknowledging us.
And we realized, then, that this was no monster. No, this creature was one of Arnak’s legendary guardians.

Guardians guardian’s boon

Mysterious creatures guard the ruins on the island. A guardian appears whenever
a player discovers a new site. The guardian has no immediate effect. However, at the
end of the round, you gain a Fear card for each archaeologist returning from a site
that still has a guardian. (See page 17.)
Guardians remain on the board until they are overcome. They do not prevent
archaeologists from digging at their sites.

To Overcome a Guardian
As your turn’s main action, you may overcome a guardian. You must have an
archaeologist on the guardian’s site. pay this to overcome
1. Pay the cost depicted at the bottom of the guardian tile.
2. Remove the guardian from the board and keep it by your player board.
Tip: In some situations, it can be very important
to overcome a guardian and avoid its Fear card.
T his effect allows you to overcome a guardian on a site where you In other situations, you can get more points
have an archaeologist without paying the cost. (However, the by saving those resources for research. Don’t
effect itself may have a cost, which you must pay.) Guardians feel compelled to overcome every guardian you
overcome in this way still go beside your player board. awaken.

Using a Guardian’s Boon

Having overcome the guardian, you have earned its respect, and it can grant you the boon depicted in the upper right corner. The boon
can be used once during the game, on any of your turns. After using the boon, turn the guardian face down to show that the boon
cannot be used again.
The guardian will be worth
Some boons are travel Other boons are free
5 points at the end of the
values that can be used to actions, which can be
game whether you use its
pay a travel cost, just like used at any time during
boon or not.
spending cards from your any of your turns.
hand.

Idols
You find idols when you discover new sites. When you get an idol, But use the idol’s power wisely! Each of the four slots will be worth
keep it on the supply crates on your player board. Idols should be a certain number of points if it is still empty at the end of the game.
face down because the discovery reward is no longer relevant.
An idol in a slot cannot be moved, so each slot can be used only
Each idol will be worth 3 points at the end of the game. once per game. (Unless you find an artifact that allows you to bend
this rule.)
Idol Slots
The four slots at the top of your board give you access to useful
effects. On your turn, you may put an idol in a slot as a free action:
possible idol
1. Move the idol from your supply crates to the leftmost unoccupied slot effects
slot on your player board.
2. Choose one effect from the five depicted options.

11
 Buy a Card
Day 12 – I climbed a rock and cleared some branches to gain a better view of the path ahead.
When I climbed down, the rock was now in sunlight, and I saw it was actually a priceless artifact.

You improve your deck by buying artifacts and items from the card row.

Card Row Overview

The card row is divided into two parts by the moon staff:

item
artifact deck
deck current
round

artifact moon
staff
items

cost to buy points at the cost to buy

end of the game
Artifacts are on the left; items are on the right. Each round, the moon staff moves one space to the right, so each round has more
artifacts and fewer items. As the expeditions explore deeper and deeper into the heart of the island, they discover more artifacts, while
diminishing the support they can get from the mainland.

Items Artifacts
You can buy useful items to equip your Artifacts are valuable treasures you find while exploring the island. You pay for them with
expedition. An item you buy goes to the tokens, representing time spent exploring. We’ll say that you “buy” the card, even
bottom of your deck, which means it though your expedition is actually searching for it by whacking through the jungle and
will usually show up in your hand at the trekking across the rocky plains. Unlike items, an artifact can be used as soon as you
beginning of the next round. take it from the card row.

To Buy an Item To Buy an Artifact

Note: When you buy an
1. Choose an item in the card row. 1. Choose an artifact in the card row.
artifact, you get to resolve its
2. Pay the cost depicted at the bottom 2. Pay the cost depicted at the bottom of the card. effect. That effect might be
of the card. another action, like sending
3. Move the artifact to your play area. You have the
3. Put the item face down on the bottom option to immediately resolve its effect, ignoring an archaeologist to dig at
of your deck. the cost in the corner. a site. All this is considered to
be part of your main action for
4. Refill the card row. 4. Refill the card row.
the turn.

Refilling the Card Row Example: This is the card row in round II. You bought an item, so you
will refill the row with an item, as shown. If you had bought an artifact,
At the end of your turn, if the card row is missing a card,
the new artifact would fill in from the other direction.
refill the row with a card of the same type:
1. Slide cards toward the moon staff to make a space
on the end.
2. Deal a new card to that empty space.
If a deck runs out of cards, then for cards of that type, you
no longer slide cards and refill the row.

12
 Play a Card
Day 13 – Ruby is a jaunty bird and I am glad we have her.
She finds the most interesting things.

To Play a Card
1. Play the card from your hand face up into your play area.
2. Resolve the card’s effect.
The card remains face up in your play area for the remainder of the
round (unless you get a chance to exile it, as explained below).
An effect with this icon is a free action. That means playing the card
does not count as your main action for the turn. Your Funding and
Exploration cards have effects that are free actions, and some item
effects are free actions, too.
On the other hand, if the effect is not marked as a free action, it is the
main action for your turn. All artifact effects are main actions, as are
some item effects, like the one on the Parrot.
When you play an artifact, you also have to pay a special cost, as
explained in the box on this page. That rule does not apply to items.
Reminder: A card in hand can either be spent for its travel value or
played for its effect. Not both. Example: Let’s say you use your turn to play the Parrot.
It goes face up into your play area, and you resolve its effect.
This effect tells you to use up a card to gain a jewel. Looking
through your hand, you decide to use up a Funding card. Put it
into play, but ignore its effect. You won’t get to use it as a coin
this round, but the price is worth it: Take a jewel token from the
supply board. This ends your turn, unless you have free actions
you want to play.

Exile
Certain rules and effects send cards into exile, which is located at the Playing Artifact Cards
top of the main board. Items and artifacts have special exile piles near
their decks. Fear cards go back to the Fear deck when they are exiled.
 hen we found it, we thought we
W
Funding and Exploration cards should go near the Fear deck when they understood it. But now I begin to suspect the
are exiled. Except for Fear cards, the cards in exile usually don’t come
artifact hides yet more mysteries. Perhaps we shall
back into play.
find the answers in these ancient texts.
All artifact effects have
a cost in the corner. When
you buy the artifact, this cost is
ignored and you perform the
effect without paying it.
But whenever you play the
artifact’s effect from your
hand, the cost must be
paid.
T his symbol marks the artifact and item exile piles on the board. If
The artifact’s effect may have other costs as well. These
you see this symbol in an effect, it means you may exile a card from
other costs must be paid every time you use the effect.
your hand or from your play area.
Tip: If possible, it is more efficient to use a card and then exile it from
your play area, rather than exiling it from your hand.

13
 Research
Day 14 – A shattered spear. Some lines of text. Each lends meaning to the other.
I take the time to contemplate these clues to Arnak’s past.
A research action moves one of your research tokens up to the next row of the research
track: 1
1 Decide which research token to move. If your notebook is below your
magnifying glass , you may move either token. However, your notebook must
never move to a row above your magnifying glass. (This is easy to remember:
First you discover something; then you write it down.)

2 Choose a space to move into. You can only move up into a space that is connected
to your current space. Sometimes this leaves you with only one choice. Don’t worry
about other research tokens – multiple tokens can share the same space.
2

3 Pay the cost and move into the space. The cost is printed on the bridge connecting
your old space with your new space.

4 Gain the results of your research:

◊ Take a bonus tile? If the space has a face-up research bonus tile, immediately 3
gain the depicted bonus and remove the bonus tile from the game. Only the
first player to reach that space gets the bonus.
◊ You always resolve the row’s effect. The effect depends on whether you
moved your magnifying glass or your notebook, as depicted on the end of the
row. (Ignore the points for now. Those points will be scored at the end of the
game, based on where your tokens end up.)
4
You are allowed to resolve the row’s effect before using the bonus tile, if you want.
Note: Costs must be paid before any rewards are gained.

The Lost Temple

When your magnifying glass reaches the top row of the research track, you have discovered the
Lost Temple! Unlike the other rows, you get more points if you get here earlier. Place your
magnifying glass on the remaining empty space worth the most points.
T hen take a bonus tile. Look through the stack of face-down tiles and choose one. Return the
others. There are just enough for everyone.
Note: It is not possible to move your notebook token to the Lost Temple row.

Exploring the Lost Temple

Once you have found the Lost Temple, you can use later research actions to discover Arnak’s stories!
If you choose to research with your magnifying glass when it
is already in the Lost Temple, instead of paying to advance
the token, you pay to take 1 temple tile from any one of the combination of
stacks. costs for this stack
At the bottom of the temple are three different costs you
can pay. Each stack of tiles has a particular combination of
costs, as illustrated on the right.
For example, the 6-point stack on the left requires you to
pay the two costs on the left. The 6-point stack on the right
requires you to pay the two costs on the right. The 11-point
stack at the top requires you to pay all three costs.
Tiles in each stack are limited. You can’t buy tiles from
3 different costs
a stack that is empty.

14
Where Can You Move?
Blue and Red each have their
magnifying glasses on different
spaces in the first row. Blue’s space points at the end
is connected to both spaces in the of the game
next row, so Blue could move up to
either one. Red’s space, however, is
connected to only one space in the
next row.
All other tokens are on the starting
spaces. Tokens on the starting spaces
can advance to either space in the
first row.
Yellow can advance his magnifying
glass. He can’t advance his notebook
until his magnifying glass is at least
one row ahead of it.

Research Action
On her turn, Red decides to research
with her magnifying glass. She pays
to advance to the next space.
She removes the research bonus
tile and gains a token. The tile
goes back to the box and the token
goes to her board. (Note that it is
impossible to use this token to pay for
the research cost – the cost must be
paid first.) Looking at the magnifying
glass effect on the right, she sees that
she gains 1 .

Gaining an Assistant
On Blue’s turn, he decides to research
with his notebook. It is not legal
to move his notebook ahead of his
magnifying glass, but he can move it
into the same row and even the same
space, if he wants.
Let’s say he does that. Blue pays
to move his notebook into the
space with his magnifying glass. Blue
gets to choose one of the 3 assistants
available on the supply board. Blue
takes the assistant and puts it silver
side up on his player board. Assistants
will be explained in detail on the next
page.

15
 Assistants Using this
assistant is
Silver level
assistant.
Example:

Assistants are people who have a free action. Blue uses his assistant to get a .
come to join your expedition. Each
assistant has two levels – silver and
gold. The gold side has the stronger
effect. The research track will give
you silver assistants when you move
Assistant’s
your notebook token to certain
effect.
rows.

Recruiting Assistants T hen he pays to advance his notebook

token. The notebook effect from that row allows him
hen you move your
W Ability that the to upgrade an assistant. He can upgrade either one.
notebook to a row with this assistant receives
symbol, choose one of the once upgraded.
assistants available on the
supply board. (Usually, there are 3; however, some of the
stacks might be empty later in the game.)
Note: Assistants not on top are supposed to be kept hidden so that no one
knows what they are until the assistant above them has been taken.
Set the assistant on one of the assistant squares on your player board. The
silver side should be face up.
Assistants have various effects. If the effect is a free action, you have the
option to use it immediately, or you can save it for later.
Blue chooses to upgrade the assistant he already
Using Assistants used. He flips the tile over. As part of the effect, the
assistant is refreshed. He could use it again right now,
To use your assistant, turn it sideways, as shown. if he wanted.
A sideways assistant is exhausted and not available for
use.
In general, you can use an assistant’s effect only once per
round. At the end of the round, all assistants are refreshed – turned right
way up again.
However, certain card effects might refresh an assistant during the
round, allowing it to be used again, perhaps even immediately.

Upgrading Assistants
 hen you move your notebook to a row with this symbol,
W
upgrade one of your assistants to the gold level – that is,
you flip it over to its gold side. At this time, the assistant is
refreshed even if its silver-level effect was used earlier in
the round.

Assistants have a variety of effects:

Some assistants This assistant allows you This assistant needs a to make
offer a choice of to buy an artifact or an you a . You can pay the travel cost
effects. As a free item with a discount. The the same way you pay travel costs
action, you can use discount is 1 on this side for archaeologist actions. Because
this assistant to get and 2 on the upgraded this is a free action, it makes it
a . Alternatively, side. possible to use a card with for
you can use it to get two things: For example, one could pay for this
T his assistant has no free action icon, so
a . assistant’s effect, and the other could pay for
using this assistant counts as your turn’s
main action. sending an archaeologist to Dig at a Site.

16
 Passing
We have discovered such wonders today! Who knows what we shall find tomorrow?
On your turn, you can choose to pass – inform the other players that you will take no more turns
this round. Passing counts as your main action for the turn. At this time, you should also use up
Some effects may
any free actions you still have available.
require you to pass
If you take no other main action, then you must pass. It is not legal to take a turn with only free as part of their cost.
actions and no main action.
Once you have passed, you get no more turns for the rest of the round. The flow of play continues
clockwise, but it skips over you. And conversely, if you are the only player left who has not yet
passed, then you can take multiple turns in a row.
The round ends when all players have passed.

Setup for Next Round

If it is not the end of round V, you end the round by setting up for the next
Card Row Setup Example:
one.
End of round I, setting up for round II.
All players simultaneously do the following:
1. Return both of your archaeologists to your player board. Each time
you take back an archaeologist from a site with a guardian, add
1 Fear card to your play area.
2. Usually your hand will be empty. But if you have cards left, each card
can be discarded to your play area or saved for the next round.
Tip: Use all your cards during your turn, if you can. Keeping a card in
your hand for next round is useful only in rare cases.
3. Gather all cards in your play area, shuffle them thoroughly, and put
them face down on the bottom of your deck.
Note: Items you bought during the round will now be above all the
cards you just shuffled.
4. Refresh your assistants. (Turn them right way up again.)
The card row should be adjusted as follows:
1. Exile the two cards on either side of the moon staff. (This gets rid of
1 artifact and 1 item. Exile is explained on page 13.)
2. Move the moon staff to the right to indicate the number of the next
round.
3. Refill the card row (as explained on page 12).
The starting player marker moves one place to the left – there will be
a new starting player in the new round.
Start the new round by drawing until you have a full hand of 5 cards.
If your deck does not have enough cards to make a full hand, just draw
them all.
During setup for round III, one artifact slides.

End of Round V
At the end of round V, all players take back their archaeologists and gain
Fear from guardians. Skip all the other steps and proceed to final scoring.

17
 Final Scoring
Day 18 — I feel like this island still holds many secrets, but the time has come to return home
and share our findings.

At the end of the game, record everyone’s points on the scoring sheet and add
them up. Points can come from the following sources:
Each of your research tokens scores points based on its row.
Magnifying glasses in the Lost Temple row will score points based
on the order in which they reached the Lost Temple.
Each of your temple tiles scores the amount shown on the tile.
Each of your idols scores 3 points, even if it is in a slot. Also add
in the points shown in empty idol slots.
Each guardian you overcame is worth 5 points, whether you used
the boon or not.
Each item and artifact card scores the amount of points shown
in the lower right corner.
Fear cards score -1 point each. If you have fear tiles (see page 23),
they score -2 points each.
Whoever has the most points wins.
Break ties in favor of the player who reached the Lost Temple
first. If no one reached the Lost Temple, break ties in favor of the
player with the highest research score. After that, players who
are still tied remain tied.

A game by Mín & Elwen Special thanks to our most active testers: Kuba Kutil for always finding a way to break our early prototypes
and being a huge help in the final balancing of the game as well as testing of the solo game; Pavla Ferstová
and Ivan “eklp” Dostál for being big fans since the first prototypes and playtesting over a dozen versions of
Development Team: Michal Štach
this game throughout its evolution; Vít Vodička for mastering the game and providing valuable balancing
Michaela Štachová feedback.

Graphic Design: Filip Murmak Testers: Martin “Intoš” Sedmera, Laďa Pospěch, David Nedvídek, Iva Nedvídková, Regina Urazajeva, Tomáš
Helmich, Filip Murmak, Miroslav Felix Podlesný, Jan Zvoníček, Tomáš Uhlíř, Matúš Kotry, Petr Murmak, Vlaada
Art Direction: Jakub Politzer Chvátil, Rumun, Monča, Leontýnka & Kryštof, Jirka Doušek, Tomáš Dvořák, Pavel Ježek, Viol Balajková, Lea
Belejová, Fanda Sedláček, Ondra Skoupý, Tony Gullotti, Justin Sweigart, Tyler Goble, Radim Pech, Jakub Doucek,
Art: Ondřej Hrdina Honza Bartoš, Zuzana Zadražilová, Tomáš Zadražil, Jana Mikulová, Petr Čáslava, Jakub Politzer, Ladislav “Aillas”
Milan Vavroň Pechal, Juraj, Danielka, Ben, Fero & Dominika, Zuzka & Miroslav Dzurenda, Juraj Butek, Filip Sochor, Lukáš
Jiří Kůs “Colombo” Wiesner, Eliška & Stanislav Kubeš, Petr Ovesný, Adam Španěl, Matt Wolfe, Martin Doležal, Ondra
Černoch, Honzík Šafra, Yuri Sulík, Petr “Peca” Palička, Antonín Jan Palička, chasník, Lucia Chrastinová, Aleš
František Sedláček
Vítek, Michal Kopřiva, Jakub Uhlíř, Pavel Češka, Petr Marek, Tomáš Vician, Anežka Seberová, Michal Ringer,
3D Art: Radim “Finder” Pech Olda Rejl, Martin Cetkovský, Martin Váňa, Tomáš Sládek, R.A., Yuyka & Ese Šabata, Václav Horák, Matúš
Sedlák, Dan Knápek, Lumír Kvita, Kristián “Christheco” Buryš, Bára “CP” Siptáková, Adam “Adamin” Sipták,
Art Consultation: Dávid Jablonovský Dora “Cingilingi” Cidlinská, Michal “Meysha” Stárek, Ailin & Faire, Krtek & Kristýna, Melisilme & Findar, Julie
“Peri” Tomaňová, and all other great people we met at the Brno board game club, during CGE playtesting, and
Production: Vít Vodička other events. Without you, this game would not be possible!

Rulebook Writer: Jason Holt Big shout out to everyone on our CGE team! Filip for all the enthusiasm with which he delved into the quest
of making the game look this good. Petr for his dedication to the project, always ready to fix any problem
Project Management: Jan Zvoníček thrown in our way. Regi for helping us with many of our responsibilities and working relentlessly on the game
marketing. Jason for being so friendly and positive while working tirelessly to make the rulebook this good.
Project Supervision: Petr Murmak Zvonda for keeping track of thousands of deadlines. Finder for the fantastic trailer and 3D models. Míša and
Fanda for helping with graphic design. Vlaada for sharing his experience, feedback, and cool ideas! David,
Honza, Dita, and everyone else who helped to prepare countless prototypes, to test and proofread everything!
Thank you for being part of this journey!

Many thanks to: Ailín and Faire, who helped and supported us throughout the project – without their help we
would not have had the time and tools to finalize the game design. Nand for creating the fantastic nanDECK
© Czech Games Edition and Paul Grogan for introducing our game to the world in a sad time of canceled conventions in 2020.
October 2020
Very special thanks to: Ondra Hrdina, Milan Vavroň, Kuba Politzer, Jirka Kůs, and Fanda Sedláček, who helped
www.CzechGames.com to build the amazing world of Arnak and made it alive with their stunning art that took our breath away!

18
 The Snake Temple Side
Our ship was nothing left. We tried to but I fear that even here it shall find us!
The first expedition to Arnak went rather poorly. No one has heard This magnifying glass effect lets you rescue 1 assistant
from them in quite some time. While you explore the island, keep from those on the research track. Look through the stack
your eye out for any survivors. secretly and take one. Keep the remaining assistants in
the same order and return the stack to the research track.

Different board Unlike assistants from the supply board, the assistant you rescue is
exhausted. You won’t be able to use it this round unless an effect
The Snake Temple side has sites with different travel costs and
refreshes it.
a different research track.

Example: Red wants to advance her magnifying glass to the assistant

rescue space.
1. She removes an idol from her supply crates and returns it to the box.
2. She advances her magnifying glass.
3. She looks through the stack of assistants and selects the sea captain.
4. The sea captain is exhausted from being marooned on Arnak so
long. Red will not be able to use his ability until he is refreshed.
This effect allows you to upgrade an assistant from silver
to gold. (On the other side of the board, you could do this
only when moving your notebook.) If you have two silver
assistants, you can upgrade either one – you don’t have to keep
track of which assistant is the one you rescued.
As usual, an exhausted assistant is refreshed when it is upgraded.

Dreadful Tales!
Assistant Rescue At first, we dismissed his stories as hallucinations
This space in the middle of the research
track has survivors from the first resulting from the traumatic experience of being stranded
expedition. You might be able to rescue for so long, but as we uncovered more secrets of Arnak …
one of them if you explore the island’s
ruins. T his magnifying glass effect means you gain a Fear
card! Place it face up in your play area, ignoring its
During setup, deal 1 assistant per player to this space. These travel value.
assistants should be selected randomly. The assistant on top of the
stack is public knowledge, but the identities of those underneath
should be unknown to players who have not yet reached that row.
The supply board will get three stacks of assistants, as usual. Two of
the stacks will have three assistants, and the third stack will have
all remaining assistants. During setup, you dealt 2 or 3 bonus tiles to this row of the research
To advance a research token across this bridge, track. When you move a research token there – magnifying glass
you must pay 1 idol. The idol must come from or notebook – you choose one of the tiles. Only the tile you choose
your supply crates – it can’t be one of those in is removed.
a slot. Remove the idol tile from the game.

19
 Solo Variant
We thought we had kept this secret to ourselves. Somehow, others are here ahead of us!
This solo variant allows you to enjoy the thrill of discovering the
lost ruins even without another player to compete against. Gameplay
Always one step ahead, your rival is the starting player in all

Setup 5 rounds. Your rival’s turn works like this:

1. Turn up your rival’s top action tile and place it beside the
Set up the board as you do for a 2-player game. Whenever a stack action stack.
is supposed to have a number of tiles equal to the number of
2. Resolve the indicated action. If the situation makes the action
players, give it 2 tiles.
impossible, your rival does nothing on that turn.
Set up your own board as usual. You play second, so start with
During the round, your rival and you alternate turns, as you would
1 and 1 .
in a two-player game. Your rival does not pass until they have
played all 10 action tiles, even if you have already passed.
Rival Setup
Choose another player board to represent the rival expedition. Rival Actions
Use the side with the gray tents. Give it all 6 archaeologist figures
Each rival action is like a player action, but the game focuses on the
not in your color.
impacts that these actions have on you. The rival expedition does
Your rival uses only one research token. Put your rival’s magnifying not gain or spend resource tokens. They never get Fear cards.
glass on a starting space next to your research tokens. However, they do collect points.
Note: The symbols on the action tiles are not exactly like the effects
Rival Action Stack described on the back of this rulebook. They are simply reminders
of the rules detailed in this section.
Build your rival’s action stack with 10 action tiles.
This symbol means that the rival does nothing in round V.
Use all 5 archaeologist action tiles:

Dig at a Site
 Your rival wants to keep you from
getting the depicted resource. Look
for a site offering that resource and put
a rival archaeologist on the space there.
Use 5 red or green action tiles: (If all such spaces are occupied, your rival does nothing.)
If there are multiple such spaces, your rival chooses one with the
following priorities:
◊ A site in a higher row is preferred over a site in a lower row.
◊ Between sites in the same row, your rival prefers the site farther
on the left or the right, as determined by the decision arrow.
(See box below.)

The Decision Arrow

The action tiles come in pairs. The red action is a more aggressive  hen the rival expedition has to choose between
W
version of the green action. All 5 actions need to be in the stack, so two or more things, it always chooses the leftmost
you need one tile from each pair. The set of 5 unused tiles should or the rightmost, depending on whether the
be returned to the box. arrow on the rival action stack is pointing left or
right. If you need a tiebreaker for the final action
The number of red tiles is your difficulty level, from 0 to 5. Decide
tile, when the stack is empty, use the arrow on
how many red tiles to use, choose that many red tiles randomly,
the tile at the bottom of the used tiles pile.
look at them, and add the appropriate green tiles to complete the
set. Keep all the rival action tiles oriented with the dark edge at
the bottom so you will have the same number of left and right
Shuffle the rival action stack face down, and you are ready to play. arrows.

20
Discover a New Site Buy an Item
Your rival discovers a or site, In the green version of this action,
depending on the round. If there are your rival takes the item with the
multiple undiscovered sites: lowest point value. In the red version, your
rival takes the highest. Break ties with the decision arrow. Put the
◊ First narrow the choices down to one row. Among sites, give
card on your rival’s board. Finish the action by refilling the card
preference to the bottom row.
row.
◊ Then use the decision arrow to choose left or right.
Put a rival archaeologist on the chosen space. Move the idol Buy an Artifact
token(s) to your rival’s board. If the face-up idol is one they
don’t have yet, it goes face up on the corresponding space. If it is As you may have guessed, this is
a duplicate, place it face down on the space on the right labeled -1. just like buying an item.
Multiple idols can stack on the -1 space. If your rival gets a face-
down idol, put it on the -1 space, ignoring its other side.

End of Round
At the end of the round, return all rival archaeologists to their
board. Your rival does not gain Fear cards. Shuffle the action
stack face down, and your rival is ready to go again. Your rival
The newly discovered site gets a site tile, as you would expect.
will be the starting player in every round, so the starting player
The site gets a guardian only in certain rounds, as indicated
marker is not needed.
on the action tile.

Research Scoring
Advance the rival’s magnifying glass The rival expedition scores points
to the next row. If you need to choose for the position of their magnifying
a space, use the decision arrow. glass, for temple tiles, for guardians
If there is a research bonus tile there, remove it from the game. If it’s overcome, and for cards purchased,
the Lost Temple space, remove the top tile from the bonus stack. as you would expect.

If your rival cannot advance because they have already reached They score 3 points for each unique,
the Lost Temple, give them a 6-point tile instead. Use the decision face-up idol. The idols in the -1 stack
arrow to choose the left or right stack, if both still have tiles. give them only 2 points each.

Take the topmost assistant from the highest stack on the You score your points as usual. Compare your points with your
supply board. If stacks are tied, use the decision arrow. rival’s. Whoever has more points wins.
Remove the assistant from the game.
Snake Temple board: When your rival’s token reaches the assistant
rescue space, they take the topmost assistant on that space. This is
Solo Campaign
Want to play a solo campaign? Check out www.arnak.game !
in addition to the assistant they take from the supply board.
◊ Multiple unique scenarios.

Overcome

a Guardian ◊ New goals.

If there is a guardian on a site ◊ What happened to the lost expedition of Professor Kutil?
occupied by your rival, move it to
your rival’s board. Use the same
tiebreakers as those for Dig at a Site:
prefer the higher row, use the decision
arrow if necessary.
If your rival has no archaeologist on a site with a guardian,
your rival Researches instead, but does not take an
assistant from the supply board. (However, on the Snake Temple
side, they will rescue an assistant if they reach that space.)

21
 Appendix
Notes on Selected Cards
Army Knife Crystal Earring
You choose two of the four benefits depicted. You are First decide how many cards to draw, then draw that
not allowed to choose only one and take it twice. many. Of those, keep one in your hand. If you drew
more than one, one may be returned to the top of your
deck. Any remaining cards that you drew must then be
Bear Trap placed in your play area with no effect.
You can use the trap on a site with or without your
Decorated Horn
archaeologist. The restriction is that no one else can
If you exchange a silver assistant, your new assistant
be there. (It’s a safety precaution.)
is also silver. If you exchange a gold assistant, you flip
your new assistant to its gold side. The assistant you
Bow and Arrows put on the supply board should be set to its silver side.
Your maximum possible gain is .
Guardian’s Crown
This artifact cannot move a guardian to a site that
has not been discovered. An unoccupied site is one
Brush with no archaeologists. If any of the spaces on a site is
All idols on your player board count, whether they occupied, the entire site is considered occupied.
are in slots or not. Your maximum possible gain is
.
Guardian’s Ocarina
I f both your archaeologists are on your board, you may
Fishing Rod still play this card to turn all your travel icons into .
If a card has 2 travel icons, they are turned into .
Precision Compass
Unlike a normal card-buying action, you Idol of Ara-Anu
can do this even if you can’t afford any
card in the card row. Reveal the top card of the relevant deck. It is
Inscribed Blade
one of the cards you can buy. You can also decide to buy no card and T his discount can be applied to buying
turn it face down again. If you choose to buy a different card, the a temple tile.
top card goes into the row when you refill it, as usual.
Ornate Hammer
Journal T ake the rightmost item in the card row and put it in
This card applies only to your notebook, not your the pile for exiled items. Then you may take one item
magnifying glass. Don’t forget that your notebook from the pile of exiled items. You do not pay its cost.
cannot move above your magnifying glass. Put it on the bottom of your deck. At the end of your
turn, refill the card row.

Obsidian Earring
Ancient Wine F irst you decide whether to draw 1 or 2 cards, then you
Coconut Flask draw that many from the bottom of your deck. If you
The artifact’s effect counts as your main draw 1, it goes to your hand. If you draw 2, look at them,
action for the turn, even if the assistant’s put one in your hand, and put the other into your play
effect is a free action. The assistant is not area, face up, ignoring its effect and travel value.
exhausted after being used on the supply board. If you use this to
generate a travel value, that value is wasted unless you use it in a Pathfinder’s Sandals
free action before the end of your turn. Note that the effect cannot Pathfinder’s Staff
be applied to an assistant on the assistant rescue space of the Snake  our archaeologist can be relocated from
Y
Temple research track. any site. The effect only restricts the types
of sites it can be relocated to.

22
Don’t Forget! Shorthand Notation
◊ You can always pay to buy a . The following icons are used as shorthand notation for various
game components:
◊ You can’t advance your token above your token.
◊ an item card
◊ Every row of the research track has an effect. You resolve the
effect regardless of whether you take a bonus tile. ◊ an artifact card
◊ When you upgrade your assistant, you also refresh it. ◊ a guardian tile
◊ When you use the effect, you can exile a card from your ◊ an assistant
hand or your play area.
◊ an idol tile
◊ Gain fear, then shuffle. At the end of the round, you take your
◊  one of your archaeologist figures
archaeologists back – and potentially gain Fear cards from
guardians – before shuffling the cards in your play area.
◊ Shuffled cards go to the bottom of your deck. And only at the Free Actions
end of the round – you shouldn’t be shuffling cards at any other During your turn, you may perform any number of free actions
time. before, during, or after your main action. You may have the
◊ When you buy an item, it goes to the bottom of your deck. following free actions available:
This means it will be above all those cards you shuffle at the end ◊ All card effects marked with the symbol are free actions.
of the round.
◊ Putting an idol in a slot is a free action.

Frequently Asked Questions ◊ Using a guardian’s boon is a free action.

◊ Using an assistant’s effect is a free action, except for the
◊ Can I have more than 5 cards in my hand? Yes. The hand limit assistant that lets you buy a card with a discount.
applies only when drawing cards at the beginning of a round.
◊ Is there a way to buy an item and use it later in the same
round? Yes. When you buy an item it goes to the bottom of your
deck. Certain card-drawing effects might allow you to draw it.
Once it’s in your hand, you can use it on any turn.
◊ Can I shuffle my deck during play? No. You shuffle your deck
only at the beginning of the game. At the end of each round, you
shuffle all cards in your play area and put them at the bottom of
your deck. No other shuffling is allowed.
◊ But what if my deck runs out of cards? If your deck is out of
cards, you can’t draw any more. The cards in your play area will
not return to your deck until the end of the round. If you buy an
item, just put it on the space for your deck – that item is now on
the bottom (and the top) of your deck.
◊ What’s the difference between the effect and “relocate”?
The two are completely different. The effect follows the
rules of an action, either Dig at a Site or Discover a New Site. It
Reserve Tiles
requires you to use an archaeologist from your player board, and T he ×3 multiplier tiles are intended for use if you
you must pay the travel cost unless the card says otherwise. By are close to running out of tokens. Each token on
contrast, you can relocate an archaeologist only if it is already the tile counts as 3. Tokens on the supply board are
on a site, and it can’t go to an undiscovered site. You don’t pay not intended to be limited.
a travel cost to relocate. T he other side of the tile is a fear tile. If you are
◊ Does this card let me move another player’s archaeologist? supposed to take a Fear card when the Fear deck is
No. There are no effects in the game that would allow you to empty, you take a fear tile instead. It will be worth
affect another player’s cards, figures, or tokens. -2 points during final scoring. Keep the fear tile in
your play area. If you have a chance to exile a card
from your play area, you may exile the fear tile
instead.
In playtesting, we needed these tiles only in extremely
rare situations. Depending on your play style, your
group might never need them.

23
Effects Keywords
Many effects simply depict the tokens you gain: activate a site: When you activate a site, you use the site’s effect. You
do not need an archaeologist there and other players’ archaeologists do
Gain the indicated tokens.
not block you from activating the site, unless the card says otherwise.
Gain the indicated tokens. You do not pay any travel cost. You cannot activate a site that has not
Gain the indicated tokens. been discovered yet.

Gain a Fear card and the indicated tokens. You activate a site tile: Two cards allow you to activate the top site tile in one
must take a Fear card from the board and put it face up in of the stacks. Simply resolve the tile’s effect, as when activating a site.
your play area. (Ignore its travel value.) If no Fear cards are discount: Resolve the effect as though you had the tokens or
available, take a fear tile, as explained on page 23. travel value depicted in the discount. For example, a discount of
You may pay the cost on the left to gain the benefit means that a cost of is reduced to . A discount
on the right. If you cannot pay the cost or do not wish to, of means that one icon in a travel cost is covered. (A discount of ,
then you do not get the benefit. however, has no effect on travel costs that don’t have .) Discounts will
not reduce a cost below zero and they will not carry over to other actions.
Pay the cost to choose one of the two tokens.
exile: Send the card to exile, as explained on page 13. Alternatively, an
Make one of these two trades: OR
effect might specify that you take a card from exile.
On an artifact card, this is a reminder that the effect
exile this card to: When you play the card for its effect, it goes to exile
costs 1 . However, this cost applies only when you play it
instead of your play area.
from your hand, not when you buy it.
gain : When you gain an item, it means you do not pay the cost.
You pay this cost by putting one of the cards in your
Unless otherwise stated, this is identical to the Buy a Card action, except
hand face up into your play area, ignoring the card’s travel
you skip the step in which the cost is paid.
value and effect. If you have no cards left in your hand, you
cannot pay this cost, and thus cannot gain the benefit of occupied by you: You occupy a site if you have an archaeologist figure
the effect. there.

You may draw a card. If your deck is empty, then this pass to gain: To gain the benefit, you must pass. You will get no more
has no effect. turns for the remainder of the round.

You may choose a card in your hand or in your play area relocate: Without paying a travel cost, pick up one of your archaeologists
and send it to exile (as explained on page 13). that is already on a site and move it to an unoccupied space at a different
site that has already been discovered. The effect might specify additional
You may draw a card. Then you may exile a card in
restrictions.
your hand or in your play area. Note that each part of the
effect is optional. unoccupied site: A site is unoccupied if no one has an archaeologist figure
there. (Guardian tiles do not count as occupying a site.) An occupied
You may draw a card. Then you must put a card in
site might still have an unoccupied space even though the site is
your hand face up into your play area, ignoring its travel
considered “occupied”.
value and its effect.
You may refresh one of your assistants. See page 16.
This icon denotes that the effect does not count as your
main action for the turn. You can play as many free actions
as you want before, after, and even during your main action.

Action Effects You may Starting Resources

The effects below allow you to perform an action. immediately buy an artifact Player 1:
Normally it would be the main action of your turn, or item from the card row.
The price is reduced by the Player 2:
but here it is considered simply part of the effect.
amount indicated. Player 3:
You may immediately take a Dig at a Site
or Discover a New Site action, if you have an Perform the Buy an Artifact Player 4:
archaeologist on your player board. The effect may action, skipping the step where
specify special benefits or limitations. you pay its cost, but do resolve Starting Deck
its effect.
You may immediately overcome a guardian
without paying the cost depicted on the guardian Perform the Buy an Item
tile. This effect applies only to a guardian on a site action, skipping the step where
where you have an archaeologist. you pay its cost.