Playthrough
Lost Ruins Of Arnak
The short answer
This is a full playthrough rather than a rules tutorial — a complete solo campaign Chapter 1 game of Lost Ruins of Arnak, played against the automated rival using the official companion web app instead of the rival action cards.
- Players
- 1–4
- Play time
- 120 min
- Age
- 12+
- Complexity
- Medium2.9/5
Last updated · Written and filmed by Boxman 3000
Watch on YouTube — plays here count toward the channel too.
This is a playthrough, not a tutorial. If you want to learn the game itself — setup, actions, guardians, the research track and scoring — start with how to play Lost Ruins of Arnak instead.
This video is a complete game of the Lost Ruins of Arnak solo campaign, Chapter 1, played start to finish with commentary on the decisions as they happen.
What Solo Campaign Mode Is
Solo Arnak plays as a two-player game against an automated rival. The rival occupies dig sites, claims cards and climbs the research track, so the board tightens around you exactly as it would with a human opponent — but its decisions are dictated rather than chosen.
Normally you drive that rival with the deck of rival action cards included in the box. The campaign goes further: a linked series of chapters with their own scenarios, difficulty and objectives, rather than a single one-off game.
The Companion App
The playthrough uses the official companion app at solo.arnak.game in place of the physical rival cards.
The app handles the rival’s turns for you and manages the campaign structure between chapters. In practice it means you can put the rival action cards away entirely and simply do what the app tells you each round — noticeably less fiddly than resolving the cards by hand.
What You Will See
A full Chapter 1 game, including the decisions that did not work out. Expect real-time reasoning about which sites to dig, when to overcome a guardian rather than leave it, and how to balance research against buying cards — the tensions that only really show up once you are playing rather than reading.
The components on the table include some 3D-printed extras — crates and containers standing in for the default resource tokens — printed from files on Thingiverse. Entirely optional, and linked in the video description if you have a printer.
Worth Knowing
The solo campaign is well regarded as one of the more intuitive solo modes in modern board games, and this is Chapter 1 — the entry point, not a difficulty spike. If you have the base game, the campaign needs no extra purchase beyond the app, which is free.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this a tutorial or a playthrough?
- A playthrough. It is a complete game played start to finish with commentary. For the rules themselves, see the separate how to play Lost Ruins of Arnak tutorial.
- What is the Lost Ruins of Arnak solo campaign?
- A linked series of scenarios played against an automated rival, effectively as a two-player game. The rival takes dig sites, buys cards and advances up the research track, so the board fills up much as it would against a human.
- Do you need the companion app to play solo Arnak?
- No. The base game includes rival action cards that drive the automated opponent. The app at solo.arnak.game replaces those cards and manages the campaign between chapters, which is less fiddly, but it is optional and free.
- Do you need an expansion to play the solo campaign?
- No. The solo campaign runs on the base game — the only additional thing used in this playthrough is the free companion app.
- What are the 3D printed pieces in the video?
- Optional replacement components — crates and containers used in place of the standard resource tokens — printed from files available on Thingiverse. They are purely cosmetic and linked in the video description.
