Ark Nova on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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Plan and build a modern, scientifically managed zoo to support conservation projects in an acclaimed strategy board game.
Ark Nova is a strategy, board game and pvp game
developed and published by Dire Wolf.
Released on December 05th 2024 is available on Windows and MacOS
in 10 languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish - Latin America and Traditional Chinese.
It has received 368 reviews of which 340 were positive and 28 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.5 out of 10. 😎
The game is currently priced at 21.99€ on Steam.
The Steam community has classified Ark Nova into these genres:
System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10 (64bit version only)
- Processor: Intel Core i5-2400 or AMD Ryzen 3 2200G
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 2 GB available space
- Additional Notes: Dire Wolf account required for online play
MacOS
- OS: macOS 10.15
- Processor: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT (256 MB) or ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro (256 MB)
- Storage: 2 GB available space
- Additional Notes: Dire Wolf account required for online play
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
A good enough digital implementation of what I must begrudgingly admit is a good board game. I am one of the people who was under the misaprehension that this is an "engine-building" game in the same vein as games like Wingspan and Terraforming Mars. It does share some traits in common with those game: it is definitely a tableau-building game that is based on "systems mastery" and your fluency with the deck of 200+ unique cards. But it is not really an "engine-builder." The insight that finally made the game "click" for me was that, counterintuitively, "it's a sprint, not a marathon." It is an *action efficiency* game. And, critically, it is a game that is often more about tempo and timing decisions that other players have influence over, rather than "value." The fact that players determine the timing of the "breaks" that grant income make it deceptively interactive despite appearing to be a "multiplayer solitaire" game: it is a game, much like Race for the Galaxy, where you can't play optimally without paying attention to what your opponents are doing, and the AI opponents are *fairly* good at modeling what a reasonable human player would do in most situations to the point where just playing against bots is a decent enough experience.
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I've played Ark Nova on boardgamearena 50-100 times. I own the physical game (still in shrinkwrap, haha). But, I really love the game, so I had to give this a shot also. Direwolf does amazing work with their implementations, and this is no exception. Pros: Graphically, quite satisfying Very well-designed UI. Everything is super intuitive (although, the show/hide score bar button oddly isn't near the bar itself) Best positive aspect: The AI players are a fun way to play the game quickly, and it's more fun/real than the "Solo Bot". Cons: No ladder system or ELO rating (it's fun in bga to see that stuff) No easy way to join a match with a random stranger (like you can do in bga) The AI players (even on Hard) are fairly easy to beat. The other AI difficulties are silly, because they don't make the AI "smarter"... they just give the player a Handicap (not the same as playing against a really good player). Conclusion: So, hmm... I can say that I haven't played on bga since I've purchased this. I really enjoy that I'm able to play this very satisfying puzzle on my own timeline and terms. I can stop and continue later against the AI, for example, but if I'm on bga, I know I'm committing a block of 40-60 minutes of my time which isn't always easy for me to do. It's fun to "win" still, but it's not as satisfying as besting a really great BGA player. It is definitely worth the price for me.
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Pretty nice digital version of the board game with some positive and negative points. Biggest negative: - For a game in which passing your own marker is the end condition, it is an oversight not to show this in the UI. You can display the full score tracks in a separate window (oddly shaped), but there is no way to see how near the end you are in the main window. The devs could show the appeal marker/track for instance transparant next tot the conservation track as soon as you are close. Maybe change the view to make this fit, which would also make it clear you are close to the finish. It happened several times already that I accidentally ended the game, because I did not see exactly how close I was. - The UI leaves a lot of empty space on widescreen monitors. Many things are stacked vertically or in tabs you have to click through, whilst there are acres of empty space on my 21:9 monitor. This also probably does not make best use of screen real estate on a regular 16:9 monitor or standard mobile screen if it is published for that format. Options to move or dock windows elsewhere would alleviate this problem. - Not all information you might want to see is visible, because it is in tabbed windows. Apart from these remarks, the game plays quickly and I have seen almost no bugs. But especially not being able to see the track markers relative position is very annoying.
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Honestly, this game plays surprisingly well for an Early Access game. :) I really enjoy the physical version of Ark Nova, and the digital version is pretty good so far. I haven't played this super extensively yet, but I wanted to at least provide some initial feedback. I will update my review after another week or so of gameplay. The Good The game is fun. If you enjoy the Ark Nova (physical) board game, you should enjoy the digital version as well. It is currently one of my favorite board games. I am impressed with how well this game plays. Considering I am playing this on Day 1 for an Early Access title, I am honestly surprised by how few problems I have had. Most Early Access games are buggy dumpster fires initially. I have played 'release' versions of games that are buggier that Ark Nova. There are some small issues, but so far, I haven't encountered any game-breaking bugs. The graphics are prettier than I was expecting. The images on the Steam store page had me worried that this game was going to be a really ugly adaptation, with not enough attention paid to the UI. Digital versions of board games are usually kind of ugly; That's just part of the nature of translating a game played with cardboard tiles into a medium that is capable of sophisticated graphics. But I was pleasantly surprised by some of the menu graphics and animations. It is still a digital board-game, so the graphics quality isn't a top priority, but I actually think it looks pretty decent, especially for an Early Access version. The 'Action Log' is really helpful. There are currently some UI issues (more on that below), so it isn't always perfectly clear what your opponent just did. Luckily, the game has a really helpful and detailed 'Action Log'. It not only shows you what your opponent just did, but it also describes which effects were triggered, what new cards were added to the display, etc. It is really well done! The Bad You (currently) have to already be pretty familiar with Ark Nova. There isn't really any tutorial yet, so you already need to know the rules of the physical board game. Even when you set the game to 'beginner', which the menu implies is good for your first game, there aren't really any prompts that walk you through what you are supposed to be doing. If you already know the game rules, you can figure it out, but for new players, this would not be a very accessible way to learn the rules. Presumably, this is something that will be added at a later point. There are some small bugs. I haven't really run into many that are game breaking, but there are a few that I have noticed so far. For example, the UI displays incorrect action values when you have 'constriction' tokens. (However, the game does enforce the correct value. The Ugly The UI could still use some cleanup, to be more readable. Lots of different windows. Hard to get a good picture of everything at once. This is honestly going to be a hard problem for the developer to solve. With the physical board game, there is a lot of different stuff to look at on your table. In the digital version, there isn't really a good way to "show you everything". without cluttering up your screen. The various menus/tabs can be hidden/displayed pretty easily, which is nice. But that means you have to actually go looking for something, and open different tabs to notice which things have changed. Maybe they can make it so certain windows automatically open, then re-hide, when something changes? It is not obvious where to find certain things. Most parts of the UI are actually pretty well labeled, but there are certain things that are just not obvious, and took me much longer to find than they should have. Example: I couldn't figure out how to pick a different Map when creating a game. The game would always just offer me one map. -You change this in the initial game setup under 'map mode'. I mistook this for a 'difficulty' setting. It actually controls how maps are assigned. Example: Viewing your opponents zoo is hard to find. I wanted to see how many open pens my opponent had, but the game only shows you your own board by default. How do I view theirs? -You click on your opponents player portrait, in the top left corner. This switches you to their zoo. You click on your own portrait to switch back. Example: It was really hard for me to find my own objective/final-scoring cards. The initial game startup doesn't prominently show you your objectives, so you have to go looking for them. But they are not easy to find. -You open the 'tableaus' window, and click on the hourglass tab. That will show you your final scoring cards. The game doesn't do enough to draw your attention to where it is needed. The UI actually does highlight choices and actions that are currently usable, but it is not dramatic enough. I will often realize that the game is waiting for me to make a decision, because I didn't notice any sort of prompt for action. The highlights around selectable choices should flash, or do more than a light shimmer to make them stand out. Maybe bringing the cards to the foreground (larger on screen) when you need to make a decision? Parting Thoughts I'm really pleased with the state of this game already. The developers should be proud. Early Access games are frequently unplayable, but I have really been enjoying this one. If you like Ark Nova, I recommend giving this version a try. This review is based off of a few hours gameplay, on Day 1 of Early Access. I only played against the AI, so I can't speak to the stability of multiplayer, matchmaking, etc. I will update my review if anything changes after several days of play. But so far, things are looking good! :)
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I've played a few games so far and intend on playing much more. Little background - I've come from playing it on BGA. Pros: 1. The game is absolutely beautiful, there's no denying it's the prettiest way to play it online and just overall very visually appealing. 2. The UI is fantastic in relaying everything you need to know and be able to access without obstructing anything important. 3. It being nearly bug free is a welcome surprise considering it just came out. I've only personally only encountered the digging ability being slightly bugged in the hover text but it still shows the effect at the top so it's really not a big deal. 4. Global chat is a nice feature to just talk while waiting for a game if you'd like to do so. 5. Easy to add friends and play with friends. 6. The AI has been a great challenging experience and does a fantastic job at keeping the game competitive and takes their turns really fast if the person you're vsing happens to leave mid-game. 7. Game play overall translates beautifully and everything works exactly as you would expect it to. 8. Easy to create games and the options for the games are easy to set and everything you would want to be able to change is here. Cons: 1. The only way to play online is by creating/joining a lobby - this method is a bit dated and it feels very out of place in this day and age but it works for now to be able to play. 2. There's no ranked so for now the matches could be very one sided depending on luck of the draw of who you vs which is sad and I hope they introduce something to address in a future patch. 3. Comparing to BGA here - BGA does a better job at indicating at what you need to be able to do certain actions in the form of text help boxes when hovering over actions/cards. Here you have to intuit what you are missing - meaning the cards have red or green boxes over cards revealing what you need or have to be able to play it. 4. While the UI is great it would be nice to have customization options to adjust the size if you're having a little troubles seeing it. 5. There little bit of load time to look at your opponents board is a little annoying. There's a way to make looking at their board and your board a bit easier though. If you enable the 'auto camera' option this will make it so if you look at their board until your turn that it will auto go back to your board when it's your turn which is nice. ALSO you should turn this on regardless because if you happen to open the conversation track it will auto push out your board so you can see the whole thing. 6. Marine world is not out yet on here, this was expected but worth noting if you were curious. Overall - I personally would rate it I would rate it 8/10 with lack of matchmaking being the biggest hit against it, if they added that - I would likely rate it 10/10. It really is great, I'm enjoying it a lot and again intend on playing more regardless. I just think for now given that there's no matchmaking options it's not as great of an experience to play with random people sometimes but if you're in a more fair match or playing with friends, it doesn't get any better than this and I look forward to future updates. Note: there's no shop in this game for cosmetics or anything of that nature.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Ark Nova is currently priced at 21.99€ on Steam.
Ark Nova is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 21.99€ on Steam.
Ark Nova received 340 positive votes out of a total of 368 achieving a rating of 8.52.
😎
Ark Nova was developed and published by Dire Wolf.
Ark Nova is playable and fully supported on Windows.
Ark Nova is playable and fully supported on MacOS.
Ark Nova is not playable on Linux.
Ark Nova offers both single-player and multi-player modes.
Ark Nova offers both Co-op and PvP modes.
Ark Nova does not currently offer any DLC.
Ark Nova does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
Ark Nova does not support Steam Remote Play.
Ark Nova is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for Ark Nova.
Data sources
The information presented on this page is sourced from reliable APIs to ensure accuracy and relevance. We utilize the Steam API to gather data on game details, including titles, descriptions, prices, and user reviews. This allows us to provide you with the most up-to-date information directly from the Steam platform.
Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.
Last Updates| Steam data | 13 June 2025 01:00 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 13 June 2025 11:35 |
| Steam price | 14 June 2025 20:54 |
| Steam reviews | 12 June 2025 11:49 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Ark Nova, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about Ark Nova
- SteamCharts - Analysis of Ark Nova concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck Ark Nova compatibility
Game modes
Multiplayer
Features
Online players
100
Developer
Dire Wolf
Publisher
Dire Wolf
Release
05 Dec 2024
Platforms