Ark Nova
Strategy · Paid · 4.8 out of 5 from 1,230 ratings
Build and manage a scientifically-advanced zoo by strategically placing animals, constructing enclosures, and supporting global conservation projects across beautifully rendered cards.
Ask the finder — grounded in real reviews:
GenreStrategy
PricePaid
Difficultyhard
Ad intensitynone
In-app-purchase pressurelow
Typical sessionlong
DeveloperDire Wolf Digital
Rating4.8 out of 5 from 1,230 ratings
What players like
- Excellent faithful board game adaptation with great UI design
- Deep strategic gameplay with synergies between 255 unique cards
- Sound design and satisfying feedback on interactions
- Works well on iPad with impressive amount of information on screen
- Eliminates setup and rule tracking from physical version
Common complaints
- Frequent bugs: cards not leaving hand, score miscalculation, actions not redeeming properly
- Overlays and tabs obscure board state; hard to see full game at once
- Tutorial is confusing; players recommend skipping to YouTube guides
- Performance issues: drains battery, freezes on some devices after updates
- Excessively complicated for casual players with poor phone usability
What real reviews say
★★★★★ Fantastic Fantastic implementation of an awesome board game. Handles all the administration and lets you concentrate on playing the game.
★ Room for Improvement This may be a great game for someone who has played the board version, but for a newbie I cannot recommend it. The tutorial is skimpy, and the game rules section is far from clear on a number of items, not to mention the fact that it takes a bunch of clicks to get to it whereas it should be just one
★★★★★ Great tutorial Tutorial is really well put together to help new players quickly learn the rules of the game and experienced players lean the quirks of the app
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Data: Apple App Store, as of 2026-10-08. Last updated 2026-10-08.