Teach the Game

Read this aloud: how you win Ark Nova, the boards, a turn, the end and every way to score.

How you win

“You run a modern zoo. Animals make it popular — that is appeal . Caring for species in the wild earns conservation points . The two tracks run towards each other: when your two counters meet, the game ends, and whoever pushed them furthest past each other wins.”

You need both. Appeal comes mainly from animals (each one played raises your appeal) and pays your income at every break. Conservation points come from conservation projects: you show you have enough animals of a kind, or release one into the wild. At the end your score is how far your appeal counter is past the conservation counter’s area — less than zero if they never met.

The boards

Game board: the Appeal track (0–113) and the Conservation track (0–41) running the opposite way, the Reputation track next to the display of 6 Zoo cards, and the Break track. Scoring areas.
Association board: tasks for your association workers — reputation, partner zoos , universities , conservation projects — plus the donation area. Association.
Your zoo map: hex spaces to build enclosures, kiosks and pavilions on; 7 player tokens on the left (bonuses for each project you support); partner zoo, university and worker spaces on the right; and the 5 Action card slots along the bottom. Your zoo map.

A turn

There are no rounds. On your turn you use one of your 5 Action cards:

Its strength is the number of the slot it sits in, 1 to 5 (X-tokens add 1 each).
Do the action: Cards (draw or snap), Build (enclosures, kiosks, pavilions), Animals (play animals into empty enclosures), Association (send a worker to a task) or Sponsors (play a Sponsor card, or take money). The five actions.
Move the card to slot 1; the cards to its left slide one slot right. The card you just used is now weak, the others grow stronger.

Instead of any action you may take 1 X-token (still moving a card to slot 1). Many actions push the Break token; when it reaches the end, a break follows that turn: discard to 3 cards, workers come home, the display loses its 2 oldest cards, and everyone takes income. Breaks.

Upgrades: four times in a game you can flip an Action card to side II (2 conservation points, a bonus space on the Reputation track, a second partner zoo, a second university). Side II does more: build several buildings, play cards from the display, donate. You cannot upgrade all five — choose. Upgrading.

How the game ends

When at the end of your turn (or during a break) your appeal and conservation counters stand in the same scoring area or have passed each other, the end is triggered. Everyone else takes one more turn (after a break: everyone, you too), then final scoring. Game end.

Ways to score

Source	When	What it gives
Animals	When played	Appeal (some also conservation or reputation )
Pavilions	When built	1 appeal each
Covering the whole zoo map	When it happens	7 appeal
Conservation projects	When supported	Conservation points (more for the higher levels)
Donations (upgraded Association)	When paid	1 conservation point
Sponsors	When played, every break or at the end	Appeal, conservation or money
Final Scoring cards (keep 1 of 2)	End	1–4 conservation points
Reputation past 15	When gained	1 appeal per extra step
Releasing an animal	When released	Lose that animal’s printed appeal (the project pays conservation)

Victory points = your appeal minus the lowest appeal value of the scoring area your conservation counter stands in. Highest wins; tie: most conservation projects supported. Each conservation point is worth roughly 2–3 appeal by the end — that is why the tracks have to cross.

What each resource is for

Money — why: buildings cost 2 per space, animals cost a lot. Get: income at each break (from your appeal, kiosks and some Sponsors), the Sponsors action’s money option, bonuses. Use: build, play animals and Sponsors, donate.
Appeal — why: income now and points at the end. Get: animals, pavilions, Sponsors.
Conservation points — why: they close the gap to win; track spaces 2, 5, 8 and 10 give bonuses. Get: conservation projects, donations, some cards.
Reputation — why: how many display cards you can reach; some Sponsors need it. Get: the Association task, universities, cards. Above 9 needs the upgraded Cards card.
X-tokens — why: +1 strength each, at most 5. Get: X-token action, reaching the end of the Break track, bonuses.
Association workers — why: each Association task needs one (two on a task you already occupy). Get: start with 1, hire more through bonuses. They come home at each break.
Icons (continents , categories , research , water , rock ) — why: projects, Sponsors and conditions count them. Get: animals, Sponsors, partner zoos, universities.

Teaching tips

First game: everyone on Map A, and suggest keeping 1–2 Sponsors and 2–3 cheap Animals from the opening 8 cards. Setup.
Teach the action row with a real example: use the card in slot 4, then slide it to slot 1.
Show the two tracks and point at where they will meet: appeal for income now, conservation to win.
Remind people of the X-token action — it is how you get out of a stuck turn.