Ark Nova vs Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter
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.
Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter
Automate scoring for the board game Forest Shuffle™ by scanning your cards. This app handles multiple scans, allows for editing, and supports cross-device QR code sharing. It also includes a card glossary and saves past game sessions.
- Scan trees through the camera
- Automatic score counting
- Merge scans from multiple devices
- Archive previous sessions
- Card glossary access
- Cross-device QR code sharing
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This app allows you to speed up the scoring process of the printed version of the game Forest Shuffle™. By scanning the cards on your table after a just finished game you can automate the scoring of your laid out cards. The App can handle up to 5 scan results per scoring process. The scanning process is comfortable and you can also fastly edit your scan results. It is possible to exchange the scan results by QR Code between your devises. Sessions can be stored and edited. There is also a complete glossary of cards available. As this app is free you definitely need to give it a try... you will be surprised how easy the scoring can get. Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter Features: - Scan trees through the camera - Count your score automatically - Merge scans from multiple devices - Share your results to social media - Archive your previous sessions - Quick access to the appendix - English, German, French and Italian interface - Scan is language independent - Supports exclusively the version Forest Shuffle™ - Supports all Forest Shuffle™ expansions/promos
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter at Free against Ark Nova's $10.99. Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). Ark Nova's advantage is ratings volume (1.2K vs 61) and chart position (#37 vs unranked). 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
Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter is free to download; Ark Nova costs $10.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Ark Nova against 4.9 for Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ark Nova has 1.2K ratings behind it against 61, 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 75% of Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter's.
Ark Nova ships an update fortnightly, Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ark Nova | Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $10.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (1.2K ratings) | 4.9 (61 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 72.9% of reviews | 75.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1.2K — better | 61 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 10 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #37 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 682 MB | 445 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Dire Wolf Digital | DIGIDICED |
Customer experience
Ark Nova
Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter
User reviews
Ark Nova
From 1.2K 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
Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter
From 61 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Makes scoring a breeze
- 👍 Very user-friendly
- 💡 Innovative idea for a game
- ⏱️ Saves significant time
- 💯 Accurate scoring
Room to improve
- 🐛 Inconsistent card recognition
- 🐛 Difficulty scanning complex trees
- 🐛 Some cards not recognized
- 🐛 Issues with specific animals/cards
- 🐛 UI/UX could be more intuitive
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
Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter
Reported bugs
17 issues- Cannot scan trees with more than 4 cards
- QR code player scanning not working
- Does not recognize cards 95% of the time
- Does not consider multiple cards on the same side of a tree
- Steinmarder (stone marten) scoring incorrect
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- Siebenschläfer (dormouse) text/scoring incorrect
- Silver Fir tagged Peacock butterfly not selectable
- Deer scoring messed up
- Holzbiene (wood bee) not recognized/implemented
- Zitronenfalter (common brimstone butterfly) missing
- Kröten (toads) and Rehe (deer) cannot be entered for multiple spots
- App not in French as advertised
- Scan function not working for some users
- App takes longer than manual scoring for some
- Does not correctly capture all card constellations
- Ignores lower cards
- Does not count cards from the cave
Requested features
9 requests- Add support for Dartmoor expansion
- Add support for Mischwald Dartmoor
- Add support for Exploration expansion
- Add support for new caves
- Automatic photo capture
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- Add automa mode for solo play
- Add summary of points breakdown
- Add French language support
- Add support for more languages
In-app purchases
Ark Nova
No in-app purchases
Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Ark Nova free?
Is Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter free?
Which has better reviews, Ark Nova or Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter?
Do Ark Nova or Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter have ads?
Which is updated more often, Ark Nova or Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter?
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