Like I said at the end of the review, the expansion is great, but honestly most of my complaints were fixed by the PNP expansion/web app, so if you only find the base game it still might be worth a play.
@@OneStopCoopShop duly noted! Especially good as I really can't seem to find the expansion anywhere... ah well, can find a base game easily. Thanks again!
Just managed to order a copy of the expansion in the UK. Excited. This is one of mine and my girlfriends go-to games. Bit disappointed they didn't include any of the P&P solo stuff in the expansion. Given that the base game solo got a bit of criticism it would have been a good opportunity to give back and include some of that extra stuff given that some people might not know the online stuff exists or not want to use the web app.
Totally agree. I was surprised it wasn't in the box too. Not a huge deal... I don't mind using the app. But I can't imagine it would have cost them THAT much to include 10 extra tiles or so to cover all of the solo stuff except the campaign.
On 11:53, when AI collected the NEW idol token, Does the new rules in the new rule book said, it is count as 3 points? ("Your rival's first new idol is worth 3 points, just as all the other idols are, even though it is not illustrated on your rival's board.")
Oh sorry! I should have explained that better in the video. In this particular temple board, the magnifying glass ALWAYS goes left at that spot (to the artifact) and the book ALWAYS goes right. They have little icons to indicate this right on the board.
my problem with playing a physical board game solo vs A.I., is all the setup and cleanup time and then I play the game in same amount of time as both of those combined. Give me a digital version then so all playing no setting up and cleaning up
Sure, makes total sense. Whereas I find, for me, that the app handling everything means that things go too quickly and I miss the nuance of WHY things are happening. It's especially terrible for automated euros.
Thanks Mike, I'll be looking at this one again too. Do you know of you'll be covering Dune Imperium with the expansion? Would be great to hear your updated impressions with that one too, assuming they would change of course :)
Probably not, because whereas Arnak was a game I really enjoyed, except for some fixable complaints, dune: imperium didn’t work much for me solo at all, and to my knowledge the expansion doesn’t address any of that. But dune IS a great game for multiplayer!
@@OneStopCoopShop I played Arnak base game multiplayer, and all of us liked a game with player interaction. As a result, the game was very meh... I haven't played this expansion, but for a solo game, there are a bunch of games that are better (pandemic, Aeon's End, and marvel champion). For a multiplayer game there are also a bunch of games that are better (pandemic, Aeon's End, Dune Imperium, The Crew, and and Beyond the Sun). As a result, I personally do not see the value of Anak.
I enjoy this more solo because as you said the interaction is fairly limited with multiple players. And I agree that an actual coop game like Aeon’s End is generally going to beat a solo variant for a multiplayer euro.
Yikes, you might be totally right! This was a rough recording session. Usually I go straight through in one long take, but my kids kept getting out of bed so this ended up being 3 or 4 videos stitched together and I had to rewind actions a few times. I’m a dirty cheater and must be exiled!!!!
@@OneStopCoopShop No worries. We all cheat sometimes when playing solo. We all play to have a good time and sometimes after some bad rolls all the fun is gone.
@@squpersqup4357 I caught it and couldn't help but laugh with a "naughty naughty, I saw that". But you're absolutely right, even the best of players I know have admitted to an edit or two when playin solo.
I quite liked playing this recently but quickly came to the conclusion it would get very static after a couple of plays. It’s kind a beginners or entry level mage Knight. Art is nice.
Correct. At that point they are treated like any other worker placement spot, and you just need the indicated travel icon (boat, etc.) Paying the compass cost is balanced out by the gains of exploring a new site, namely the idol on it and first crack at the monster (if you can kill it).
Only question I have at the end of this one is where you get the solo cards with the goals you have to get to before the AI or they gain 2 points. Are they included in newer printings, or are they downloaded from the web somewhere? EDIT: Okay. This is answered at the very end of the video. It seems either app or print and play.
@ChimeratAlpha I think those are a PNP thing? Or if you use their free app they have everything for solo in a really nice presentation. PS - Colin used to do Klingon subtitles. I don’t use them. Check the other comments or the video description/pinned comment. I’ll point out big errors there
@@OneStopCoopShop I did find downloads on their website as well as the web app. The only issue with an app is that it may require the internet to play, which limited use when camping. Thankfully, I do have a nice printer and cardstock, so while I may try out the app at home, I'll still have the cards to fall back on. (And they'll be in colour! :p)
Thank you Mike; as always, a great playthrough! One comment though, I think the guardian power you used at 30:40 was an instant power (indicated by the lightning bolt) and should have been used immediately when you overcame the guardian. So as far as I understand it, if you want to replace it using the card effect, you would have had to do it when you overcame the guardian.
I might be wrong, but doesn’t the lightning bolt simply mean it’s an instant action when you want to use it (and thus doesn’t count as your main action for that turn)? What makes you think I have to use it immediately? I don’t think any of the guardians work like that…
@@OneStopCoopShop I just checked the rulebook and it seems you are correct. I have been playing it wrong all along. I don't know where I got that idea. Even better playthrough than I initially thought 😉.
Thanks for checking! I believe pretty much the only immediate rewards are the faces of idol tokens when you discover a site, and the tokens when you advance on the research track. Pretty much everything else is use when you want :)
Since I've only played solo, I can't say for sure, but so far it seems good! Like the captain has the amazing power to use THREE workers a turn instead of two... but his starting deck is much weaker, with 3 fear cards out of 6 (and one of them doesn't even go away the first time he culls it!)
Euros tend to focus on complex interlocking mechanics that create engaging strategic puzzles. Thematic integration is often less important to the design. In fact euros will often start as just mechanics and then publishers will add a theme on top of it. Not saying that's what happened with Arnak specifically :)
0:00 - Introduction
2:36 - Round 1
12:05 - Round 2
19:57 - Round 3
26:56 - Round 4
34:44 - Round 5
41:40 - Final Scoring
43:10 - Updated Impressions
Great video. Can't wait to get this to the table.
Thanks! I already liked the game, but this was a big step up for it
So Jealous. Most awaited expansion this year for me!!!!!! Great as always Mike!
I hope everyone gets it delivered soon. It's a blast!
Oh man, need to re-look at Arnak. Kind of missed this the first time, need to see of I can find the expansion...
Like I said at the end of the review, the expansion is great, but honestly most of my complaints were fixed by the PNP expansion/web app, so if you only find the base game it still might be worth a play.
@@OneStopCoopShop duly noted! Especially good as I really can't seem to find the expansion anywhere... ah well, can find a base game easily. Thanks again!
Just managed to order a copy of the expansion in the UK. Excited. This is one of mine and my girlfriends go-to games. Bit disappointed they didn't include any of the P&P solo stuff in the expansion. Given that the base game solo got a bit of criticism it would have been a good opportunity to give back and include some of that extra stuff given that some people might not know the online stuff exists or not want to use the web app.
Totally agree. I was surprised it wasn't in the box too. Not a huge deal... I don't mind using the app. But I can't imagine it would have cost them THAT much to include 10 extra tiles or so to cover all of the solo stuff except the campaign.
On 11:53, when AI collected the NEW idol token, Does the new rules in the new rule book said, it is count as 3 points? ("Your rival's first new idol is worth 3 points, just as all the other idols are, even though it is not illustrated on your rival's board.")
Ah, I think you are correct!
Thanks for the playthrough.
I believe that in 20:10 tha AI should have research to the right column and not to the left.
Oh sorry! I should have explained that better in the video. In this particular temple board, the magnifying glass ALWAYS goes left at that spot (to the artifact) and the book ALWAYS goes right. They have little icons to indicate this right on the board.
+10 to collection count for repurchase CONFIRMED
Well, to be fair, they sent it to me both times… 😅
my problem with playing a physical board game solo vs A.I., is all the setup and cleanup time and then I play the game in same amount of time as both of those combined. Give me a digital version then so all playing no setting up and cleaning up
Sure, makes total sense. Whereas I find, for me, that the app handling everything means that things go too quickly and I miss the nuance of WHY things are happening. It's especially terrible for automated euros.
Thanks Mike, I'll be looking at this one again too. Do you know of you'll be covering Dune Imperium with the expansion? Would be great to hear your updated impressions with that one too, assuming they would change of course :)
Probably not, because whereas Arnak was a game I really enjoyed, except for some fixable complaints, dune: imperium didn’t work much for me solo at all, and to my knowledge the expansion doesn’t address any of that.
But dune IS a great game for multiplayer!
@@OneStopCoopShop I played Arnak base game multiplayer, and all of us liked a game with player interaction. As a result, the game was very meh... I haven't played this expansion, but for a solo game, there are a bunch of games that are better (pandemic, Aeon's End, and marvel champion). For a multiplayer game there are also a bunch of games that are better (pandemic, Aeon's End, Dune Imperium, The Crew, and and Beyond the Sun).
As a result, I personally do not see the value of Anak.
I enjoy this more solo because as you said the interaction is fairly limited with multiple players. And I agree that an actual coop game like Aeon’s End is generally going to beat a solo variant for a multiplayer euro.
Did you draw a card at 38:28, but didn't like it and changed it for the rope? The editing is not perfect 😉
Yikes, you might be totally right! This was a rough recording session. Usually I go straight through in one long take, but my kids kept getting out of bed so this ended up being 3 or 4 videos stitched together and I had to rewind actions a few times.
I’m a dirty cheater and must be exiled!!!!
@@OneStopCoopShop No worries. We all cheat sometimes when playing solo. We all play to have a good time and sometimes after some bad rolls all the fun is gone.
@@squpersqup4357 I caught it and couldn't help but laugh with a "naughty naughty, I saw that". But you're absolutely right, even the best of players I know have admitted to an edit or two when playin solo.
I quite liked playing this recently but quickly came to the conclusion it would get very static after a couple of plays. It’s kind a beginners or entry level mage Knight. Art is nice.
The expansion definitely helps a lot with that, though if you are looking for more mage knight, just stick with mage knight :)
@@OneStopCoopShop sometimes Mage Knight is just too much,,,, Mage Knight. 🤭
So if you go to an already discovered dig sight you dont have to pay the compass cost?
Correct. At that point they are treated like any other worker placement spot, and you just need the indicated travel icon (boat, etc.)
Paying the compass cost is balanced out by the gains of exploring a new site, namely the idol on it and first crack at the monster (if you can kill it).
0:18 FYI. not seeing any Klingon subtitles option. Just the auto-generated English.
Only question I have at the end of this one is where you get the solo cards with the goals you have to get to before the AI or they gain 2 points. Are they included in newer printings, or are they downloaded from the web somewhere?
EDIT: Okay. This is answered at the very end of the video. It seems either app or print and play.
@ChimeratAlpha I think those are a PNP thing? Or if you use their free app they have everything for solo in a really nice presentation.
PS - Colin used to do Klingon subtitles. I don’t use them. Check the other comments or the video description/pinned comment. I’ll point out big errors there
@@OneStopCoopShop I did find downloads on their website as well as the web app.
The only issue with an app is that it may require the internet to play, which limited use when camping.
Thankfully, I do have a nice printer and cardstock, so while I may try out the app at home, I'll still have the cards to fall back on. (And they'll be in colour! :p)
Where can I find the CGE app you mentioned at the beginning? TIA!
It's a web app. You can find it here:
solo.arnak.game/
Thank you Mike; as always, a great playthrough! One comment though, I think the guardian power you used at 30:40 was an instant power (indicated by the lightning bolt) and should have been used immediately when you overcame the guardian. So as far as I understand it, if you want to replace it using the card effect, you would have had to do it when you overcame the guardian.
I might be wrong, but doesn’t the lightning bolt simply mean it’s an instant action when you want to use it (and thus doesn’t count as your main action for that turn)? What makes you think I have to use it immediately? I don’t think any of the guardians work like that…
@@OneStopCoopShop I just checked the rulebook and it seems you are correct. I have been playing it wrong all along. I don't know where I got that idea. Even better playthrough than I initially thought 😉.
Thanks for checking! I believe pretty much the only immediate rewards are the faces of idol tokens when you discover a site, and the tokens when you advance on the research track. Pretty much everything else is use when you want :)
@@OneStopCoopShop Perfect, thanks Mike.
Biggest con is the expansion didn't come with the added solo tiles
I wish they had included those
Hows the balance between the leaders
Since I've only played solo, I can't say for sure, but so far it seems good!
Like the captain has the amazing power to use THREE workers a turn instead of two... but his starting deck is much weaker, with 3 fear cards out of 6 (and one of them doesn't even go away the first time he culls it!)
This game seems very abstract. Why do euro games always have that weakness it seems?
Euros tend to focus on complex interlocking mechanics that create engaging strategic puzzles. Thematic integration is often less important to the design. In fact euros will often start as just mechanics and then publishers will add a theme on top of it.
Not saying that's what happened with Arnak specifically :)