When you look at my games, I have played this year one of the most games played so far for me is Ark Nova.

I love Ark Nova – I am not good at it but I am usually happy to play it if it makes it to the table.

Ark Nova is a game where you plan and build a modern, scientifically managed Zoo and gain reputation by sponsor projects, support conservation and gain reputation by getting animals in your zoo.

A lot of people will probably tell you it’s like Terraforming Mars.

It’s true both games use tags on cards and a tableau building but that’s where the similarities stop.

In Ark Nova you need to adapt your strategy with more card draws. In Terraforming Mars, you are looking at card combos getting your engine going. This is not what Ark Nova is about although certain cards have that element too.

In Ark Nova you have different maps available for your zoo. You start with 25 money and at the start of the game each player has randomly 8 cards in hand. In addition to this you also get two endgame scoring cards in your hand.

Out of the starting 8 cards you need to select 4. The way you select them is dependent on what you need to achieve during the game.

At the start of the game, it is also visible to all players some goals which you can (not must) achieve in order to get conservation points.

Each player has 5 action cards at their disposal and during the game you start upgrading those action cards as this makes them a better action on your turn.

The action cards get randomly put into order from 1-5. The higher the position of the card on that track the more you can usually do with hat action.

For instance, if you want to draw cards you can play the Cards action but depending on the position on the track you are allowed different numbers of cards. If you have upgraded your card action, then you are also able to snap cards specifically from the card market.

The other four actions are: Building, Animals, Association, and sponsor.

Each action does something different.

Building: Building different sizes of enclosures, kiosk or pavilions. The size of the enclosures depends on the track position. Upgraded you can build special building.

Animal card lets you place animals into the enclosures, and you have to pay for it. Animals need different size enclosures and therefore give you different ticket sales which is part of your income. Upgraded you can place more than one animal at the time if you have the money to pay for it.

Association lets you gain science points, increase your hand size, get partner zoos on different continents etc. This is needed to decreased costs of animal placements in enclosures and to upgrade your cards.

Sponsors lets your play cards into your zoo which tends to increase your money or depending on the animal placed in subsequent turns. Or it can just give you plain money. Upgraded you can play multiple cards and/or double your money you are receiving depending on the track position.

All sounds quite complicated and to a certain extend it is. Not only do you need to keep an eye of what you need for your zoo or what you want to achieve but also keep an eye what your opponent is doing.

At some point the end of the round is triggered (usually by using the Sponsor or Cards actions) and at that point the card market gets two new cards, the person triggering the end of the round gets an X-token and you gain your income.

X-token can be collected throughout the game and they can be used to change the position of your action cards on the track.

The end of the game is triggered when a player has reached 100 points and then the other player(s) have one last turn. After that all scores are tallied up and the person with the most conservation points wins the game.

I find the game fascinating and frustrating at the same time. I try to be better at it but then also can’t get use to the idea of keeping track of everything and changing my strategy all the time.

If you want to try the game, then boardgamearena is a good way of trying the game.