Ark Nova vs Caverna
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.
Caverna
Lead a dwarf tribe to expand their cavern home and cultivate the surrounding forest. Dig deeper for resources, furnish rooms to grow your tribe, and forge weapons for adventures. Cultivate fields, breed animals, and increase your wealth to become the strongest tribe leader.
- Dwarf tribe management
- Cavern expansion and furnishing
- Resource cultivation and mining
- Animal breeding and farming
- Weapon forging and adventures
- Worker action system
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Caverna by Uwe Rosenberg makes you the head of a dwarf tribe, living in a small cavern. You cultivate the forest in front of your cavern and dig deeper into the mountain throughout the game. By furnishing rooms in your caverns you make space to grow your tribe and and create new goods from your resources. Deeper into the mountain you will find fountains as well as ore and gem mines. It's on you to decide how much ore and gems you want to mine, giving you the opportunity to forge weapons and go on adventures; a new way to do things in the game instead of using actions with your workers. Outside your cavern you can clear the forest, cultivate fields, fence pastures and grow crops or breed animals. All this in order to increase your wealth and become the strongest and best tribe leader of them all!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Ark Nova at 4.8 against Caverna's 4.1. Ark Nova also leads on ratings volume (1.2K vs 12) and chart position (#35 vs unranked). Caverna's advantage is update cadence (every 6 days vs every 2 weeks) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On ads, in-app purchases, 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
Ark Nova costs $10.99 and Caverna $11.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Ark Nova holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ark Nova has 1.2K ratings behind it against 12, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 72% of Ark Nova's written reviews are positive against 61% of Caverna's.
Ark Nova ships an update every 2 weeks, Caverna every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ark Nova | Caverna |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $10.99 — better | $11.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (1.2K ratings) — better | 4.1 (12 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 72.4% of reviews — better | 61.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1.2K — better | 12 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #35 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 682 MB | 450 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Dire Wolf Digital | DIGIDICED |
Customer experience
Ark Nova
Caverna
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
Caverna
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Ark Nova
No in-app purchases
Caverna
No in-app purchases
