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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.
Being my own person who makes my own decisions I immediately found a copy as soon as it hit the UK. While I can see where the comparisons to Terraforming Mars come from, this is not a retheme of the red giant, but its own beast indeed.
We Bought A Zoo
Ark Nova sees you and your fellow players bidding to become the most appealing and also conservation minded Zoo. Because Ark Nova isn’t Terraforming Zoo. It’s more like a collection of bits from other games herded into their own enclosures and given all they need to live healthy lives.
This makes for the odd scoring system that is ripped straight from Rajas of the Ganges. Essentially you have to score tracks that are attached and run in opposite directions. You have a scoring marker at the start of each one and the game ends as soon as one player makes them meet or cross. Players will score the difference between the markers. This often means that winning scores are low and losing scores are negative!
The track you will likely earn more on is called an appeal. It is a measure of how attractive your zoo is to the public and you will earn appeal in a few ways but primarily through adding animals to your enclosures. The other track moves you towards the end of the game much quicker but is more difficult to earn in good amounts. It tracks your efforts in conservation. This could be releasing animals to the wild or achieving certain conservation goals or just donating to the cause.
A third track that runs across the board along the top of the card display is called reputation. Again earned in a number of ways, and allows you a greater choice of cards during the game.
Zootopia?
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.
Each player has the same identical cards which can be flipped over to a more powerful upgraded version - although the most you can upgrade during the game is 4 of the 5 as there are only 4 opportunities to do so. Slots dictate how powerful the card is which is clearly stated on the card itself. The ‘Cards’ card will allow you to take more cards in slot 5 for example, than in slot 1. After a player has used a card, they removed it from its current slot slide the cards over and place the one used in slot 1.
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!
The build is how you build kiosks, enclosures and special buildings. Association lets you take actions on the association board. This is where you will contribute to conservation projects, partner with other Zoos and Universities and donate money.
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
This action selection mechanism is as easy to grasp as it is enjoyable to play. The waiting game of using actions at weaker levels to move up the other actions allows you to craft the order of your actions, but you must be prepared to change your plans. Over the course of the game, you can earn X tokens but only hold onto a total of 5. These tokens can be used to boost the power of your action beyond 5 even. This is only useful for some of the actions but useful nonetheless.
Of course, running a zoo is a busy business and you will need to take regular breaks. Handily this is managed by the break track and token. Whenever you take the Cards action you must move the broken token forward two spaces. When using the Sponsor action instead of playing a sponsor card you can move the broken token forward the same amount as the power of the action and take that much money. When the broken token reaches the end of its track some upkeep is performed allowing players to gain income among other things.
A lot of your time is spent looking at your action cards and trying to plan out your best route through them. Handily your player board also contains your zoo. Before you can play animal cards you will need enclosures of the right size and specifications. Usually, this is to be next to water or rocks.
Ark Mars
The similarities to Terraforming Mars come from the massive deck of cards that contain tags in a similar fashion to the big red game. The sponsor cards sort of feel like TM’s blue action cards but beyond that the influences come from a number of other games. While this means there isn’t really anything new here Ark Nova borrows from other games and uses those ideas in a consistent and thematic way.
The placement of animals is somewhat abstracted out but it’s done so in a way that keeps you in the game rather than having to fiddly around keeping track of things. This is handy because this isn’t a short game, even though the end may creep up on you more quickly than you might think.
Despite you being focused on your zoo there is a healthy amount of interaction through the card display and the association’s board. There are cards and advantages you will need to prioritise. There are also some cards that can have small negative impacts on the other players, but these are easily removed if those sorts of shenanigans don’t float your boat.
The components are solid for the most part in terms of quality. I’d have liked slightly thicker play mats, but this is made up for by the number included and the variety this offer - you can play all with identical basic sides or with unique sides. Included in the box are two storage trays which are ok but don’t fit the components neatly you will have to move some around in order to fit the lids back on. The strangest choice component wise is the mainboard. It’s a long thin rectangle when it could have been a standard shape. It makes it slightly awkward on the table and is a puzzling choice.
Petting Zoo
Ark Nova met and exceeded my expectations. It is a longish game coming in at least two hours, but it’s fairly straightforward to teach and fun to play. The challenge to manage both the scoring tracks and your action cards in the right order is one of fun rather than frustration.
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.
Ark Nova is not only one of the best games of Essen 2021. It’s one of the best games in my collection full stop.
