Ark Nova - Board Game Review - Witness My Animalistic Side!
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- Опубликовано: 29 июл 2024
- Ark Nova Board Game Detail Review!
One of the hottest games of 2021! Can we really end 2021 on a high note and save the year?
In Ark Nova, you will plan and design a modern, scientifically managed zoo. With the ultimate goal of owning the most successful zoological establishment, you will build enclosures, accommodate animals, and support conservation projects all over the world. Specialists and unique buildings will help you in achieving this goal.
Check out Paul Grogan's Tutorial video at:
• Ark Nova - Tutorial & ...
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Who Am I?
One single batchelor from the UK talking about his passion for board games and the people who play them! I support small content creators, board game cafes and go against the status quo when it comes to the board game industry. I give my honest opinions without bias towards any publishers or designers and will not hold back if I don't like a game.
The Broken Meeple is a variety channel that hosts all kinds of board game content from reviews to Top 10 lists to playthroughs to live stream collaborations with special guests (predominantly small channels who deserve more exposure).
I look forward to engaging with you, the community on my live streams or in the comments on my videos!
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Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
02:05 - Overview
03:30 - Duration
05:21 - Ease of Play
09:11 - Tactics & Strategy
13:52 - Aesthetics
16:35 - Immersion
19:27 - Longevity
22:25 - Summary and Verdict
#brokenmeeple #arknova #capstonegames #boardgames #boardgame #lukehector #supportsmallcreators #boardgamegeek #game #tabletop #tabletopgames #bgg #boardgamer #boardgamereview
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Игры
woah yeah baby right on time! I was looking to do in depth video 'research' on this one today and you are one of my fav reviewers for that! I am so glad this is a good one cause I am very into the theme and there just hasn't been a heavier game that uses it.
Yay! Thank you!
"Oh my God. i loooove this game!" By far, my favorite parr of this review was your reaction! Great review overall too!
Glad you enjoyed it! Certainly I don't hold back, good or bad!
I'm hearing very consistent praise & enthusiasm for Ark Nova! I hope I get a chance to play it. There are some folks in my game group that tend to be able to get their hands on some I'd these new games quickly. Great video!
Thanks! Happy holidays!
Your review was great! Now preordered because of it. Thanks Luke!!
A passionate review. I am looking forward to playing this next year. Thanks for the review.
You're welcone!
I can't wait to play this game! Already requested it at my friendly local game store.
After you sing your reaction and Tom Vassals it is a must have!
It's so good!
Yaaaay! I pre-ordered this game. Excited by Luke's excitement and I love TM
Thanks and glad it was helpful!
This was a very entertaining review, well done. As someone who buys 1 or 2 games a year I am looking forward to this one.
Thank you!!
awesome review has some of my favorite mechanisms and the theme seems integrated and the setup time even with the solo ai seems reasonable.
Agreed!
It's been a long time since I saw you so excited about a game. Did you have a coffee (or 10) before filming this? :)
Coffee every morning by default! :P
"I award you no points; and may God have mercy on your soul." That was quite pleasantly timed...lol. I ordered this from Game Nerdz about a month ago (technically this is what Becky is giving me for Christmas). I got to watch some folks playing this at BGG Con and it looked as great ni person as I thought it looked on Paul Grogan's video. This was an excellent review and answered my solo questions :)
Thanks and glad it was helpful!
Got my copy today… soooooo excited to play over Christmas!
Lucky you!! I'll see no one that could play it over Xmas. 😁
Defo should check out zoo-ography too. I love that it has a zoo theme that is easy to teach quick to play and if u can get the inexpensive deluxe version, some awesome animal shaped meeples to complete the immersion
We finally got it and it was an instant 10 for us, we're over 8 games in and we love it. I'd missed your review on this and wanted to see what you thought, seems like you like it almost as much as we do ;)
Great to hear!
Great review Luke! I'll stick with TM since I prefer the area control element of the central board. Thanks!
What? Noooooooo!
TM and Ark are very different games. If you really want area control play Eclipse.
@@KesSharann I'm good. Thanks.
Played this once on TTS and immediately preordered it. Can’t wait to get my copy! Definitely my type of game.
Good call!
Great review, I like your enthusiasm. After watching GamingRules and JonGetsGames playthroughs, I have also concluded that Ark Nova looks like the best of the 2021 games. But, you don't need to put down the #4 game all-time, which may annoy your audience. Terraforming Mars is a masterpiece that has withstood the test of time.
You must be new here hahaha. Luke DGAF what anyone else thinks about a game lol
@@readilium3432 Haha clearly 😂 For my part, I am not annoy at all when Luke is trashing my favorite games (and I have some reasons to be as one of them is Concordia lol). I prefer to have a real opinion, that’s why I love his videos
Everyone knows I am only lukewarm on TM - and also what games I don't like at all! :D
I absolutely, totally agree! Ranked this game already by BGG bevor watching your video. What else than a 10! Brilliant. Especially for me as a biologist! Perfect one.
I've learned a few animal facts just playing this game with mates more experienced than me 😜
Two reviewers now have given this top spot on their top ten list. Fortunately for me, this one is a heavy euro with no miniatures. I'm in!
GO FOR IT! :D
@@TheBrokenMeeple I plan to, but my retailers won't be getting this until after Christmas. You said components are fair. Not a turnoff for me. The only thing I can find mentioned by any reviewer that holds me back is that the barrier to entry is tough. Expecting a rough first game concerns me a little. Like, if it's that hard to get into on the first play, my friends may not be keen to give it a second go. Not a big concern, just one to note. The best way to overcome this, I've learned, is to know the game rules well enough to teach and answer questions on the fly without turning to the rulebook.
Can someone explain to me what is there thematic interpretation of the break system. I know there is a coffee symbol which indicates its literally taking a break. But I find it hard to understand why different players with different zoos are all affected by the same break meter
Everyone likes to be social with their coffee 😁
Absolutely brilliant! I loved both games of this that I played so far (in person and on TTS) and am happy that I received a copy from my Secret Santa. Like quite a few folks, I utterly loathe Terraforming Mars, due to it's fiddliness, lack of art direction, and for hours of playtime in which I'm not terraforming anything. By contrast, I'm always building out my zoo whether physically (enclosures) or by adding new and exciting animals.
Glad you enjoyed it! The video and the game! :P
I would agree with you 2021 although a great year overall for board games I can't say that I was hammered with most releases. I enjoyed Anno 1800, furnace, architects. It maybe the end of the year going into 2022 is better, just got Ark Nova, Imperial Steam and Magnate look very interesting.
It's basically a 2022 game. The fact no one could get it till basically summer 2022 proves as much. Who cares if it technically came out in 2021 if no one was able to acquire it?
Haha it's fair to say you're quite enthusiastic about this, then. Nice to see!
Very!
I can agree to this sooo much. Love it! It is soooo good.
Agreed Malvina Fis
Very helpful review!
Glad you think so!
I'm ok with multi-player solitaire to some degree but e.g. I didn't like paladins of the west kingdom at all. Anno 1800 is fine because you gotta watch the other player for trade. Would this be as solitaire as paladins?
You need to be aware of your opponents gunning for milestone objectives, but it's not the most interactive Euro out there - certianly more so than Paladins though.
This is the best game ever ! Burn down all the other ones at once ! Nice review :)
Thanks! Happy holidays!
I decided I couldn't wait - went ahead through with learning the game as solo then teaching with TTS. This game is excellent! Coming in as a Terraforming Mars (not AE) fan, I was intrigued and this video helped me to decide to try it. Well worth it and now I've got my pre-order in direct to the publisher because I don't want to wait to get the physical copy any more than I have to. This game is absolutely worthy of it's hype if you like heavier euros. Does it replace Terraforming Mars? In my case, no. Two big things that TM has IMO over Ark Nova (not saying which is better, yet, only what I value) - 1) Better player interaction due to drafting and shared board placements 2) Having a more steady stream of card choices early in TM from the start. In Ark, you have to work up towards having better card draws and it seems you end up with a shifting strategy limited by the card choices especially early. In TM, between corp, prelude, and early supply of cards with drafts you can quickly narrow to a functional strategy and often stick to the main concept most of the game. This makes it where the early game (first round +) may be mostly just about exploration of strategy while you can have in TM a strategy as the game begins. That said, the HUGE fun of Ark is in how much interaction there is between the various actions you take and how it forces you to think about more than just how much can you afford this turn. Between the two, Ark Nova is certainly going to have you actually thinking more about every turn you take instead of just here are the two cards you want to play this round plus frivolous actions after.
Good read, glad you enjoyed Ark as much as I do!
Well... I love TF (w/ prelude). Gotta try this out. Even more now after hearing both Tom and Luke absolutely ecstatic about it.
All true words!!
It’s the lack interaction that bugs me. Sounds a lot like multiplayer solitaire. I know that’s fine for some but might as well play it solo. For us, interaction is what makes us come back to games and remember game nights. I don’t think I ever had a chat with my mates about e.g. Wingspan or Feast for Odin where we remembered a certain moment. I fear the same will be true for this game. Now the last time we played Brass Birmingham and stole the beer or played TM and nuked someone’s production…simply beautiful. Even Anno’s positive player interaction is beautiful and makes you feel like you are having a shared experience where all players are connected. This trend of well designed and thinky solitaire experiences however is not for me
It's more solitaire than TM but you still have to pay attention to other people particularly in regards to goals and coffee break triggers. Your type of interaction is also "mean interaction" which in a 3 hour game is not warranted. You've spent 2 hours building something up only to have one card or action destroy it for good like in Brass or TM, that isn't fun. And Anno has better interaction, just wish the game itself was a bit more interesting and balance the industries better.
This is exactly my play group also we don't like games that have very little interaction.
@@TheBrokenMeeple It certainly does not have to be mean. Shared infrastructure type of interaction is also something I really really love (e.g. Great Zimbabwe). In TM the central board and the two tracks really remind everyone that they are playing a game together. The fight to place the forest optimally is a lot of fun. This game‘s central board seems largely superfluous tbh. It’s a points track
I never talk to my mates about past games at all. We just look forward to the next one.
This has a bit more iinteraction than i thought at first, but it's not huge. If you want a deep Euro game with more interaction, try Wendake, Beyond the sun or Gaia Project.
I had started with euro games, I learnt my trade on them :) Then, relatively recently, I tried a lot of co-ops and also a lot of ameritrash or quasiameritrash and I must say the more I play those games the more I appreciate the multiplayer solitaire the euros provide. Sure, it's fun to have an action-packed weekend fighting over an island here or a planet there, but at the end of the day, I'm just the happiest when I can push some cubes, rev up my engine, feed some cities or dwarfs, or, in this case, help with conservation efforts by putting pretty birds in huge aviaries. My copy arrives today (of Ark Nova, not the aviary :P)
Hey, have you played it? How so you rate it?
@@-Ambos- Hi! Yeah, I've played several games now, in all player counts save for solo. I really like this game. The theme is amazing, I'm a biologist and I worked in a zoo therefore I'm so glad to see a game promoting the conservation efforts zoos make (as far as possible while still keeping up the gameplay and mechanics normal, of course). Anyway, the game flows amazingly right up until the very end, the very last move or last few moves is where everything grinds to a halt when everyone gets analysis paralysis, because it's very easy to calculate your final score and guesstimate your opponents'; just beware of that, it can get slow towards the end. And, finally, the deck is HUGE, so there is randomness in that, don't expect to see all cards and you might get frustrated during some sessions when you're waiting for a certain card or cards and they never show up. Not an issue for me, but might be for some. :)
@@CrazyBunnyGuy Hey, thank you so much for sharing your Impressions. I am quite new to board gaming and I am thinking about this or Brass Birmingham or Lancashire.
What you described Sounds nice. Now I lean towards Ark Nova
@@-Ambos- You're welcome :) In all honesty, you might just as well get both Ark Nova and Brass (whichever one you prefer). You said you're new to this, it only gets worse, soon you'll be buying games by a truckload might just as well start now ;)
I have Brass B and we really like it, it's a very very tight game, fixed number of rounds, extremely tight economy, you feel as if you can't do anything but then combos start to happen and you get to experience that thrill of a well played turn :)
Well I was contemplating about getting Terraforming Mars, as one heavy game in my collection, however you convinced me to wait for this one :)
Woot woot!!
From what people have said so far, TfM with Prelude may be a better choice if you don't want 3, 4, 5 hour games
Get both
those are coins from Villagers at @4.33 right?
Indeed!
For heavy gamers only? Ugh! I love everything about it but the extreme complexity. So just run do not walk away? Heaviest games played to date is Obsession and Iki (we love theme) and we wanted to try a tad up in complexity but obviously not this up. Is there a way to cut out some of the complexity or nope it is what it is?
You can switch out any take-that effects for normal abilities on cards which is cool. I think you can manage this fine just accept that the first game is a learning experience.
It's really not that complex once you've played it a few times. It's only complicated when you're new. Once you figure it out and it clicks/becomes second nature it's pretty straightforward. It just depends how much experience you have with games that make you think like this. It's no different than "meaty/hard" games like Terramystica. The more you play the better you get.
Have you played the marine-expansion?
Yep indeed, Ill do a video in new year
Capstone for the win!!! Congrats Clay!
I doubt he's watching! :P
@@TheBrokenMeeple He definitely is. Think about it, if you knew someone had a video talking about something you had created, you wouldn't be able to not watch.
@@readilium3432 Though it's actually Feuerland who created the game
Hi Luke - I have felt the same about games in 2021- finally a good game I can get excited about! And you just added to that hype :) I just can't figure out (been following your channel) why you don't like TM - because apart from theme - they are pretty similar in many respects. And you like interaction and TM does that better (communal Mars vs private zoo's in Ark Nova) - have you been asking yourself what is rubbing you the wrong way about TM and does not exist here? I'm really curious to know. Btw Ark Nova is an insta buy, on its way too :D
TM drags on for far too long and there's a lot of luck of the draw in the cards. In Ark Nova you can find use in many cards even if you don't find say another bird you'd like. But in TM, drawing cards that are useless for you makes for a very boring round of "add one microbe here". I've warmed a bit to TM, but only if 3 players max and with Prelude.
What is the best place to order this game in the States?
Capstone games direct I guess?
Support your LGS.
Have you played “Sanctuary: endangered species”?
Nope, not sure I'm aware of that one.
I played this last night. A very good game. One thing I wasn't a fan of what the font choice on the maps and main board, quite difficult to read in a couple of places. And for a animal zoo themed game you need to play is Aqua Garden.
Ha ha is that the one you bring every week? I still need to try that some time and you're getting your moneys worth! 😄
I don't have a problem with reading the text but I guess that just means that Lasik did its job! Love this so much. Still annoyed I ain't got my physical copy yet.
Do you know Habitats (2016)? Its tile drafting/placing wildlife park builder. It can be played casually, but if you play with "gamers", it can get pretty thinky (i like this aspect in games, because i can play with new players and just chill, but it can also melt my brain if i want to). Its really hard to optimize this puzzle to 100%. Drafting area has elements of blocking and almost very light area of control. You need long term planning, but you also need to know when to abandon plan to score some demanding animal and draft a plant instead :) I played it only once, so my experience is limited.
No, not heard of that one. I'll look it up thanks!
Hmmmm really want to try this one
Looks good but long heavy euro don't hit the table often enough to get this. Plus I already have TM and it's not played enough also :p
Prob not for you then, though this is faster than TM I feel including solo.
I heard somewhere that the theme was set before the mechanics because the designer loves zoos.
Good for him, because it shows here. Ok we're not talking theme dripping from every card, but I think swapping the theme out for something else would be harder than it seems.
I've pre-ordered it. The only yhing that worries me is that it might be a bit too long. Finger crossed that games don't last 3h at 3 players.
In your first game learning it, maybe. But once comfortable, no. I played a 4 player game tonight where 2 people had only watched a video playthrough and we finished in 2.5 hours. 3 players should never last 3 hours under normal conditions.
This is what I was hoping Wingspan would be
It's a jump up from wingspan 😁
So it is like Terraforming Mars but even less interactive?
Only the cards is similar except you don't draft them. Otherwise it's fundamentally different. You still have to consider what they do because of the milestone project scoring. Let's face it, the only real interaction in TM is "I'll build a city next to your trees and get points" or "here is some crippling take that card"
@@TheBrokenMeeple There is mild interaction in Terraforming Mars, not a whole lot. And I feel that the "take that" cards are really stupid in that game. There isn't a whole lot of them.
@@TheBrokenMeeple Sigh, the Draft IS interaction first of all.
No it's nothing like TM.
Hi there, great review
My two big doubts about why i'm not sure taking this game and wich could be negative about it : TOO MUCH CARDS... (why so many... there was absolute no need AT ALL to make so much cards... as they're not necessary as we don't refresh the market that much...) (to me, in this game, its hurting more than it's make it better), and second : The room it takes on the table. (even if i have a big large table)
Cheers
I find I can keep the table space down to a decent level certainly compared to some games. I'm all down for more cards though. All that variety in the box.
What’d you replace your money tokens with? So right the money does suck! Game is awesome!
Finister Fish's coin chest
For an $80+ game the components should have been better.
I've actually now replaced them with iron clays from the brass game
Maybe I will try. Hopefully it is better than Arnak...
Ooooh tough one. . . .
Keyword Decent That’s the part I have a hard time with as all games seem to be decent overall for me after you play so many games the result is always the same look at all the games and say eh I just wanna play something new After playing that 5 times.
Well, I went and pre-ordered Ark Nova. Now I wait...
Just like me!! Still waiting on my copy! Thank conventions and TTS!
"it's not my mars, it's just The Mars". Really? Would it be more thematic if each player har their own mars?
You could have your own personal sector of Mars. Also it's more that I like to build my little personal "civ" or similar which Ark allows me to do.
@@TheBrokenMeeple that makes sense. So do you enjoy playing TM solo more than coop? (Even if it isn't really your favorite game?)
@@TheBrokenMeeple When corporations were sensitive about personal sectors in any industry? In TM you're playing not some humanitarian organization, you're playing corporation that wants to win most favor from earth government by participating in terraforming mars. You're not doing this for a bright future of humankind, you're doing it for profits first of all.
The first game that used that card River was Conan and not Civilization. 🙂
It's a similar system but I think different enough. In conan you had to spend more mana or something to activate a unit in quick succession but it was still at full strength.
@@TheBrokenMeeple sure, but the rotation of cards worked the same way, pretty sure Conan was the originator of it. Anyway I agree that we need more games with the system.
No one refers to Conan. It's Civ unless you're a weirdo.
@@ertai222 first, I am a weirdo, secondly generally the source of ideas is in earlier work and the later one.
Have you been stung by an adder during your last play....didnt get rid of that card? ;-)
Honestly, you are in the upper class when it comes to doing review
1.) Perfect video length
2.) Most importantly: a great structure = not just talking for 30min
3.) In-depth details so you exactly give reasons for your positive and negative points
4.) What I really appreciate and what is kind of unique: you give a rating per player count. This IMHO is key to rating and I do it myself in my database.
You would be a genious if you also gave some objevtive rating also for the sub-categories so that there is one final overview....even if it's just something like -, o, + and ++.
Even though I'm not a native speaker, it's super easy to understand everything even when just listening while doing something else and even though you are quite in a hurry (which in a positive way saves time).
*pushing arc nova from want-to-play to wishlist*
Thank you so much for your feedback!! 🤗❤️ Interesting point about doing a rating for each sub category..... Wouldn't be too hard to implement that for the new year.
I played this at GridCon too, but a 3 player game took us 5.5 hours….I still loved it bar the length, but really put the other two players off, along with them feeling there was no sense of escalation towards the end game. I think they’re just sore losers tbh…
I think you were the game we were really worried about as we were practically counting the hours and couldn't fathom why it was going that long! 🤣
Ouch. Just played a three player game. With teach the game took 3.5 hours. Which is still long.
Confirmation bias really works 😂 Whatever Luke doesn't like, I usually love, so it makes sense that I'd find this game utterly dry, fiddly and thematic-mechanically unbalanced. Easy pass.
Dry, fiddly and unbalanced, OK, how, double how and triple mega how?? And don't say TM is not any of those 3 things because that's a lie 😉
This game is nothing like TM. People need to stop comparing it as such.
Not a fan of TM much. I came from another video where you said it was a TM killer very intrigued!
It's nothing like TM.
Not by any means is bitoku dry. Dry and no theme is not the same. Bitoku has theme but less then this game but it does not mean is dry. And to be fair there is only one mars and more then 1 zoo. Not all games can be the same. And a game does not have to be a 10 out of 10 to save a year. Nothing wrong wioth good games and enough came out in 2021. 2021 is not a bad game year by any means. And i will die on this rock if i have to.
There are a ton of Mars games both in circulation and in production. Everyone jumped on that train after Terraforming Mars.
No I don't need loads of tens but more than 1 would be nice. And I certainly want plenty of 7s if not 8s to justify a great year but plenty barely got 6s
What theme does Bitoku have? You grab generic tokens that give bonuses. You move along a track for points. You create a track with cards which you move along for points. It's a lovely setting but that's not theme.
This game is basically 2022.
Sleeeeeeve? I would like to declare myself as anti-sleeve. I always say that if I play a game so much that the cards get worn out, then I've gotten my money's worth, and I'll gladly buy another copy. It hasn't happened yet. ;) Just keep greasy pizza away from my games. :P
With this though I wouldn't want to bet on being able to get a 2nd copy if that happened! :P
Sleeve your cards. I hate people who don't. Protect your investment. If you buy a new game because you didn't take care of it you're an idiot.
@@ertai222 $60 isn't an investment. It's a night out, or in (if it's a board game).