Ark Nova vs Summoner Wars Online
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
Summoner Wars Online
Engage in strategic fantasy battlefield combat by summoning units and outmaneuvering opponents. Build custom decks with countless unit types and spells to challenge players online or play through single-player campaigns.
- Online multiplayer matches
- Custom deck builder
- Single-player story campaigns
- AI opponent challenges
- Summoning units
- Fantasy battlefield combat
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Summoner Wars is the exciting card game of fantasy battlefield combat that puts you in the role of a powerful summoner. Display your tactical prowess by summoning units to your gates, outmaneuvering your opponent, and cutting down the enemy summoner. Countless unit types, a wide variety of spells and abilities, and the option to build your own decks, all make for a game sure to entertain, play after play. • Challenge other players in online matches. • Create custom decks using the deck builder. • Play your way through single-player story campaigns. • Hone your skill against an AI opponent. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Summoner Wars Online at Free against Ark Nova's $10.99. Ark Nova's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 33) and ratings volume (1.3K vs 112). On rating, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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
Summoner Wars Online is free to download; Ark Nova costs $10.99 up front. Summoner Wars Online sells 33 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Ark Nova asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Ark Nova against 4.7 for Summoner Wars Online. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ark Nova has 1.3K ratings behind it against 112, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 73% of Ark Nova's written reviews are positive against 78% of Summoner Wars Online's.
Ark Nova ships an update fortnightly, Summoner Wars Online every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ark Nova | Summoner Wars Online |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $10.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (1.3K ratings) — better | 4.7 (112 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 72.9% of reviews | 78.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1.3K — better | 112 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 4 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #30 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 682 MB | 252 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Dire Wolf Digital | Plaid Hat Games LLC |
Customer experience
Ark Nova
Summoner Wars Online
User reviews
Ark Nova
From 1.3K App Store ratingsWhat 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
Summoner Wars Online
From 112 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- ♟️ Deep tactical gameplay with chess-like strategy
- 🎨 Well-designed factions with unique playstyles
- ⚖️ Excellent faction balance and asymmetric design
- 🎮 Engaging asynchronous multiplayer gameplay
- 🆓 Free-to-play model with reasonable pricing
Room to improve
- 🐛 Menu navigation traps (can't exit shop/deck editor)
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
- 🐛 AI gets stuck during single-player games
- 🐛 Tutorial crashes before completion
- 🐛 Server connection losses
Bugs and 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
Summoner Wars Online
Reported bugs
10 issues- Menu navigation traps - unable to exit shop or deck editor without closing app
- Game crashes to main menu during gameplay
- Story mode crashes and deletes campaign progress
- Tutorial crashes before completion
- AI freezes and becomes unresponsive mid-game
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- Server connection losses during matches
- No sound output on some devices
- Dynamic Island screen coverage on iPhone 15
- Sign in with Apple authentication failure
- Occasional random crashes with ability to continue from same point
Requested features
12 requests- Russian language translation
- Hard difficulty level for AI
- Difficulty scaling for single-player AI
- Ability to resign from matches
- Offline mode support
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- Bundle deals for in-app purchases
- Improved matchmaking system with lobby
- Win/loss-based ranking progression
- More single-player story content
- Better forum/community support outside Discord
- Local multiplayer support
- Improved UI intuitiveness for menu navigation
In-app purchases
Ark Nova
No in-app purchases
Summoner Wars Online
- 1 Month Subscription$2.991 Month
- Thornhold Drey Faction$3.99
- Moonsteppe Wolves Faction$3.99
- Drakesun Rebellion$3.99
Show 29 moreShow fewer
- Guild Dwarves$3.99
- Isle Vekkid Faction$3.99
- Spectral Conclave$3.99
- The Filth Faction$3.99
- Chosen Grove Faction$3.99
- Shimmersea Fae Faction$3.99
- Wayfarers Faction$3.99
- The Forged Faction$3.99
- Obsidian Dwarves Faction$3.99
- Vanguards Faction$3.99
- Breakers Faction$3.99
- Fungal Dwarves Faction$3.99
- Sand Goblins Faction$3.99
- Eternal Council Faction$3.99
- Skyspear Avians Faction$3.99
- Swamp Orc Faction$3.99
- Crimson Order Faction$3.99
- Cave Goblins Faction$3.99
- Phoenix Elves Faction$3.99
- Mountain Vargath Faction$3.99
- Tundra Orcs Faction$3.99
- Polar Dwarves Faction$3.99
- Cloaks Faction$3.99
- Savanna Elves Faction$3.99
- Fallen Kingdom Faction$3.99
- Shadow Elves Faction$3.99
- High Elves Faction$3.99
- Deepwood Groaks Faction$3.99
- Storm Goblins Faction$3.99
