Comparison

Stone Age 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

Stone Age

Lead your tribe through prehistory by gathering resources, building structures, and advancing your civilization. Manage your workers and ensure they are fed to create the most advanced society.

Highlights
  • Resource gathering (wood, stone, gold)
  • Village and building construction
  • Worker placement mechanics
  • Tribe management and feeding
  • Multiple AI difficulty levels
  • Online multiplayer modes
  • Replayability
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Forge your way through prehistory and build the foundation of human civilization. How bright is humanity's future? It depends on You! Lead your tribe through the Stone Age! What can you do in Stone Age: Digital Edition? In Stone Age, you take on the role of a prehistoric's human. Beginning with archaic tools, you collect wood, stone, and gold to attain higher levels of knowledge and build sturdier structures. With resources being scarce, you must compete for the limited number of spaces on the board that produce them while also gathering food to feed your growing tribe. How do you play Stone Age: Digital Edition? In Stone Age, the players live in this time, just as our ancestors did. They collect wood, break stones and wash their gold from the river. With a balance of luck and planning, the players expand their village to achieve new levels of civilization. The rules are simple! In Stone Age: Digital Edition the turn is divided into 3 steps: Place your workers! - Decide what you need and send out your people to get it! Collect your workers! - Build tools and buildings with the resources you gathered! Feed your workers - There's nothing better than a well-deserved meal after a day's work! How to win in Stone Age: Digital Edition? In Stone Age there are a limited number of spaces, so you must determine the best actions to take each round. It’s up to you to develop your tribe by gathering resources, constructing new buildings, and advancing their culture while also maintaining enough food to feed your people. Strike the right balance to create the most advanced civilization and lead your people to a better life! Finally! A digital version Stone Age deserves! Stone Age is praised and considered one of the classic board games! Since its tabletop release, it won or was nominated for 28 board games awards! What can you expect? - Immersive gameplay in the era of the Stone Age! - Worker placement mechanics - you are responsible for your own tribe! - Three levels of AI for solo play! - Near infinite replayability! - Great game to start your adventure with board games! - Online ranking system with divisions! - Synchronous and asynchronous online game modes! - Official Stone Age rules consulted with the designers of the board game! - Unique experience of a board game with the convenience of a digital platform! Purchase Stone Age today!

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

Stone Age4 screens
Ark Nova4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Ark Nova at 4.8 against Stone Age's 3.5. Ark Nova also leads on ratings volume (1.2K vs 24) and review sentiment (72% vs 55%). Stone Age's advantage is price ($7.99 vs $10.99) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases 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

Stone Age costs $7.99 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

Ark Nova holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ark Nova has 1.2K ratings behind it against 24, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 55% of Stone Age's written reviews are positive against 72% of Ark Nova's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Stone Age ships an update fortnightly, Ark Nova every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Stone Age versus Ark Nova: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStone AgeArk Nova
Price$7.99 — better$10.99
Rating3.5 (24 ratings)4.8 (1.2K ratings) — better
Positive reviews55.2% of reviews72.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings241.2K — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#157#38 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size476 MB682 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAcram DigitalDire Wolf Digital

Customer experience

Stone Age

All ratings24 ratings
Positive58.3%
Neutral8.3%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews29 reviews
Positive55.2%
Neutral17.2%
Negative27.6%

Ark Nova

All ratings1,190 ratings
Positive96.5%
Neutral1.9%
Negative1.6%
Written reviews127 reviews
Positive72.4%
Neutral11.0%
Negative16.5%

Bugs and requests

Stone Age

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

None

Stone Age

No in-app purchases

None

Ark Nova

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Stone Age free?
Stone Age costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ark Nova free?
Ark Nova costs $10.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Stone Age or Ark Nova?
Ark Nova is rated higher. Stone Age averages 3.5 out of 5 from 24 ratings, while Ark Nova averages 4.8 from 1.2K ratings.
Do Stone Age or Ark Nova have ads?
Neither Stone Age nor Ark Nova shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Stone Age or Ark Nova?
Stone Age ships an update fortnightly, and Ark Nova every 2 weeks. Most recently, Stone Age was updated on September 23, 2026 and Ark Nova on September 22, 2026.
Which is more popular, Stone Age or Ark Nova?
Stone Age currently peaks at #157 in the App Store charts, and Ark Nova at #38. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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