Lost Ruins of Arnak: Expedition Leaders

With one fewer player after the fourth person in our group cancelled because of exposure to a case, Lost Ruins of Arnak with its first expansion became the main course of the evening. And this is one of those expansions that, once it is on the table, does not look like a foreign attachment: it makes the already cohesive and handsome base game feel even more complete.

At its core, it remains the Arnak I know from the base game, but Expedition Leaders adds new paths for me to chart through a session. The leaders bring asymmetry and different strategies, so I do not approach every game with the same mindset or necessarily pursue the same things.

Choosing a leader affects how I approach my decisions and the combinations I want to build, while the presence of the other players forces me to adapt to the flow of the game. What is impressive is that, although the leaders do not look balanced at all at first, in practice they are more or less even and create a great deal of replayability.

The only small thorn is that both the length and the difficulty of finding the right direction rise a little. That does not bother me at all; on the contrary, I like that the game asks for more thought. But if base Arnak already felt heavy to you, some combinations here may strain you to the point of an aneurysm. For me, though, it is a must-buy: an expansion that integrates exemplary well with the original and lifts it another level.