RuleRunner

Ark Nova rules

Build and manage a modern zoo, balancing animal appeal with conservation work.

Players
1–4
Time
90–150 min
Goal
Build a zoo that scores the best mix of appeal and conservation: your appeal and conservation counters move toward each other, and the game ends when they meet.

Ask RuleRunner about Ark Nova

How to play Ark Nova

Setup

Set up the shared table first, then each player builds their own zoo.

  1. Board: Put the game board in the middle, the Break token on the start space for your player count, and a random Bonus tile face up on each of the 4 blank yellow Bonus spaces. Return the other 5 Bonus tiles to the box.
  2. Deck and display: Shuffle the Zoo cards into a face-down deck on the board and deal 6 face down into the spaces provided as the display. Flip them face up once everyone has chosen their hand.
  3. Supply: Put the two organizers beside the board as the general supply.
  4. Association board: Place it beside the board with one partner zoo of each continent and one university of each kind on it.
  5. Base projects: Shuffle the Base Conservation Project cards into a face-down deck and turn the top 3 face up below the Association board (the top 4 in a 4-player game). They never move, and no new ones are added.
  6. 2 players only: Take 6 player tokens of an unused colour. Cover the left level of the left project card, the middle level of the middle card and the right level of the right card, plus the three left-column donation spaces.
  7. Final Scoring cards: Shuffle them face down nearby.
  8. Start player: Pick one at random. Turn order is clockwise.
  9. Your zoo: Take a random Map A zoo map, that side up, and one set of Action cards. Put the Animals card, side I up, under the slot showing 1, and the other four side I up in random order under slots 2 to 5.
  10. Counters: Choose a colour and put your appeal, conservation and reputation counters on the first spaces of their tracks. Your appeal counter starts on space 0 if you are the start player, 1 second, 2 third, 3 fourth.
  11. Tokens and workers: Put 7 of your player tokens on the left edge of your map (you use them to support conservation projects) and keep the rest beside it. Put 1 association worker on the notepad as your active worker and the other 3 lying down below it.
  12. Money: Take 25 money onto your notepad.
  13. Cards: Draw 2 Final Scoring cards and keep them hidden. Draw 8 Zoo cards, keep 4 and discard 4 face up on the board's discard space. When everyone has chosen, flip the display face up.

Your Turn

Each turn, use exactly one of your 5 Action cards.

  1. Choose an Action card: its slot, 1 on the left to 5 on the right, is the action's strength.
  2. Add X-tokens if you like: each adds 1 strength.
  3. Perform the action at that strength.
  4. Move the card to slot 1; the cards that were left of it shift one slot right.
  5. After finishing effects resolve now.
  6. Don't want any action? Take 1 X-token instead, and still move a card to slot 1.

Example: Your Cards action is in slot 3. You spend 2 X-tokens to make it 5 and snap a card from the display. It then moves to slot 1, and the cards from slots 1 and 2 slide to 2 and 3.

The card you use drops to slot 1, so think about which action you want strongest next turn.

The Five Actions

The Break

When the Break token reaches the end of its track, a break follows that turn. Everyone then:

  1. Hand limit: discards down to 3 cards (5 with a specific university).
  2. Clears up: returns Multiplier, Venom and Constriction tokens and all association workers, and refills the partner zoos and universities.
  3. Display: discards folders 1 and 2, slides the rest down and refills.
  4. Income: takes money for appeal and other income.
  5. Reset: the Break token goes back to its start space.

Appeal, Conservation and Reputation

Game End

  1. Game end: at the end of a turn or during a break, once your conservation and appeal counters share a scoring area or pass each other.
  2. Final round: if you triggered it on your turn, every other player takes one more turn; if during a break, everyone does.
  3. Final Scoring cards: if nobody reached 10 conservation, everyone discards 1 of their 2 now. Then score your remaining card and end-of-game icons.
  4. Solo game: it ends after 6 rounds of the solo tile; you win with at least 0 Victory Points.

Scoring and Winning

  1. Target Number: the lowest appeal value in the scoring area holding your conservation counter.
  2. Victory points: your appeal minus your Target Number. It can be negative.
  3. Winner: most victory points. The tie-breaker is most conservation projects supported.

Example: Your Target Number is 40 and your appeal is 47: you score 7. At 35 appeal you'd score −5.

Expansion rules

Only needed if you play with the expansion named on each heading.

Marine Worlds Marine Worlds

Adds sea animals, aquariums and alternate Action cards.

Zoo Map Pack 1 Zoo Map Pack 1

Zoo Map Pack 2 Zoo Map Pack 2

All Ark Nova rules (105)

Turn

Actions

Animals

Tracks

Association

Clarification

Sponsors

Break

End of Game

Solo

Zoo Map Pack 1 expansion

Zoo Map Pack 2 expansion

Marine Worlds expansion

Expansions covered

More about Ark Nova