Comparison

Roll Player 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

Roll Player

Strategize by drafting dice to build a fantasy character's attributes, gear, and skills. Compete to create the most reputable hero and win the game. Features include multiplayer, AI opponents, and solo challenges.

Highlights
  • Dice drafting and manipulation
  • Character attribute building
  • Weapon and armor purchasing
  • Skill and trait acquisition
  • Cross-platform online multiplayer
  • AI opponents
  • Solo and local multiplayer modes
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Roll Player is a digital adaptation of a dice manipulation, strategy board game where you will compete to create the greatest fantasy character in the role-playing world! Roll and draft dice to build up your character’s attributes! Purchase weapons and armor to outfit your hero! Gain skills and discover your hero’s traits to prepare them for their journey. Earn Reputation Stars by constructing the perfect character. The player with the greatest Reputation wins the game and will surely triumph over whatever nefarious plot lies ahead! At the beginning of the game, each player is assigned a random RPG class, alignment and a backstory. Through a series of puzzle-like dice manipulations, a player optimizes their character's attributes and attempts to maximize their alignment and backstory points. Earned gold is used to purchase various skills, traits, weapons and armor in the market phase of each turn. The game ends with a fully created character sheet of an RPG character and the player whose character has the most reputation points wins the game. The best character sheets are stored in the Hall of Heroes. FEATURES: - Cross-platform online multiplayer! - Private online games with friends - Synced progress across all your devices. Play online game on one device, continue on another! - Play against 5 levels of AI (or multiple AIs!) - Local multiplayer with friends on the same device - Challenge yourself in Solo mode - Keep a record of your best heroes, recent games and various stats - Interactive tutorial - Play and learn! LANGUAGE: English QUOTES: Zee Garcia (The Dice Tower): “The whole thing just comes together nicely! I think that’s a good, good app. It really works well.” Retromation (YouTube): “I think this game is fantastic! It’s such a good interpretation of a board game into a digital format. Just really, really, really enjoyable! Very nice!” AWARDS & HONORS: 2022 Golden Geek Best Board Game App Runner Up 2016 Golden Geek Most Innovative Board Game Nominee © 2026 Mipmap, under license from Thunderworks Games, LLC. Roll Player © 2016 Thunderworks Games, LLC.

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

Roll Player4 screens
Ark Nova4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Roll Player at $4.99 against Ark Nova's $10.99. Roll Player also leads on review sentiment (90% vs 73%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). Ark Nova's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (1.3K vs 277). On rating, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Roll Player costs $4.99 and Ark Nova $10.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Roll Player against 4.8 for Ark Nova. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 277 and 1.3K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 90% of Roll Player's written reviews are positive against 73% of Ark Nova's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Roll Player ships an update every 3 months, Ark Nova every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 30, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Roll Player versus Ark Nova: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRoll PlayerArk Nova
Price$4.99 — better$10.99
Rating4.8 (277 ratings)4.8 (1.3K ratings) — better
Positive reviews90.4% of reviews — better73.1% of reviews
Number of ratings2771.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#189#40 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size138 MB682 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperMipmapDire Wolf Digital

Customer experience

Roll Player

All ratings275 ratings
Positive97.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews73 reviews
Positive90.4%
Neutral1.4%
Negative8.2%

Ark Nova

All ratings1,262 ratings
Positive96.8%
Neutral1.7%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews134 reviews
Positive73.1%
Neutral10.4%
Negative16.4%

User reviews

Roll Player

From 277 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Faithful adaptation of board game mechanics
  • 🎮 Engaging puzzle-like gameplay with dice mitigation
  • ✨ Clean, polished, and intuitive user interface
  • 🎨 Visually appealing design and presentation
  • 💰 No intrusive in-app purchases or ads

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Online multiplayer games frequently disappear mid-game
  • 🐛 Asynchronous game crashes causing progress loss
  • 🎮 Limited character customization in solo mode
  • 📱 Landscape-only orientation (not portrait-friendly)
  • 🔤 Text size too small on certain devices

Ark Nova

From 1.3K 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

Roll Player

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • Asynchronous multiplayer games disappear and reappear randomly
  • Online private games crash causing all progress to be lost
  • Games disconnect mid-play with no recovery option
  • Online multiplayer services intermittently unavailable
  • Account functionality not working properly
Show 2 more
  • Special abilities sometimes hidden from UI (e.g., Bard class)
  • Colorblind mode not adequately supported

Requested features

13 requests
  • Monsters & Minions expansion pack
  • Fiends & Familiars expansion pack
  • Additional expansion content from physical game
  • Full character customization in solo play
  • High score/leaderboard tracking
Show 8 more
  • Portrait orientation support for one-handed play
  • French language translation
  • German language translation
  • Ability to view opponent actions during multiplayer
  • Online multiplayer functionality improvements
  • Mac compatibility (M1 MacBook support)
  • Text scaling options for accessibility
  • Stable asynchronous multiplayer games

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

None

Roll Player

No in-app purchases

None

Ark Nova

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Roll Player free?
Roll Player costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ark Nova free?
Ark Nova costs $10.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Roll Player or Ark Nova?
Ark Nova is rated higher. Roll Player averages 4.8 out of 5 from 277 ratings, while Ark Nova averages 4.8 from 1.3K ratings.
Do Roll Player or Ark Nova have ads?
Neither Roll Player nor Ark Nova shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Roll Player or Ark Nova?
Roll Player ships an update every 3 months, and Ark Nova every 3 weeks. Most recently, Roll Player was updated on October 30, 2026 and Ark Nova on October 30, 2026.
Which is more popular, Roll Player or Ark Nova?
Roll Player currently peaks at #189 in the App Store charts, and Ark Nova at #40. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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