Capstone Games Ark Nova Zoo Management Strategy Board Game for 1-4 Players

takes a while to learn, but once you learn it, it is my favorite game to play, takes a while at first but it gets much faster as you get used to the rules

I got Ark on a whim and minor recommendation from a friend of mine, and oh man, did it follow through. Ark Nova is a very large game about running a zoo while also taking part in animal conservation efforts across the globe. Turns happen one after another were players choose one of five actions like playing animal cards, building enclosures, assisting conservations, getting sponsors or drawing more cards. While turns are short, they do require quite a bit of strategy and forward thinking as another players action could force you to change your next move. There are a multitude of winning strategys available as well. My fist game was focusing strictly on primates, another player mainly aimed towards getting animals of a certain continent while someone else goal was to increase his fame through sponsorships. The game also supports nearly 250, beautifully photographed cards of animals all across the globe, making it a aesthetically pleasing as well! My only real gripe with the game is that the rules can be difficult starting out. Our group started the game and didn't really get into the flow of the turns for the first 2 hours; and when the box say an average game takes about 2 and a half to 3 hours, they mean it. So while the game is great, it's not really for new board game players or people looking for a casual game. All-in-all, a great game and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great time killer or who has a love of all things animals!

Such a fun game. Kind of a big learning curve but once you play a couple games it all clicks. Lot of different strategies, great card graphics and very fun. It is my wife's favorite game.

If you enjoy complicated loong games, this is for you! This is a thoroughly enjoyable game, but it does require a large commitment of time. Each time we have played it has taken around 3 hours. We love it and keep wanting to play it more and more! Even my 11 year old loved it and didn’t want it to end at the 3 hour mark 😂. It is really fun to design your zoo, collect animals, and make connections with other zoos.

Amazingly creative, fun and well made game! It’s one of our family favorites. It’s complex and requires a lot of setup but the experience is always fun for us and the game pieces and artwork are really beautiful. It’s also not a game based on destruction, imperialism and colonization so that’s a HUGE plus!

My husband and I really like board games, so we are more inclined than most to sit down and play a game more than once to learn the rules, just to be clear. That being said, there is a definite learning curve for this game. I think it would honestly be a real challenge for anyone who is not familiar with playing board games or some of the mechanics of tile placing games. Not to say that it isn't possible, but unless a person was really interested in understanding Ark Nova, I just don't think they'd find it fun. Anyways, it took us a couple hours for our first game, as we had to keep checking rules or forgetting "what happens when...", etc. However, after the first couple of games, our total playtime for a game dropped by about half, and we felt pretty comfortable with the rules after 4-5 games with just the two of us. All of the different mechanics have significantly increased the replayability for us, and we have since bought the additional maps and aquatic expansion. Several weeks later, we are still enjoying it! I think anyone who enjoys board games and/or has an interest in zoology would enjoy this game. I have an M.S. in Biology (evolution and ecology) and have also worked at zoos- I was surprised and impressed at how much research the writers and game designers clearly did for Ark Nova. The information was accurate (as much as can be expected for a game's depth), even down to WAZA and research funding, breeding programs, etc. This added another level of enjoyment for me especially. Again, highly recommend for board game connoisseurs and zoology buffs alike!

My husband and I play this almost every night. It’s nice to have an interesting 2 player game. Also works great when our 2 kids play too. I love the fact that you can’t really mess with the other players much.

This was a fun strategy game. It took us several hours to play the first time, since we had to learn the rules, but I think it will go much quicker the next time we play. It's a beautiful, high quality game. We had lots of fun!

Amazing game

À part la rejouabilité et la thematique du jeux, c vraiment bien pensé ... Chapeau pour l'editeur

Muy bueno, es dependiente del idioma, si tienen alguna persona que no pueda con en inglés si recomendaría buscarlo en español.

Bellissimo gioco che si basa sulla costruzione di uno zoo. Perfetto per chi ama gli animali e la natura. Le istruzioni sono molto lunghe e complicate, ma una volta imparate, il gioco è molto semplice. Le regole sono tutte esclusivamente in inglese.

This is such a fantastic game. I found the initial learning process to be a bit challenging but after watching a rules guide and playthrough online it really became an easy and strategic game to play. There are a lot of opportunities to focus on different strategies so I really enjoyed having multiple options to explore. Play time is about 90 minutes for me and my friend, but we have done 3 games in an evening because of how much we love this game!