Comparison

Wingsong vs Ark Nova

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Wingsong

Discover the authentic bird songs from the popular board game 'Wingspan'. Simply point your smartphone camera at a bird card to hear its unique chirping. Create custom playlists of your birds' songs for an enhanced gaming atmosphere.

Highlights
  • Identify bird songs via camera
  • Play bird songs from cards
  • Create custom bird song playlists
  • Immersive gaming experience
Features
Read full description

Did you ask yourself, how all the birds of the boardgame 'Wingspan' are singing? With Wingsong you can easily find out how all the birds of the boardgame Wingspan are singing. You just have to hold a bird card in the camera of you smartphone and right away you'll hear the chirping of the bird on your card. In addition you can add all of your birds that are in your wildlife preserve to a playlist. The songs of your birds will play randomly throughout your game to create an even more immersive Wingspan experience. Thanks to Elizabeth Hargrave and Stonemaier Games for providing such a beautiful game. This is not an Official Stonemaier Games product.

About

Ark Nova

Design and manage a modern zoo to support global conservation efforts. Build enclosures, house animals, and utilize unique cards for special abilities. Compete to create the most successful zoological establishment.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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.

Screenshots

Wingsong3 screens
Ark Nova4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Wingsong at Free against Ark Nova's $10.99. Ark Nova's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and chart position (#20 vs unranked). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Wingsong is free to download; Ark Nova costs $10.99 up front. Wingsong sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Ark Nova asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Wingsong against 4.8 for Ark Nova. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.8K and 1.2K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 69% of Wingsong's written reviews are positive against 73% of Ark Nova's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Wingsong ships an update monthly, Ark Nova fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 14, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Wingsong versus Ark Nova: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWingsongArk Nova
PriceFree — better$10.99
Rating4.8 (1.8K ratings)4.8 (1.2K ratings)
Positive reviews68.5% of reviews72.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.8K — better1.2K
Update frequencyMonthlyFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#20 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size124 MB682 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMarcus KatscherDire Wolf Digital

Customer experience

Wingsong

All ratings1,777 ratings
Positive96.3%
Neutral1.3%
Negative2.4%
Written reviews108 reviews
Positive68.5%
Neutral4.6%
Negative26.9%

Ark Nova

All ratings1,236 ratings
Positive96.6%
Neutral1.9%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews132 reviews
Positive72.7%
Neutral10.6%
Negative16.7%

User reviews

Wingsong

From 1.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎉 Great from the beginning
  • 🎶 Adds to the game experience
  • 🤖 Incredible undertaking
  • 👍 Awesome
  • 🤩 Delightful masterpiece

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Playlist doesn't work
  • 🔊 Sound doesn't work
  • 🌍 Doesn't work in other languages
  • 🔌 Crashes on startup
  • 🤖 Doesn't recognize cards

Ark Nova

From 1.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great implementation overall
  • 👍 Lots of fun
  • 👍 Good animations
  • 👍 Choice of modes
  • 👍 Clean, modern and enjoyable design

Room to improve

  • 🐛 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

Bugs and requests

Wingsong

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Playlist doesn't work
  • Sound doesn't work
  • Crashes on startup
  • Doesn't recognize cards
  • App no longer working

Requested features

5 requests
  • Shuffle button for playlist
  • Overlapping birdsongs for immersion
  • Bluetooth speaker support
  • More information about the birds
  • Add support for Italian/Russian/other languages

Ark Nova

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • iPad Flash exit issue
  • Rewards screen being blocked by other UI elements

Requested features

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

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Wingsong

One-time3
  • One cup of coffee$2.99
  • Two cups of coffee$5.99
  • Three cups of coffee$8.99
None

Ark Nova

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Wingsong free?
Wingsong is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Ark Nova free?
Ark Nova costs $10.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Wingsong or Ark Nova?
Wingsong and Ark Nova are both rated 4.8 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1.8K and 1.2K ratings respectively.
Do Wingsong or Ark Nova have ads?
Neither Wingsong nor Ark Nova shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Wingsong or Ark Nova?
Wingsong ships an update monthly, and Ark Nova fortnightly. Most recently, Wingsong was updated on October 14, 2026 and Ark Nova on October 14, 2026.

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