Res Arcana
Use a tiny personal deck, magical essences and unique artifacts to build a compact engine and race for monuments and Places of Power.
Use a Mage, eight artifacts and magical essences to build a compact economic engine.
Artifacts convert resources and trigger effects, while Monuments and Places of Power provide the main scoring race.
Why We Love It
Res Arcana creates a deep engine from a very small personal deck. Because you know your starting cards, the challenge is sequencing them efficiently rather than hoping to draw into the right combo.
About Res Arcana
Use a Mage, eight artifacts and magical essences to build a compact economic engine.
Artifacts convert resources and trigger effects, while Monuments and Places of Power provide the main scoring race.
Game at a Glance
Generate Essences
Build a reliable flow of magical resources.
Play Artifacts
Develop a tiny but highly synergistic tableau.
Use Powers
Convert resources through repeatable card abilities.
Race for Points
Claim Monuments and Places of Power before opponents do.
What is Res Arcana?
Res Arcana is Tom Lehmann’s 2019 strategy game for 2–4 players. Sand Castle Games describes a game of mages using essences to build artifacts, claim monuments and control Places of Power.
The base game is notable for giving each player only a small deck, making sequencing and card synergy unusually concentrated.
How the game works
Each round starts with collecting essences from cards and components. Players then alternate one action at a time: play an artifact, claim a monument or Place of Power, activate a power, discard for resources or pass.
The first player to pass gains first-player priority for the next round and swaps magic items. Victory is checked at the end of each round.
The decisions that define it
Because your deck is small, there is less room to rely on drawing the right answer. Strong play comes from understanding exactly how your cards convert one resource into another and when a Place of Power is worth pursuing.
Passing early can also be strategic if acting again is less valuable than gaining turn order.
Who is it for?
Choose Res Arcana if you want dense engine-building decisions in a relatively short session.
Choose Century for a lighter gateway economy or Terraforming Mars for a much larger card pool and longer development arc.
Learn Res Arcana in depth
Publisher sources & scope
Checked September 16, 2026. This hub covers the Res Arcana base game, not Lux et Tenebrae or Perlae Imperii.