Tabletop games
Ark Nova
Have the most victory points: push your appeal marker as far as possible past your conservation marker.
- players
- 1–4
- minutes
- 150
You’ll need the game box. Marquoir sums up the rules and keeps score.
Setup
- Each player gets a zoo map, their five Action cards and 25 money.
- Draw eight zoo cards and keep four.
- Each player gets two final scoring cards, kept secret.
- The base conservation projects are placed next to the main board.
How to play
- On your turn, play one of your five Action cards: Animals, Cards, Build, Association or Sponsors.
- The strength of the action depends on the card's slot, from 1 to 5; once played, it goes back to slot 1 and the others shift along by one.
- You can also play a card without taking its action to gain an X-token, which boosts an action later.
- When the break track reaches the end, play pauses: everyone collects their income and the board is tidied up.
Scoring
- Appeal rises with animals and some enclosures; conservation rises with conservation projects and some supports.
- The final score is the gap between the two markers, read on the track; it can be negative.
- The final scoring cards are applied before reading the score.
End of the game
- The end is triggered when a player's two markers meet.
- Every other player takes one more turn, then final scoring is done.
- The biggest gap wins.
Frequently asked questions
Can you finish with a negative score?
Yes: as long as the appeal marker has not reached the conservation marker, the gap counts as negative.