Feuerland Spiele | Ark Nova | Board Game | Ages 14+ | 1-4 Players | 90-150 Minutes Playing Time

Product Information

This allows you to get the drop on your opponents and nab the most desirable and charismatic creatures before they get a chance. Naturally, how much you enjoy this kind of mechanic is going to depend on your feelings about drafting in games. Personally, watching my opponents wince when I swoop in on a card they’ve been eagerly anticipating is half the joy of competitive games but not everybody is as sociopathic a gamer as I am. The above concludes the setup of the game boards and it is now time to finally set up the player boards. Each player first gets one map that represents their zoo. There are 4 identical copies of a map marked as “MAPA” just below the notepad that could be used for your first game. In addition, the game includes 4 maps marked as “MAP0” for intermediate games and each of these 8 maps show a different asymmetric map on their other side (MAP1-8) for a more experienced player. For your first game, the starter version of the map is obviously highly recommended. There are a few niggles here though. The one exception to the generally high production values are the zoo mats themselves: as in Terraforming Mars, they’re constructed from a flimsy, lightweight card that feels destined to get damaged. Given the game generally has such high production values, this seems like an odd misstep on Feuerland’s part. Ark Nova is “heavier” than Terraforming Mars, with a weight of rules complexity that is comparable to Gloomhaven, probably the two most commercially successful complex games in the hobby’s modern history. Ark Nova has earned widespread acclaim since its debut at the Essen Game Fair in October, with much of the discussion online revolving around how fast the game has sold out in stores. I’ve played Ark Nova, and it is as good as the hype would have you believe, with plenty of strategy and long-term planning and brief turns to keep it moving. But it’s not one I’ll be breaking out with new or inexperienced board gamers. When you have placed the two organizers with all the tokens in play, you will be ready for your first turn. One personal note on the organizers: disregarding the comment in the rulebook, there is enough space in the organisers to keep all your tokens if you decide to merge a few of them together. I made the choice to have one of the organizers fully used for enclosures and one for the rest of the tokens but any alternative works as far as it speed-up your setup and play. A Red Panda? I Wanna See The Panda…

Ark Nova: Marine Worlds | Board Game | BoardGameGeek Ark Nova: Marine Worlds | Board Game | BoardGameGeek

The cards are Animals which lets you play your animal cards as long as you meet their requirements in terms of icons present in your zoo and enclosures. Cards let your draw cards from the central display depending on how high your reputation is. It also lets you snap if you use it in slot 5. Snapping allows you to take any face up a card without having to worry about your reputation. This allows you to secure that perfect card when you need it! Also, despite a gameplay loop built around filling empty enclosures with your unique menagerie, Ark Nova doesn’t feature any components to actually show this. When an enclosure is filled, you simply flip the tile to show it is now occupied or, in the case of aviaries, reptile houses and petting zoos, place a cube on one of the remaining spaces. I can’t help but feel that adding some animal meeples for this purpose would have really helped bring zoos to life – especially as the game already divides its critters up into seven handy categories. Each action is determined by its strength, which ranges from 1 to 5. For example, the build action only allows enclosures with a maximum size of the current strength to be built. Each association task requires some threshold of strength; for example, a 2 strength is needed to increase reputation, but a 5 strength is required to gain a conservation project. At the end of each action, the exhausted action slot is moved to the far left and others are shifted right, increasing their strength. Action cards may be upgraded to give players more bonuses; for example, upgrading the build action allows the player to construct numerous enclosures. 'X tokens' can be used to increase the strength of an action, adding one strength for each X token discarded. Players can hold a maximum of five tokens at any one time.

The end of the game is triggered when any one player's conservation and appeal markers have crossed each other, and points are gained through individual final scoring cards and victory points, the latter calculated by subtracting the appeal points [ clarification needed] from the conservation points. [1] Reception edit The main thrust of the gameplay is action selection which is done through 5 cards that each player has. These are laid out within 5 number slots below their zoo player board which are numbered 1-5. The Animals card is laid in the number 1 slot and the other four cards are random to the other slots.

Ark Nova - Capstone Games Ark Nova - Capstone Games

Wingspan raised the bar, but did so with a short rulebook and clear explanatory text on its cards. There are still communities of people out there who bang their head up against it, however, even with elaborate video tutorials available on YouTube. Ark Nova took me about 20 minutes to set up, after which I watched a nearly 40-minute tutorial video to learn how to play. I’ve played probably 500 different board games in my life, so I’m familiar with just about all of the mechanics involved here — but I’m in the extreme minority. With the return of Essen Spiele after a few covidy years away, we also saw the return of the game’s convention hype train. Allow with the impressive Boonlake and the gorgeous Bitoku, Ark Nova was one of the chosen ones. Early reports coined the phrase ‘Terraforming Zoo’ commenting on the heavy use of cards and the sheer amount included.Unbox Ark Nova and you’ll likely be greeted by one thought: the artwork and components are stunning. Every card features captivating artwork – I still descend into paroxysms of cute aggression every time I encounter the slumbering fennec fox or floofy alpaca. And while the images aren’t as unique as Wingspan’s inimitable avian illustrations, they do create the feeling of populating a vibrant, three-dimensional zoo.

Ark Nova | Board Games | Gathering Games Ark Nova | Board Games | Gathering Games

The Sponsorship card allows you to take on new sponsors who might provide more income, discounts on certain animals etc and other very useful benefits. These sponsors have requirements for the strength of your sponsor card. As a testament to the game, almost everyone I’ve played with has wanted to own the game after the first play. There is an awful lot of content here including variety and a solo mode. The solo mode is simple to run and doesn’t require a lot of upkeep. For me, I prefer that to a full AI you must run as well as your own turns. Each player has a set of five action cards to manage their gameplay, and the power of an action is determined by the slot the card currently occupies. The cards in question are: Lastly, the Sponsors card lets you play sponsor cards which allow you to play sponsor cards, which can give permanent upgrades, unique buildings, end game scoring and so on. A Fish Called Wanda Note that some of the maps instruct players to place empty enclosures or features at game start. The expert-level maps also have asymmetric abilities players can use.

All cards are very self-explanatory and all conditions and effects are listed on them very clearly. A brief summary: Ultimately, there’s a reason Ark Nova has been one of the hottest board games of 2022. It offers a captivating theme akin to zoo-building computer games like Planet Zoo or Zoo Tycoon, while its components are – for the most part – both pleasingly tactile and delightfully designed. The Association card allows you to send one of your workers to the Association Board which could provide you with partnership opportunities with Zoos from different continents, the assistance of universities, and the ability to complete conservation projects and score big points.