Come and See the Animals in Ark Nova – Review

David Norris

May 1

Living in Queensland, I'm lucky to be so close to Australia Zoo. Like any fair dinkum Queenslander, I used to make the pilgrimage every couple of years before all this COVID nonsense. Going back as far as yelling Crikey! at Steve Irwin while he fed a two-meter long crocodile.

Entertainment aside, what I love about zoos is their investment in preservation and conservation. Ark Nova understands this and brings conservation to your tabletop. As your score is a combination of both your appeal as a zoo and the amount of conservation you undertake.

Now, although Ark Nova abstracts these metrics away through board game mechanics. It's still a game that keeps everything grounded by using real photographs of people, places, and animals instead of card art.

These photographs bring the game to life. With 128 animal cards in the game, you never get to see even half of the animals in each game. So while it's not as good as going to the zoo and yelling at animals to wake them; it's the next best thing.