Exile cards -- What is your point of view?

[Florin Purluca]

Hi there all,

We all know that exile cards give strong options, but how about the fact that if you buy them early, mostly in the first round, you will have a good second round, but after that you will be left with a very weak hand.

From my experience, it is not that good to buy only exile cards, especially in the first round. You spend all your coins, but mostly I find hard to be able to play a good second round (advance on the track) and also get more coins to have the option to buy new cards.

After all the games I played so far, I think that the best strategy is to buy a mix of new cards (exile and standard) and avoid to buy only exile cards (mostly in the first round) so you can balance your future hands!

What do you think?

P.S. And yes, I know what we all feel when the Rough Map card is on display (exile to gain 3 Compass) and it is your play turn. And I also know what you feel when you buy a new card and Rough Map card is now available for the next player. And yes, again, I also know what you feel when you buy a new card and Rough Map card is now available for the next player, but the next player has no coins to be able to buy it, and then you buy it in your next turn!

[Yahyra]

Hi original poster (OP),

Thanks for the post, getting some discussion is nice.

As you grow in experience, and ELO, you will be able to know which cards are much, much better than others.

In general, I do not think it controversial to say, in 2p Arnak, some exile cards, like Hot Air Balloon, are extremely efficient and good and should be prioritized by players who are looking to win the game. On bird temple it is great, on snake temple it is even better given the scarcity of compasses on that map.

I highly encourage you to buy and use Hot Air B often. There are some posts on here, and board game geek, where people discuss arnak strategy. You will likely find many strong players rate that card, and others like it (like Rough map, which you mention), very highly.

Best wishes.