Lost Ruins of Arnak

Lost Ruins of Arnak is a 2020 board game published by Czech Games Edition and designed by the husband-and-wife team Michal Elwen Stach and Michaela Min Stachova, combining deck-building with worker-placement mechanics across a single shared game board. Players take on the roles of rival archaeologists exploring the ruins of a lost island civilization over five rounds, gradually revealing dig sites, excavating ancient artifacts, battling guardian creatures that block their progress and conducting research to unlock new abilities, all while accumulating victory points from these varied activities. The game supports one to four players, and its solo mode adds an automated opponent so a single player can still play a competitive game without a human second player. Lost Ruins of Arnak drew strong recognition soon after release, winning Game of the Year honors at the 2020 Board Game Quest Awards and the prestigious Deutscher Spiele Preis in 2021, cementing its reputation as one of the more acclaimed worker-placement designs of its era.