Ark Nova is an excellent board game, but too complex for new players

Ark NovaThis is the most anticipated new tabletop game ever WingspanIn the first months of 2019, a whole epoch before, the game revolutionized the industry by transforming the way that games were perceived and sold. It’s now been three years. Wingspan — a non-violent game about wild bird populations — has sold over a million copiesIt is available at your local Target. That’s even with a $50 price point and a steeper learning curve than games typically sold through big-box retailers.

Ark NovaThe price tag of $75 includes a listing playing time between 90 and 150 minutes as well as a higher level of complexity. Wingspan. Yet I don’t think it’s going to see the same kind of mainstream success as WingspanIt isn’t because it costs too much, but rather because the barriers to entry for new players are simply too high.

Ark Nova is “heavier” than Terraforming MarsIt has a comparable weight in terms of the rules complexity. Gloomhaven, probably the two most commercially successful complex games in the hobby’s modern history. Ark NovaIt has received widespread praise since it was launched at the Essen Game Fair, October. Much of the online discussion revolves around the speed with which the game sold in stores. I’ve played Ark NovaThis is a great board game. It’s as easy as you think. But it’s not one I’ll be breaking out with new or inexperienced board gamers.

Mathias Wigge’s first game, Ark NovaIt allows players to create their own Zoos using their individual player boards. It combines a litany of ideas from other complex games in a sort of “greatest hits” mashup of mechanics, producing a satisfying intellectual challenge with very quick turns. Terraforming Mars’ influence here is a net positive, but Wigge has streamlined some of that game’s more frivolous complexities in order to avoid the analysis paralysis that infects a lot of heavier-weight games (especially those with economic themes).

Photo: Charlie Hall/Polygon

Each player has their own board with a blank zoo area of hex spaces on which they will place enclosures that they’ve purchased, covering one to five hexes each, and into which they can then place animals. Each animal has a minimum enclosure size requirement, and may require you to have other elements in your zoo — but nearly all animals also give some kind of benefit when you play them as well. Covering certain areas in your zoo can give you money and other benefits. Bärenpark), and as you add workers, partner zoos, or university tiles to your board, you’ll gain further immediate benefits (as in Great Western Trail).

There are five options for players to choose from (as shown in the following: Terraforming MarsThese include playing with animals and sponsor cards, building enclosures or using workers to take actions on the association boards. The strength of each action depends on how long it’s been since the last time you used it; they cycle through spaces numbered one through five below your player board, and in most cases you want to get an action up to four or five before selecting it. There are many ways to acquire strength tokens in the game. Once you have them, you can increase the power by 1 for every token that is discarded. You can play sponsor cards that offer an ongoing benefit as well as an opportunity to score points at the end of the game. Or you could take a break and advance the token for the break track by taking an income. Everybody gets income once the break token has reached the end. They can retrieve their workers and then discard down to three or five of their total hand sizes, as the central boards refresh. It’s a lot of moving pieces, but it all works well.

That’s in part because of the careful streamlining that I mentioned above. One is Ark Nova’s greatest strengths is that you collect just one resource — money — unlike in Terraforming Mars, where you’re tracking at least six. You make money Ark NovaGo round and you’ll likely find yourself in short supply of income many times during the first half. Your income is a function of how many points you’ve attained, so later in the game you’ll be flush with cash and better able to place large animals only if you’ve saved some cards and have the right enclosures. This allows the game to be more easily understood by beginners.

Scoring is a tedious task. Three tracks are used by players to move tokens. Only two of these tracks directly relate to scoring. Your most valuable points are those earned for playing an animal. The appeal track covers the majority of them. Nesting within the conservation track is the reverse direction of the appeal track. These points are more difficult to earn, particularly in the beginning of the game. But they can also give you significant bonuses if you get them. The game ends when one player’s appeal and conservation markers pass each other (as in Rajas of GangesYou then take one final turn, and all the other players get their turns. There’s also a reputation track along the market for the animal cards, and in most cases, you can only take animal cards up to the location of your reputation marker, so boosting that gives you more choices when you take the cards action.

Each player begins the game with two personal objective cards. This feature is unique among other games. Ark NovaYou can keep them both, but only one player must choose which to use once they reach 10 in the conservation track. There are three public objectives on the association board, and the spaces on those are limited — once someone takes the most valuable spot, it’s off-limits to all other players. The deck also allows you to acquire conservation cards. This is the same as getting animal or sponsor cards. After claiming one of your spots, you can make the card public.

One flaw: Ark NovaIt has little interaction among players, something that not everybody will appreciate. You can do some damage to your opponent’s opponents by hitting them with poison tokens or other animals from the main deck. The cards total 212. It’s quite possible to play an entire game and never even see these cards, and they only last until the next break; Wigge could easily have dispensed with them and spared players from learning three more icons. The only interaction is when another player takes something you want.

Photo: Charlie Hall/Polygon

Ark NovaThere is a lot to it, and a daunting setup for players who are less experienced. It is 20 pages long, with an additional appendix explaining sponsor cards as well animal cards that have unusual powers. There are several dozen icons that appear on cards and the board that you’ll have to learn, although the one-sheet that lists them all is clear and concise.

Ultimately, it’s a game someone has to teach you; I can’t imagine someone who hasn’t played a lot of games picking this up at a store and learning it on their own. It’s a fabulous game for people who know games, but as someone who plays all kinds of games and writes for an audience that includes a lot of casual gamers, I don’t think it’s fair to think of Ark NovaAs the next Wingspan.

WingspanIt raised the bar but provided a concise rulebook and detailed explanations. There is still a lot of resistance out there, even though YouTube has many detailed tutorials. Ark NovaAfter setting up the board, it took around 20 minutes. I then watched nearly forty-minutes of a tutorial video on 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.

It’s not the price, not with Return to Dark TowerThe upcoming is $175 FrosthavenThe price is $250. However, the complexity of the product will make it less appealing. Ark Nova. It’s an incredible game in just about every dimension — it’s just not the accessible title that’s going to cross into the mainstream and expand the audience.

Ark Nova Available now. Capstone Games supplied retail copies. The game was tested and photographed. Vox Media is an affiliate partner. Although these partnerships do not impact editorial content, Vox Media could earn commissions when products are purchased through affiliate links. Here are some links to help you find. additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.

Ark Nova

Price at publishing time.

• 1-4 players, age 14+

• Playtime: 90-150 minutes

• Game type: Drafting, set collection, and tile placement among others

• Category: Competitive game, solitaire game

• Similar games: Wingspan, Terraforming Mars