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Ark Nova
#2BGG8.5RATINGHOT #11
Updated Apr 27
1–4
PLAYERS
90–150
MINUTES
N/A
BEST WITH
3.8
HEAVY
ERRATA1
Glossary text on Hypnosis appeal timing is incorrectdesigner
- RULING
- "You are correct that the language in the Glossary is not 100% correct." The Glossary states you may advance your Appeal counter "before or after using the ability" — this phrasing is misleading. See ruling D6 for the correct timing.
AUTHOR: @zlorfik (Bastian Winkelhaus, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(23 replies)DATE: 2022-03-18
DESIGNER CLARIFICATIONS12
Partner zoo discounts apply to total cost including folder penaltydesigner
- CONTEXT
- When playing an animal from folder 2 of Animals II, players debated whether discounts (partner zoo, Expert in Small Animals, etc.) reduce only the base card cost or the total cost including the folder penalty.
- RULING
- "The intention is simplicity. It's 4+2-3-3=0. You just won't receive money through discounts (like in '-1 so I get a coin?')" — discounts apply to the total cost including the folder penalty, but the final cost cannot go below 0.
X-tokens gained during a Multiplier's first action can boost the second actiondesigner
- CONTEXT
- When using a Multiplier token to execute an action twice, a player asked whether X-tokens gained during the first execution could be spent to boost the second execution.
- RULING
- "Yes, that is legal."
AUTHOR: @zlorfik (Bastian Winkelhaus, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(18 replies)DATE: 2022-08-17Diversity Researcher covering rock spaces still triggers Geologist incomedesigner
- CONTEXT
- A player using Diversity Researcher (which allows building on rock spaces) asked whether Geologist's per-adjacent-rock-space income fires even when the rocks being covered are part of the same build action.
- RULING
- "Interesting edge case, my ruling will be that yes, you do get the money." (zlorfik) — "I second that. In edge cases we usually tend to go with the version most allowing/player friendly. But keep in mind that further buildings next to those covered rock spaces (even with the same build action) won't give you any more money." (MathiasWigge)
AUTHOR: @zlorfik (Bastian Winkelhaus, designer); seconded by @MathiasWigge (Mathias Wigge, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(17 replies)DATE: 2022-02-15Geologist end-game bonus counts only visible uncovered rock spacesdesigner
- CONTEXT
- Players asked whether rock spaces covered over during the game (e.g. with Diversity Researcher) still count toward the Geologist's end-game bonus condition requiring all rock spaces to be "linked."
- RULING
- "You only take into account visible rocks at the end of the game!"
AUTHOR: @MathiasWigge (Mathias Wigge, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(17 replies)DATE: 2022-05-01Worker gained from 3rd partnership can be used immediately in the same actiondesigner
- CONTEXT
- When performing the Association action at strength 5, gaining the 3rd partner zoo slots in a new worker. Players asked whether that worker is available immediately within the same action.
- RULING
- "You can." — the newly gained worker is available for use within the current Association action.
Hypnosis timing: gain appeal before execution, target selection is flexibledesigner
- CONTEXT
- Hypnosis fires "after finishing" the action, targeting the player with the most appeal. Players asked whether the appeal gain from playing the animal (which could change who has the most appeal) happens before or after choosing the Hypnosis target.
- RULING
- "We are generally aiming to be 'combo-friendly', so when playing an animal with Hypnosis, you can choose to trigger the ability first or get the appeal first. But you get the appeal before the actual Hypnosis takes place." — you may choose to gain your appeal before or after selecting the target, but the appeal must be gained before the borrowed action is executed.
AUTHOR: @zlorfik (Bastian Winkelhaus, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(23 replies)DATE: 2022-03-18Decide whether to use a Multiplier token after performing the actionpublisher
- CONTEXT
- Players were unsure at what point in the turn they must commit to using a Multiplier token.
- RULING
- "Official answer: You decide if you want to use the Multiplier after you performed your action, but before you place the action card in position 1. So it is: 1. Decide to take the action with the multiplier on it. 2. Perform action. 3. Decide to use multiplier after taking action, depending on favorable game state or not. 4. Take action a second time. 5. Move action card to position 1. 6. Turn ends. We'll add this to the FAQ."
AUTHOR: @Humaetchen (Inga, publisher — Feuerland Spiele)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(15 replies)DATE: 2022-02-22Definition of "connected border space" for Native Farm Animals scoringdesigner
- CONTEXT
- Players were unsure how to count "connected border spaces without buildings" for the Native Farm Animals card immediate appeal bonus.
- RULING
- "You gain 1 appeal for every space that fulfills ALL of the following: 1. It must be a border space (fewer than 6 adjacent hexes). 2. It must be a building space (not a water or rock hex). 3. It must not have any building on it (still free). 4. It must have any kind of building on at least 1 adjacent hex (that is the 'connected' part)." If your map is completely empty, you score 0 appeal because none of the empty spaces are connected.
AUTHOR: @zlorfik (Bastian Winkelhaus, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(20 replies)DATE: 2022-02-04Waza Small Animal Program must be in play before the Animals action startsdesigner
- CONTEXT
- A player played Waza Small Animal Program (WSAP) mid-action using a special token and asked whether it could retroactively grant its bonus for the current Animals action.
- RULING
- "The card says that anytime you only play small animals during an animals action, something happens. That condition is not met because the Waza Small Animal Program did not 'see' the Animals action." Even if played via a special token before any animals are purchased but after the action has started, it still does not trigger: "once you started the action, it's too late." WSAP only applies to future Animals actions where it was already in play.
AUTHOR: @zlorfik (Bastian Winkelhaus, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(25 replies)DATE: 2025-12-20Break step 5 substeps (income, map bonuses, sponsor card) can be resolved in any orderdesigner
- CONTEXT
- Players asked whether the three substeps of break step 5 (5a: take money income, 5b: gain map bonuses, 5c: optionally play a sponsor card from hand) must be resolved in strict order or can be chosen freely.
- RULING
- "You can choose the order." — for example, you may play your sponsor card (5c) before taking income (5a) if doing so increases your income based on the resulting appeal.
AUTHOR: @zlorfik (Bastian Winkelhaus, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(11 replies)DATE: 2022-06-16Donation is the last step of the upgraded Association actiondesigner
- CONTEXT
- Players asked whether you could donate first and then use a newly gained worker to take additional association tasks within the same action.
- RULING
- "Donating is the last part of the upgraded association action. So, you cannot Donate and then use a worker you got out of it and jump back to action selection. If you get your worker, because you took the 3rd partner zoo with your first action for example, you can use it." — donation is always last; workers gained before the donation step can still be used.
AUTHOR: @MathiasWigge (Mathias Wigge, designer); confirmed by @zlorfik (Bastian Winkelhaus, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(14 replies)DATE: 2022-03-24X-tokens can boost the strength of bonus actions granted by card abilitiesdesigner
- CONTEXT
- Cards like Sun Bear grant "Action: Association" as a bonus after completing the action. Players asked whether X-tokens could be used to boost the strength of such bonus actions.
- RULING
- "Yes you can use the X-Tokens for the bears bonus action!" — X-tokens apply to bonus actions granted by card abilities just as they do to normal actions.
Q&A4
Sponsor cards count their own icons for their own effectspublisher
- QUESTION
- When playing a sponsor card like Aquarium (which has 2 water icons and gains appeal per water icon played), do the card's own icons count for its own effect?
- ANSWER
- "In the Glossary on page 1. The Golden Rule 'Cards Always Count Themselves'." — yes, a sponsor card's own icons trigger its own effects when it is played.
AUTHOR: @Humaetchen (Inga, publisher — Feuerland Spiele)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(15 replies)DATE: 2022-03-08All 7 conservation project cubes are always available to choose fromcommunity high-engagement
- QUESTION
- Are only the yellow (one-time reward) cubes available at first, with the purple (income) cubes requiring the association card to be flipped first?
- ANSWER
- All 7 cubes are always available in any order. The rulebook (p.15) states "Place 1 player token of your choice from the left side of your zoo map" — there is no ordering requirement. Purple cubes grant their reward immediately AND each income phase during breaks; yellow cubes grant the reward once immediately only.
Reputation gain from Animals II strength 5 is optionalcommunity high-engagement
- QUESTION
- When performing the Animals action at strength 5 or more, is gaining +1 reputation mandatory or optional? BGA implements it as mandatory.
- ANSWER
- Optional. The English rulebook (p.13) uses "may" and the original German rulebook uses "darfst" (may/allowed to), not "musst" (must). BGA's forced reputation gain appears to be a platform implementation decision, not the correct rule. Note: no official designer confirmation has been given on this specific question.
AUTHOR: @msaari + @Darador (citing rulebook p.13 and German original)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(12 replies)DATE: 2023-06-05The player who triggers a break receives an X-tokencommunity high-engagement
- QUESTION
- Does the player who triggers a break (by moving their final action card to position 1) receive an X-token?
- ANSWER
- Yes. The rulebook infographic on p.7 confirms the break-triggering player receives an X-token. This is not restated in the break section on p.18, which has caused widespread confusion.
AUTHOR: @enbbbb (citing rulebook p.7 infographic)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(9 replies)DATE: 2022-04-24
EDGE CASES3
Gaining a second Multiplier during a Multiplier action does not grant a third executiondesigner
- SITUATION
- You begin your turn with a Multiplier token on an action card. During one of the two executions, you gain a second Multiplier token via a map space or card effect. Can you immediately use that new token for a third execution of the same action?
- RULING
- "After much deliberation between Mathias and me, our official ruling is that you may NOT execute the Build action a third time. As the Multiplier ability says in the Glossary, 'after finishing effects' happen only after both actions are done." — a Multiplier token gained mid-chain is an "after finishing" effect and is not available until both actions in the chain are complete.
AUTHOR: @zlorfik (Bastian Winkelhaus, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(18 replies)DATE: 2022-08-12"After finishing" bonuses during a Multiplier chain wait until all actions completedesigner
- SITUATION
- You use a Multiplier token and during the first action trigger a bonus that says "after finishing the current action." Does that bonus fire after the first action, or after both multiplied actions are done?
- RULING
- "If you use a Multiplier token and with the first action trigger a bonus that happens 'after finishing the current action', that bonus will not trigger until all Multiplier actions are done. The Glossary mentions this explicitly under the rules for Multiplier for the case of 2 actions in a row."
AUTHOR: @zlorfik (Bastian Winkelhaus, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(18 replies)DATE: 2022-08-12Pilfering with Primatologist: take card first to maximize stolen moneydesigner
- SITUATION
- You play Japanese Macaque (Pilfering ability) and also have Primatologist (sponsor #236) in play, which gives you a card when playing a primate. Pilfering steals money equal to the animal's cost. Can you choose to receive the Primatologist card first, then calculate pilfering based on the original cost?
- RULING
- "You should be getting the card and then 9 money. You get to choose the order of effects (general rule) and then as much money as possible (Pilfering in the Glossary explains that)." — you may choose to receive the Primatologist card first, then Pilfering calculates based on the full original cost of the animal. BGA's automatic money-first resolution is incorrect.
AUTHOR: @zlorfik (Bastian Winkelhaus, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(25 replies)DATE: 2023-05-29
Last researched: 2026-04-27
CATEGORIES
Animals·Card Game·Environmental
MECHANICS
ContractsEnd Game BonusesEventsGrid CoverageHand ManagementHexagon GridIncomeIncrease Value of Unchosen ResourcesOpen Drafting
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