Lost Ruins of Arnak: The Missing Expedition

The lost island of Arnak is full of secrets. Some people want to uncover the secrets in the interest of scientific discovery. Some have ulterior motives. What starts as a simple expedition to find a missing college professor turns into something far more…

More secrets, more discoveries, and betrayal await you in Lost Ruins of Arnak: The Missing Expedition.

The Missing Expedition, the second expansion to Lost Ruins of Arnak, becomes an immersive six-chapter campaign that can completely change how you explore the jungles and temples of Arnak.

This expansion is for one or two players ages 12 and up and takes 30+ minutes per player. The Missing Expedition is designed by Min and Elwen, and it is published by Czech Games Edition.

What’s New on the Island of Arnak?

The Missing Expedition is a full-fledged campaign. It’s much more than just a storybook to read while exploring the island. This expansion has plenty of content not only for the campaign, but also for your regular playthroughs of Lost Ruins of Arnak:

• 21 Item cards
• 13 Artifacts
• more Assistants
• more Guardians
• more Idols
• New Expedition Leaders (Like the ones introduced in Expedition Leaders, the first expansion)
• more Level 1 & Level 2 sites
• New Research Track (double-sided) with tiles for the Waterfall side

But there’s also content specifically for the campaign:

• 12 Chapter Overview Cards
• 56 Encounter cards
• Fog/Tide tile
• Pigeons
• Research Rewards overlay
• 4 red Archaeologist Meeples
• Pad of campaign sheets

The New Leaders

The Missing Expedition adds two new leaders. The Journalist gets Newspaper tiles for different one-time uses and Article tokens to “publish” to use those actions. The Mechanic’s player board has a massive Gear to use for bonus actions, as well as a third Assistant (a monkey!)

You aren’t required to use the new Leaders for the campaign; you can also use any of the leaders from the Expedition Leaders expansion.

The Campaign

The new content for the base game is great. But that’s not really why we’re here: what about the campaign? Czech Games Edition had a free downloadable campaign, but The Missing Expedition expands on that story.

In both cases, you are searching the lost island of Arnak because Professor Kutil disappeared. His life’s work has surrounded the mystery of the island. You must travel to Arnak to find him and explore the island.

But while the free campaign shares some similar writing to this expansion, there’s much more to The Missing Expedition. In addition to the components, Leaders, etc., the campaign is written to be played with either one or two players. The free campaign was solo only.

Expectations And Impressions

After playing Lost Ruins of Arnak by itself and with the Expedition Leaders expansion, I was excited to get The Missing Expedition to the table with my son. We both love Arnak, especially with the asymmetric player powers from Expedition Leaders.

Arnak conjures up impressions of adventure: Indiana Jones brandishing a bullwhip, Lara Croft raiding tombs, maybe a little bit of The Mummy. So, I wanted to see how the game felt when you added a full-blown story to it.

And boy, does The Missing Expedition add a story! You’ve got everything you’d want in an archaeological adventure with a fantasy twist: mystical animal guardians, surprises, danger, and betrayal.

And, as befitting a cooperative campaign, this is not easy. But when you fail a chapter, you can decide whether to replay it, or take the loss and punishment to keep going.

Each chapter has a main goal for winning, but the chapter overview cards also have three achievements you can unlock. These are cards that immediately go into a player’s deck to be used on future turns.

Plus, every chapter has Encounter cards that present you with options. Usually, you are presented with the choice of taking an immediate benefit (though sometimes, it includes a Fear card if the rest of the reward is really good) or an option that you can use at a later point.

These Encounter cards and achievements do something else at the end of each chapter. They all have symbols that correspond to the campaign sheets. And the more you check off a particular symbol, you’ll encounter little snippets of further events on the island that also unlock item cards for your campaign.

A Lot More Arnak

Truthfully, there is a lot going on in The Missing Expedition. Every single chapter requires a different setup. You’re playing against a Rival the entire time, and the Rival’s action tiles can change from chapter to chapter. You’ll use both sides of the original gameboard, the expansion’s Research Track, and more. Even the setup for the sites can differ, depending on the chapter.

My only qualm with The Missing Expedition is this: the setup is already long and involved for the base game of Arnak, and this expansion makes it even longer.

Thankfully, the setup is the only downside to this expansion. The campaign rules change how you look at the familiar deckbuilding and worker placement mechanisms. At the core, you’re still exploring sites to gather resources and go up the research track. But the campaign will throw curveball after curveball, requiring you to really stretch your brain.

I know Lost Ruins Of Arnak: The Missing Expedition is for players 12 and up. But it’s so long and complicated, I think it’s best for older teenagers and adults.

If you and your teenager love Lost Ruins of Arnak and are looking for something that delves even deeper into the lost island, The Missing Expedition might be exactly what you’re looking for.

You can get it directly from CGE, on Amazon, or ask for it at your local game store.

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The Family Gamers received a copy of Lost Ruins of Arnak and the Missing Expedition expansion from CGE for this review.

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