Ark Nova Build a zoo where animals come first

Your whole zoo runs on five action cards: build enclosures, bring in animals, draw new cards, send out association workers, and play sponsors. The twist is that a card's power depends on where it sits. Use an action and it drops back to strength one, while the others climb. So the question is never just what to do, but what you can afford to do now.

It turns every turn into a small negotiation with yourself. You want to place that elephant, but the animals card is sitting at strength two, and grabbing it now would leave your build too weak for the kiosk you also need. That constant trade-off is the heart of the game, and it never stops asking.

This is not just about filling pens. Your zoo has two scores to juggle: appeal, which draws the crowds, and conservation points, earned by supporting real conservation projects around the world. The two tracks interact, and the game ends when they meet, so timing your push matters as much as your plan.

The 255 cards give you the tools: animals with their own abilities, specialists, unique buildings, and projects to fund. Sponsors bring in money, because enclosures and animals do not pay for themselves. You are building a business and a cause at once, and the best zoos manage both without letting either slide.