This is what TH-cam board gamers needed: videos that not only teach us games, but also test us. Whether you’re new to the game or a self proclaimed “expert”, these videos will have something for everyone. Would be nice to see further videos of the same game. Maybe incorporate some plays with the following: - “connected” areas - animals that “share” enclosures - examples of end game scoring - breakdown of the break (no pun intended). (Maybe illegally gaining money from kiosks next to unoccupied standard enclosures, etc). And get a good set of poker chips! This game rocks with those!
I got everything right but noticed I was not replenishing the card train often enough. Thanks for the video, this is much more engaging than watching someone play a board game.
Nice. I was just telling a friend yesterday that the game can be easily remembered for most part of the game except those little rule nuances, and BAM! this video shows up. I might have made illegal moves regarding question 3 😅
agree with the glossary thing. the rulebook would be wayyyy better if the glossary was actually part of the rulebook, rather than a thing I need to scan a lot during gameplay. PS. this kind of vids is so needed for complex games.
That's because they already printed the rulebook, and then someone pointed out mistakes, so it was cheaper to add a glossary that has only 2 pages than spend more money to reprint the entire rule- book!
Fun video! I'm quite familiar with the game, but I still enjoyed going through the legal/illegal quiz. Just a headsup, though. The stuff in the red bands are conditions, *not* requirements.
Here's an additional challenge: I take the upgraded Association action at strength 7, spending 2 X tokens. I use my only worker to gain a new partner zoo from the board. It's my 3rd partner zoo, so I take a worker as my bonus and use that worker to take a new university from the board.
As someone fairly new to ark nova I want to say illegal. I'm under the impression you can only preform one task with the association action. if I'm wrong and it possible to preform multiple task, so long as it equals or is less than your overall strength, while also having enough workers to do so then I would say it's legal
@@timmaddams1093is it capped at 2 actions per turn? say if you have a 2x on the association action and increase the strength with x's to seven and preform two actions. Would you then be able to preform that action again because the x2? Or would preforming 2 actions the first time be a waste ? Also follow up question, if you have a x2 on an action card and increase the strength with x's will that carry over to the second use of that action or be discarded before then?
For question 9, there is a small mistake that you paid an extra X token for level 5 sponsor card using rank 2 sponsor action at space 4. Rank 2 sponsor action would allow you to play sponsor card below X+1 level, thus you don’t need to spend that extra X token. Besides that, super helpful video❤
Jerry, I'm not seeing a part of #9 where I paid an X token, so I think you may be referring to the 20:04 mark where I pay $1 to pay the cost of the card (for being in the #1 slot on the main board display). I probably should have held that shot a little longer, because it is a bit hard to see that I grabbed money and not an X token. Let me know, though, if you are talking about a different section I'm overlooking.
Right. But to be clear, not just partnered with another zoo, but partnered specifically with the zoo matching the animal. So the European Bison requires a partnership with the European zoo.
@@ruleschallenge5573 thanks for the quick response! I looked in the rule book quick and didn’t find the answer, this ended up being a much quicker way to find the answer!
Just a comment on #11, some small inaccuracies. Technically he checks for conditions, requirements is the enclosure and money cost. More importantly, hypnosis lets you get your third continent without upgrading asso, so the statement at the end is a bit inaccurate.
That's the way I thought of it at first, too. When I was studying the rules again for this video, though, I noticed this line in the rulebook, "If an animal requires water and/or rock spaces next to its standard enclosure, the same requirement also applies to the respective special enclosure." To play it safe, I suppose when a person places a special enclosure they should make sure it touches water and rock so it can accommodate any animal they might want to put there in the future.
@@ruleschallenge5573 one more question about what you mentioned with a animal card that has 2 of the same continents on top of the card. You said you can get a double discount with the continent on your board too? Was confusing… didn’t know you can get more than the one discount
This comes from the "Pay Cost" section for Animals in the rulebook: "If you have a partner zoo on the continent from which the animal originates, this reduces the cost by 3 money per continent icon." Note the "per continent icon" part. So if the card has TWO continent icons at the top (like the European Bison has two Europe icons), then you get the $3 discount TWICE.
For question 10. There is also a reputation on it. Do you gain that also for releasing the lizard. If it would have been legal.. or is that only when you play the card..
The reputation is gained only by the player who plays the Sea Cave card. So Black gained 1 reputation when he played it, but no other players who subsequently use the card get that benefit.
@@ruleschallenge5573 ok thnx. Nice video's by the way. We thought we played ok but we still learned stuff!! Haha. Thnx. And now added the marine world. We love this game. Greets.
For question 10: What if the player had had The Gould's Monitor in the special lizard building? Could he have removed 2 cubes from it, in order to get the conservation, or does he have to flip a used enclosure of the correct size. Even tho the lizard technically wouldnt be in it?
In such as case, the player would HAVE to remove 2 cubes from the Reptile House; you always have to take the cubes from a special building first, if possible. The rulebook acknowledges this can create unintuitive situations. For example, if a player has at least two cubes in a Reptile House, and had placed The Gould's Monitor in a regular 2-space enclosure, when releasing The Gould's Monitor into the wild the cubes would come from the Reptile House, even though the Monitor didn't "occupy" that building. This feels weird if you're aware of which animals you put where. The good news is that you don't have to keep track of what animal went into what building.
@@ruleschallenge5573 Thanks for the superfast reply and detailed answer! Love this game, even though this particular rule can feel a little bit like it doesn't make sense. It's all an abstraction anyway.
Wait, the pentagonal bonus for buying sponsors stays with you? As in you can use it for the rest of the game? That would make a lot of sense, otherwise it has to be such an opportunistic bonus.
It's such trash, then. You lose money to play some sponsor card and you can't plan for it, and if you use it it probably messes up your action order because your next sponsors is messed up...
When you take a card from the display, as in question #9, do you not have to pay the cost (in this case 4 money) associated with whatever folder you take the card from?
Not in that particular case. Be careful to distinguish between "taking" a card and "playing" a card. When using the upgraded Sponsors card to directly PLAY a card from the display, you pay for the folder it is in. (Using the upgraded Animals card to play a card directly from the display is basically the same). At the start of the action in #9, $1 was paid to PLAY a Sponsor card from the first folder of the display. That card happened to have an immediate bonus to TAKE a card from the display up to your Reputation level, and a card from the fourth folder was chosen, as you mentioned. That card is put into your hand, not into your zoo, and doesn't cost anything to take.
I had One question on the player conservation projects, some of them have a 1 reputation, example sea cave. Who gets that reputation? Is it only the player who played it? or any player who does that conservation? I couldn't seem to find anything on it
Good question, Nick. I probably should have discussed it in the video. It's mentioned in the "Conservation Projects Layouts" box on Page 15 of the rulebook. It says, "Certain Conservation Projects grant an additional bonus to the player who plays them" and marks that benefit of the card. In the example I show, the Sea Cave card had been put into play earlier by Black, so Red did not get the 'Gain 1 Reputation' bonus when he supported that project.
There is a side box in the rulebook that says it's optional. I talk a little bit about it at around the 1:45 mark of the video. The designer wanted discards to be face down, but he gave the option of making it face up because people often confused the draw deck and the discard pile when they were both face down. I believe the BGA implementation keeps discards hidden. Or else I just haven't figured out how to see them. :)
Right. You can build buildings of the same size, but they have to be different types. To build 2 kiosks in one build action, you would need a special ability, like with the Engineer sponsor card.
If played from your hand, you don't pay any money. If you use the upgraded ability of the card that allows you to play it direct from the display, you pay money equal to the number of the folder: $1 for the first folder, $2 for the second, and so on.
You always use the size of STANDARD enclosure the animal requires, regardless of whether it is in a special enclosure or can be placed in one. Gould's Monitor requires a size-3 standard enclosure, so that is always the slot you have to claim on the Conservation card.
It's next to the Penguin Pool. That counts as a building for adjacency purposes (even though it looks like a water space where it touches the new building).
This is what TH-cam board gamers needed: videos that not only teach us games, but also test us. Whether you’re new to the game or a self proclaimed “expert”, these videos will have something for everyone.
Would be nice to see further videos of the same game. Maybe incorporate some plays with the following:
- “connected” areas
- animals that “share” enclosures
- examples of end game scoring
- breakdown of the break (no pun intended). (Maybe illegally gaining money from kiosks next to unoccupied standard enclosures, etc).
And get a good set of poker chips! This game rocks with those!
I don't have anything more planned for base Ark Nova at the moment, but I have a new video coming out soon on the Marine Worlds expansion.
I got everything right but noticed I was not replenishing the card train often enough. Thanks for the video, this is much more engaging than watching someone play a board game.
Dude, I just suscribed yesterday. I cant believe you uploaded today, how lucky I am!
Nice. I was just telling a friend yesterday that the game can be easily remembered for most part of the game except those little rule nuances, and BAM! this video shows up. I might have made illegal moves regarding question 3 😅
Thank you! I learned a lot :)
Super useful. Thanks.
Underrated channel, love these vids!
agree with the glossary thing.
the rulebook would be wayyyy better if the glossary was actually part of the rulebook, rather than a thing I need to scan a lot during gameplay.
PS. this kind of vids is so needed for complex games.
That's because they already printed the rulebook, and then someone pointed out mistakes, so it was cheaper to add a glossary that has only 2 pages than spend more money to reprint the entire rule- book!
Great video...and for once, I was 12 for 12!
Thanks so much for making this video! Really helpful for this amazing game.
Fun video! I'm quite familiar with the game, but I still enjoyed going through the legal/illegal quiz. Just a headsup, though. The stuff in the red bands are conditions, *not* requirements.
I really like this! Definitely following.
Note: When we take the conservation track bonuses we just turn them face down.
Super usefull vid. Thanks!
I LOVE that T-shirt!!!!
Definitely subscribing….very helpful video. It cleared some doubts I had. Thank you !
Here's an additional challenge:
I take the upgraded Association action at strength 7, spending 2 X tokens. I use my only worker to gain a new partner zoo from the board. It's my 3rd partner zoo, so I take a worker as my bonus and use that worker to take a new university from the board.
I'll give other people a chance to answer, but I remember this being one of the few things that surprised me in the official FAQ.
Legal
As someone fairly new to ark nova I want to say illegal. I'm under the impression you can only preform one task with the association action. if I'm wrong and it possible to preform multiple task, so long as it equals or is less than your overall strength, while also having enough workers to do so then I would say it's legal
@@ZioZs_Builds it's only possible to perform 2 actions on the association board if you have either the upgrade association card or an x2 on it.
@@timmaddams1093is it capped at 2 actions per turn? say if you have a 2x on the association action and increase the strength with x's to seven and preform two actions. Would you then be able to preform that action again because the x2? Or would preforming 2 actions the first time be a waste ?
Also follow up question, if you have a x2 on an action card and increase the strength with x's will that carry over to the second use of that action or be discarded before then?
For question 9, there is a small mistake that you paid an extra X token for level 5 sponsor card using rank 2 sponsor action at space 4. Rank 2 sponsor action would allow you to play sponsor card below X+1 level, thus you don’t need to spend that extra X token. Besides that, super helpful video❤
Jerry, I'm not seeing a part of #9 where I paid an X token, so I think you may be referring to the 20:04 mark where I pay $1 to pay the cost of the card (for being in the #1 slot on the main board display). I probably should have held that shot a little longer, because it is a bit hard to see that I grabbed money and not an X token. Let me know, though, if you are talking about a different section I'm overlooking.
You are right😂
Additionally if you want to overpay with x's you can. Doesn't help you but it is legal
11:15 on this animal card European Bison what does the requirement symbol on it mean? That you just need to be partnered with another zoo? Thanks!
Right. But to be clear, not just partnered with another zoo, but partnered specifically with the zoo matching the animal. So the European Bison requires a partnership with the European zoo.
@@ruleschallenge5573 thanks for the quick response! I looked in the rule book quick and didn’t find the answer, this ended up being a much quicker way to find the answer!
Just a comment on #11, some small inaccuracies. Technically he checks for conditions, requirements is the enclosure and money cost.
More importantly, hypnosis lets you get your third continent without upgrading asso, so the statement at the end is a bit inaccurate.
Your channel is insane. Great video, thanks a lot!
You take a player token from your general supply, not your board, to cover the association donation track
Exactly!
I’m surprised by the 3rd question. I thought it was a 5 space next to rock or a bird aviary
That's the way I thought of it at first, too. When I was studying the rules again for this video, though, I noticed this line in the rulebook, "If an animal requires water and/or rock spaces next to its standard enclosure, the same requirement also applies to the respective special enclosure."
To play it safe, I suppose when a person places a special enclosure they should make sure it touches water and rock so it can accommodate any animal they might want to put there in the future.
@@ruleschallenge5573 that’s good to know. It makes sense thematically. Thank you!
@@ruleschallenge5573 one more question about what you mentioned with a animal card that has 2 of the same continents on top of the card. You said you can get a double discount with the continent on your board too? Was confusing… didn’t know you can get more than the one discount
This comes from the "Pay Cost" section for Animals in the rulebook:
"If you have a partner zoo on the continent from which the animal originates, this reduces the cost by 3 money per continent icon."
Note the "per continent icon" part. So if the card has TWO continent icons at the top (like the European Bison has two Europe icons), then you get the $3 discount TWICE.
For question 10. There is also a reputation on it. Do you gain that also for releasing the lizard. If it would have been legal.. or is that only when you play the card..
The reputation is gained only by the player who plays the Sea Cave card. So Black gained 1 reputation when he played it, but no other players who subsequently use the card get that benefit.
@@ruleschallenge5573 ok thnx.
Nice video's by the way. We thought we played ok but we still learned stuff!! Haha. Thnx. And now added the marine world. We love this game.
Greets.
For question 10: What if the player had had The Gould's Monitor in the special lizard building? Could he have removed 2 cubes from it, in order to get the conservation, or does he have to flip a used enclosure of the correct size. Even tho the lizard technically wouldnt be in it?
In such as case, the player would HAVE to remove 2 cubes from the Reptile House; you always have to take the cubes from a special building first, if possible.
The rulebook acknowledges this can create unintuitive situations. For example, if a player has at least two cubes in a Reptile House, and had placed The Gould's Monitor in a regular 2-space enclosure, when releasing The Gould's Monitor into the wild the cubes would come from the Reptile House, even though the Monitor didn't "occupy" that building. This feels weird if you're aware of which animals you put where. The good news is that you don't have to keep track of what animal went into what building.
@@ruleschallenge5573 Thanks for the superfast reply and detailed answer! Love this game, even though this particular rule can feel a little bit like it doesn't make sense. It's all an abstraction anyway.
Wait, the pentagonal bonus for buying sponsors stays with you? As in you can use it for the rest of the game? That would make a lot of sense, otherwise it has to be such an opportunistic bonus.
I guess every yellow bonus is an instant bonus. You have to get it and use in the same turn
It's such trash, then. You lose money to play some sponsor card and you can't plan for it, and if you use it it probably messes up your action order because your next sponsors is messed up...
When you take a card from the display, as in question #9, do you not have to pay the cost (in this case 4 money) associated with whatever folder you take the card from?
Not in that particular case. Be careful to distinguish between "taking" a card and "playing" a card. When using the upgraded Sponsors card to directly PLAY a card from the display, you pay for the folder it is in. (Using the upgraded Animals card to play a card directly from the display is basically the same).
At the start of the action in #9, $1 was paid to PLAY a Sponsor card from the first folder of the display. That card happened to have an immediate bonus to TAKE a card from the display up to your Reputation level, and a card from the fourth folder was chosen, as you mentioned. That card is put into your hand, not into your zoo, and doesn't cost anything to take.
@@ruleschallenge5573 many thanks!
I had One question on the player conservation projects, some of them have a 1 reputation, example sea cave. Who gets that reputation? Is it only the player who played it? or any player who does that conservation? I couldn't seem to find anything on it
Good question, Nick. I probably should have discussed it in the video. It's mentioned in the "Conservation Projects Layouts" box on Page 15 of the rulebook. It says, "Certain Conservation Projects grant an additional bonus to the player who plays them" and marks that benefit of the card.
In the example I show, the Sea Cave card had been put into play earlier by Black, so Red did not get the 'Gain 1 Reputation' bonus when he supported that project.
Isn't discard pile public?
There is a side box in the rulebook that says it's optional. I talk a little bit about it at around the 1:45 mark of the video. The designer wanted discards to be face down, but he gave the option of making it face up because people often confused the draw deck and the discard pile when they were both face down.
I believe the BGA implementation keeps discards hidden. Or else I just haven't figured out how to see them. :)
Can you build two kiosks at one time? (no, right?) Must be different Buildings? but ok with same size.
Right. You can build buildings of the same size, but they have to be different types. To build 2 kiosks in one build action, you would need a special ability, like with the Engineer sponsor card.
3:44 for donation i think you must grab token from supply not on zoomap
I saw next part video and you fix this problem 🙈✌️👍 , thank you dude.
19:45 why pay one money?
If played from your hand, you don't pay any money. If you use the upgraded ability of the card that allows you to play it direct from the display, you pay money equal to the number of the folder: $1 for the first folder, $2 for the second, and so on.
@@ruleschallenge5573 thanks ... didn't see that in rulebook
For example 10 would it have been legal if the reptile was released from the reptile house since it only takes up 2 spaces there?
You always use the size of STANDARD enclosure the animal requires, regardless of whether it is in a special enclosure or can be placed in one. Gould's Monitor requires a size-3 standard enclosure, so that is always the slot you have to claim on the Conservation card.
@@ruleschallenge5573 oh I see, that's good to know thanks!
Woah what, in #12 the building isn't built adjacent to existing buildings! There is a power or 2 that might grant that but how is he doing it?
It's next to the Penguin Pool. That counts as a building for adjacency purposes (even though it looks like a water space where it touches the new building).
@@ruleschallenge5573 omg what an optical illusion I had
I didn’t know the reptile house and aviary still needed to meet rock/water requirements. I think that’s dumb but ok
Pᵣₒmₒˢᵐ
do people actually like this game? just wondering. seems overly mechanical for an end goal that is not satisfying in achievement ¯\_(ツ)_/¯