Comparison

Evergreen 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

Evergreen

Build a lush ecosystem by planting seeds and growing trees on your planet. Strategize to create the greenest and most fertile environment, competing solo or with others.

Highlights
  • Plant seeds and grow trees
  • Build a lush ecosystem
  • Solo and multiplayer modes
  • Cross-platform online leaderboard
  • Network planning gameplay
  • Over 20 achievements
  • Modular expansions
Features
Read full description

Evergreen is a tree-growing abstract strategy game where your goal is to build a lush ecosystem, planting seeds, growing trees, and placing other natural elements on your planet, trying to make it the greenest and most fertile of all. Play solo or compete against other players in multiplayer matches. HOW TO PLAY 1. Pick a Biome card from a common pool to determine the area of your Planet you’re going to develop each round. 2. Grow your Trees, plant Bushes, and place Lakes to create a huge Forest, and use the power of Nature to gain extra Actions! 3. Concentrate your Trees in the most Fertile areas and let them collect Light without overshadowing each other to score points! Each round you will choose a Biome card that allow you to develop on a specific biome of the board and activate its Power to grow even more trees. But even the cards you do NOT choose are just as important, since the least chosen biomes become more Fertile, and thus more valuable! Try to keep your Trees close to each other to score points for your biggest Forest… but you also want them to collect as much Light as possible without shading each other, so be mindful of the position of the sun! EXPANSIONS The Pines and Cacti expansions add new plants that that interact with light and shadow in interesting ways: discover new forest-planning strategies to get the most points out of them! Each modular expansion introduces a new Power. There must always be 6 Powers in the game, so if you want to play with a new Power, another must be removed. But you can play with more than 1 Expansion module at a time if you so desire. MODES Play solo against AI bots, or compete in local (pass and play) or online multiplayer to challenge players from all over the world! The online leaderboard is completely cross-platform!* FEATURES - The wonderful art of the board game by Wenyi Geng - Network planning gameplay: try to make the best use of the actions each round to create the most rich environment - Cross-platform multiplayer challenges with your friends and players all over the world!* - Over 20 Achievements Evergreen is the official adaptation of the critically acclaimed board game created by award-winning designer Hjalmar Hach and illustrated by artist Wenyi Geng. *Horrible Guild account is required to access online functionality.

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

Evergreen4 screens
Ark Nova4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Ark Nova at none against Evergreen's 2. Ark Nova also leads on ratings volume (1.3K vs 27) and rating (4.8 vs 4.6). Evergreen's advantage is price ($4.99 vs $10.99) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On update cadence, ads, monetization model and device support 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

Evergreen costs $4.99 and Ark Nova $10.99 up front. Evergreen sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Ark Nova asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Ark Nova holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ark Nova has 1.3K ratings behind it against 27, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 61% of Evergreen's written reviews are positive against 73% of Ark Nova's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Evergreen ships an update monthly, Ark Nova every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on November 7, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Evergreen versus Ark Nova: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEvergreenArk Nova
Price$4.99 — better$10.99
Rating4.6 (27 ratings)4.8 (1.3K ratings) — better
Positive reviews61.1% of reviews73.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings271.3K — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#32 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size184 MB682 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHorrible GuildDire Wolf Digital

Customer experience

Evergreen

All ratings26 ratings
Positive84.6%
Neutral15.4%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews18 reviews
Positive61.1%
Neutral27.8%
Negative11.1%

Ark Nova

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

Bugs and requests

Evergreen

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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

2 purchases

Evergreen

One-time2
  • Pines Expansion$1.49
  • Cacti Expansion$1.49
None

Ark Nova

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Evergreen free?
Evergreen costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Ark Nova free?
Ark Nova costs $10.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Evergreen or Ark Nova?
Ark Nova is rated higher. Evergreen averages 4.6 out of 5 from 27 ratings, while Ark Nova averages 4.8 from 1.3K ratings.
Do Evergreen or Ark Nova have ads?
Neither Evergreen nor Ark Nova shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Evergreen or Ark Nova?
Evergreen ships an update monthly, and Ark Nova every 3 weeks. Most recently, Evergreen was updated on November 7, 2026 and Ark Nova on November 7, 2026.

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