# Ark Nova

> Strategy board game simulation of building and managing a scientifically managed zoo. (iPhone/iPad app by Dire Wolf Digital.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ark-nova/id6449233549 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Dire Wolf Digital](https://appshunter.io/developer/815343758)
- Category: Games, Board, Strategy
- Price: $10.99
- Rating: 4.80/5 from 1,166 App Store ratings · 123 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 15.0 · 682 MB
- Languages: Korean, German (Germany), European Spanish, American English, Italian, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified, China), Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan), French (France)
- Released: 2025-06-19
- Data updated: 2026-09-05
- Monetization: paid
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ark-nova/id6449233549/reviews.md

## What is Ark Nova?

Plan and build a modern, scientifically managed zoo to support conservation projects in an acclaimed strategy board game.

In Ark Nova, you will plan and design a modern, scientifically managed zoo. With the ultimate goal of owning the most successful zoological establishment, you will build enclosures, accommodate animals, and support conservation projects all over the world. Specialists and unique buildings will help you in achieving this goal. 

At the heart of Ark Nova are 255 cards featuring animals, specialists, unique enclosures, and conservation projects, each with a particular ability. Use them to increase the appeal and scientific reputation of your zoo and to collect conservation points. Each player has a set of action cards, which you will use and upgrade to carry out your plans.

Each player has a set of five action cards to manage their gameplay, and the power of an action is determined by the slot the card currently occupies. The cards are:

BUILD: Allows you to build standard or special enclosures, kiosks, and pavilions.

ANIMALS: Allows you to accommodate animals in your zoo.

CARDS: Allows you to gain new zoo cards (animals, sponsors, and conservation project cards).

ASSOCIATION: Allows your association workers to carry out different tasks.

SPONSORS: Allows you to play a sponsor card in your zoo or to raise money.

With high replayability and rich components, Ark Nova provides a remarkable gaming experience that will bring the game to the table again and again.

## Key features

- Plan and design a modern zoo
- Build enclosures and accommodate animals
- Support global conservation projects
- Utilize 255 unique cards (animals, specialists, projects)
- Upgrade action cards for gameplay
- Increase zoo appeal and scientific reputation

## Chart rankings

- #32 in Top Paid · Board (US App Store)
- #99 in Top Paid · Strategy (US App Store)

## What do users think of Ark Nova?

Overall sentiment: positive

**Pros**

- 🚀 Great implementation overall
- 👍 Lots of fun
- 👍 Good animations
- 👍 Choice of modes
- 👍 Clean, modern and enjoyable design
- 👍 Plays well on mobile

**Cons**

- 🐛 Tile placement/rotation issues on iPad
- 🐛 Building placement UI issues
- 👎 Difficult to read board state on mobile
- 👎 Lack of simultaneous view for key game info
- 👎 Cumbersome to create games with friends

**Commonly reported bugs**

- iPad Flash exit issue
- Rewards screen being blocked by other UI elements

**Most requested features**

- Option to enable larger UI buttons for modal panels
- Full screen mode
- Option to reverse zoom direction
- Improved card readability/zoom

## Recent user reviews (10 of 123)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ark-nova/id6449233549/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Excellent

*2026-08-27, version 1.1.1*

A* implementation of an A* board game.

### 5/5 — Great tutorial

*2026-08-22, version 1.0.6*

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

### 5/5 — Perfect adaptation

*2026-08-20, version 1.0.6*

This is a great adaptation of my favourite board game. I play daily against the AIs, who do a solid job of simulating the multiplayer experience. It would be wonderful if the Marine Worlds expansion was available as an add-on.

### 3/5 — Fun but buggy

*2026-08-11, version 1.0.6*

The game crashes too much on ipad

### 4/5 — Super fun! Highly recommend! Some areas for improvement but I’m along for the ride!

*2026-08-10, version 1.0.6*

This game offers a unique experience for every gameplay with many different ways to approach strategy and variable components to monitor throughout. There is definitely a learning curve, but it is worth the time investment for a game that doesn’t start to feel like it’s on repeat after a few plays. I have both the physical and app version. The app version makes learning much easier because it blocks unqualified moves (such as not enough money or action power for a particular move) and highlights what you can do (such as the additional cost for playing an animal from the display). These details are more challenging to monitor on the physical board game. The game is highly customizable with many offline solo options and either async or real-time online options. 

There are a few points for improvement as development continues. 1- First and foremost… PLEASE ADD THE MARINE EXPANSION PACK TO THE IOS APP!!! 2- Also, the chat function is very handy, but you cannot see what you are typing beyond the initial line which can make it challenging to use, especially because the typing field is so tiny to begin with. It would be very nice if this could pop out into a separate maneuverable window or at least expand to show your full message in the typing field like a text message bubble would on any smart phone. 3- There is also a culture of players that like to go at warp speed, which is fun sometimes, other times a bit frustrating. It would be nice if the time per turn was an additional customizable component. This would likely mitigate some tensions for those who think a little longer and those who want to whip through turns at the speed of light. 4- Finally, the app does crash sometimes, has somewhat long loading times, and drains my phone/tablet battery pretty quickly. I imagine that operating such a detailed game does require significant power but the freezing during online games can be disruptive and sometimes kick you out of the game if you can’t reload quickly enough. For asynchronous games, if I open a different app on my phone with this game still up in the background, when I return to it I have to close it out and reopen it for it to register my opponents moves and allow me to take my turn. So it does not really run in the background which makes turn taking pretty inefficient. Overall, these issues don’t impede gameplay so significantly that it curbs my desire to play, it is still very enjoyable, but solutions would be nice if possible! 

Creative suggestion… it would be really cool to have animal facts on the cards like we see in some other animal/nature games. Even cooler if they can somehow correlate with the animal’s power in the game. I have a degree in Wildlife Biology so I see a lot of opportunities for this in the card deck. Might even be nice to see an icon or animation of what animal is in which enclosure for easier scanning and engaging UI. Super cool game, highly recommend!!

### 4/5 — Errors

*2026-08-01, version 1.0.6*

I really like playing this game, however, there are errors within this app. When placing an animal with the appropriate partnership zoo, the reduction in price (-3) is not validated by the game. Also, certain conditions on the cards are not recognized and applied in this digital game.

### 5/5 — I looking forward to play every day

*2026-07-31, version 1.0.6*

Just stunning game lot of chalanges and you can even play with someone, graphic is amazing and its so much satisfying than real board game so glad it’s so cheap and I can play it all the time I want love this game thank you for making it so nice and exciting developers

### 5/5 — Brilliant adaptation

*2026-07-19, version 1.0.6*

Really enjoyable adaptation of this brilliant board game.

### 5/5 — Zoo on the go!

*2026-07-19, version 1.0.6*

Great app implementation of the board game. Top notch.

### 4/5 — Fast perfekt

*2026-07-17*

Leider fehlen die Zusatzpacks.

## Frequently asked questions about Ark Nova

### What is Ark Nova?

Ark Nova is a strategy board game where players plan and build a modern, scientifically managed zoo. The goal is to create the most successful zoological establishment by building enclosures, housing animals, and supporting conservation projects worldwide.

### What are the main actions in Ark Nova?

Players manage their gameplay using five action cards: BUILD (for enclosures and kiosks), ANIMALS (to accommodate animals), CARDS (to gain new zoo cards), ASSOCIATION (for association worker tasks), and SPONSORS (to play sponsor cards or raise money).

### How do I win in Ark Nova?

The objective is to have the most successful zoological establishment. This is achieved by increasing the appeal and scientific reputation of your zoo, collecting conservation points, and completing conservation projects.

### What makes Ark Nova replayable?

The game features high replayability due to its rich components and the variety offered by 255 unique cards. These cards include animals, specialists, unique enclosures, and conservation projects, each with particular abilities, ensuring a different experience each time.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.1.1 — 2026-08-27

bug fixes and messaging updates

### 1.1.0 — 2026-08-26

Today’s Ark Nova Digital patch is in preparation for testing upcoming Tournament functionality, as well as includes improvements and bug fixes across the app.

Bug fixes of note:
* Cards in hand are no longer hidden by the Upgrades area when taking Association actions
* Perceptions stinger no longer reveals which card(s) were chosen.
* Okapi Stable now indicates the card it played in the action log.
* Fixed some Japanese localization errors.
* Fixed the Italian localization for Polar Bear Exhibit.
* Fixed a few areas where localization keys were being displayed.
* Players are no longer encounter errors when resuming matches with Unclear Agenda.
* Players no longer crash when cancelling a multiplier prompt for the Cards II action.
* Australian Pelican no longer forces players to build.
* Players that drop below 5 appeal are no longer targetable by hostile effects (Venom, Constrict).
* Research Zoo now scores correctly if you have > 6 research in your zoo.
* Waza Special Assignment (on large) now correctly prevents small animals from being played via flocking.
* Waza Special Assignment now rewards the player correctly if 2 animals are played in the same Animals action.
* Fixed an issue that sometimes prevented sponsor cards from being played with the Pay to Play Sponsor map reward.
* Resolve All no longer skips Pay to Play Sponsor rewards.
* Grizzly Bear correctly grants a maximum of 3 X-tokens.
* Fixed an issue with undo interacting with the extra action map bonus reward in a way that could cause you to discard extra card to the Cards action.
* Fixed an issue that allowed an illegal placement of sponsor tiles when undoing Diversity Researcher.
* Correct amount of extra turns are now taken when multiple players reach 100vp during the same break. 

Thank you for playing! If you encounter any issues around the Tournament test or any other bugs you come across, you can reach us using the in-game feedback option, via email to support@direwolfdigital.com, or by posting to the Dire Wolf Discord!

### 1.0.6 — 2026-07-02

Cosmetic Promotional Avatar support

### 1.0.5 — 2025-09-18

General bug fixes and compatibility updates.

### 1.0.4 — 2025-07-10

Ark Nova Digital Patch 1.0.4

Today’s Ark Nova Digital patch resolves several minor issues on phones and tablets.

* Players zoo maps should no longer have overlapping issues with selection displays when auto camera is active
* Camera should more properly adjust when auto camera is active to better use play space
* Placement buttons for builds should no longer end up behind the player’s hand during building selection 

Thank you for playing! Your continued feedback helps us to make Ark Nova Digital the best version of itself it can be. If you encounter any issues or have suggestions for general improvements, drop us a line! You can reach us using the in-game feedback option, via email to support@direwolfdigital.com, or by posting to the Dire Wolf Discord!

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All apps by Dire Wolf Digital: https://appshunter.io/developer/815343758

## Related topics

[ark nova](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/ark-nova) · [dire wolf](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/dire-wolf) · [ark smart breeding](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/ark-smart-breeding)

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-05.*