Ark Nova

Here is a general overview of how to play the game:

Setup

• Place the game board in the center of the table, put the Break token on the start space of the Break track matching your player count, place random Bonus tiles on the yellow bonus spaces, and set up the Zoo cards display deck (p. 3, 4).
• Each player chooses a color, places their appeal, conservation, and reputation counters on the tracks, places 7 player tokens on the left edge of their zoo map, takes an active association worker plus remaining lying-down workers, and takes a starter zoo map (such as Map A) (p. 5, 16, 20).
• Players receive a set of 5 Action cards placed under slots 1 to 5 on their zoo map, draw 2 hidden Final Scoring cards, draw 8 Zoo cards and keep 4, and a random start player is chosen for clockwise play (p. 5, 12, 16, 20).

How a Turn Works

• Ark Nova does not play in formal rounds; instead, players simply take single turns in clockwise order (p. 7).
• On your turn, you choose one of your 5 Action cards located at the bottom of your zoo map, shift it down to use its strength based on its slot (1 through 5), and perform that action (p. 7, 22).
• The available actions include Build, Cards, Animals, Association, Sponsors, and the alternative X-token Action (p. 8, 23).
• After performing your action, you take that Action card back into your hand, shift the other cards to the right, and place the used Action card into slot 1 (p. 22).

How the Game Ends

• The game end is triggered if, at the end of your turn or during a break, your Conservation counter and Appeal counter ever reach the same scoring area or pass one another (p. 19).
• Once triggered, finishing turns or final steps are resolved depending on whether the trigger happened at the end of a turn or during a break (p. 19, 20).
• Players then tally final scoring from Final Scoring cards and end-of-game card icons, and subtract their Target Number (found via their conservation counter on the scoring tracks) from their appeal value to find their Victory Points (p. 19, 20).
• The player with the highest positive Victory Point total wins, with ties broken by the most supported Conservation Projects (p. 20).