Ark Nova

If you don't mind a heavy zoo game then this is the game for you! The engine-building aspect of this game makes my brain very happy, although it is a long game. The rulebook is thorough and goes into a lot of detail, but there are videos you can watch online to help explain the tutorial game. I love the polyomino aspect of this game, building the different parts of your zoo, and then getting to put your animals in different enclosures before potentially releasing them back into the wild. Overall a very complex game, but definitely lots of fun! I'm interested to see how the Marine Worlds expansion will add to the gameplay and whether it will streamline the length of play.

This game deserves its high ranking in the board game charts. It ha a great animal theme, not too complex to learn, but has a lot of depth. There are a lot of different directions you can take, and a huge diversity of cards keep it interesting over multiple replays. We have played over 40 times and I still loving it. Plays best at lower player counts, especially two or three.

Ark Nova is simply brilliant. The hype makes sense with this one.
It does Zoo theme like no other game has managed before.
The way the parts interconnect to have you building your own zoo while creating partnerships and supporting conservation projects around the globe works really well, making the theme more appealing. In short, you're not just grabbing animals and putting them in enclosures.
The gameplay is card driven and it gets you thinking about which card to use when (out of a choice of 5). Generally, the longer the card stays unplayed, the better its power becomes, but you're competing with other players so, sometimes, you have to rush a card play before what you need is taken away.
The gameflow works brilliantly through the use of coffee breaks (income phase) that can be triggered by any player at any point in the game and everyone gets to collect their rewards.
Solid design.

The fact that Thirsty Meeples happened to have this beautiful box staring at me from their window just made my day.

Ark Nova is not a simple game. It is full of complexity and the first term you play it that complexity might overwhelm you. But the second play is a joy. The systems click in and make thematic sense; The graphics are clear; the decision space quickly narrows into something manageable; the focus that you take for your zoo becomes a passion.

It feels after a few plays tightly balanced. You must focus on doing something but as long as you maintain that focus you will end up feeling satisfied.

You might end up winning but whatever you will have built your zoo and that in itself feels good. This is the perfect game nigh game in that it has a clear winner but everyone leaves with their own story.

Your goal is to develop a successful zoo by forging partnerships with universities, completing conservation projects, carrying out research, and building the habitats for the animals in your care.

I've now played the game a few times and it really is deserving of the positive reception earned at Essen. There are many reviews acknowledging the influences of this game including the tableau-building of Terraforming Mars and the scoring from Raj of the Ganges, but the synergy of ideas offered by Ark Nova creates something new that should ensure it remains a breakout title once the hype has died down.

The quality of the components is superb and the game includes optional asynchronous boards to ensure meaningful replayability without a high overhead in new rules. As an added bonus there is also a solo mode which is well designed (and a good way to test your understanding of the rules).

I would strongly recommend pre-ordering as it is likely to go out of stock very quickly, and would also thank Thirstly Meeples for getting the copy to me so quickly.