Other hidden benefits for reconstruction: You can play animals into water/rock enclosures, then move the enclosures to provide space for water/rock enclosures on animals you draw later in the game. How often have you seen a great animal show up, but you've already used some of the premium spaces on the map to get bonuses. It's also really good on the map that gives enclosure bonus size, since the animals don't "track" that you've suddenly made their enclosures 2 smaller. That's actually the first thing I thought of since there's only the 1 rock near the tile space that gives the bonus +2 enclosure size. Somewhat situational, but not too much. I think it unlocks some strong plays in a way no other card does so far, so it's either going to be a complete stinker of a card since it's too situational, or it's going to be a strong enabler. It's just not generically strong
10 minutes in. The new animals seem like good value, but there is a downside I feel is glanced over here. The aquarium you build needs to connect to water, which limits where you can start building on soms maps. Also once the size 2 is full, you need to pay 10 for the big size 5 to get going which can be quite an investment. Furthermore the size 5 can be a very awkward shape to place. Farm Cat doesn't state "in your zoo" for the end game points. Would that mean it can score of other players kiosk as well? Holywood Hills H symbols are not considered placement bonusses, so you can't double them with Excavation site. ( They also don't work with Archeologist) 56:20 That doesnt work, because the new worker also gets placed on 5. ( This is worded badly on the card, but clear in the rulebook) So you basicly trade 1 asso action in the first round for one extra in the second round. It's probably more likely you do this in the middle game when you already have a second worker, but no project to support. You can get an extra worker from this and not upgrade asso to get that third worker and perhaps still get the last worker CP bonus. The backside also not that amazing. Unless you are at a table with people who tend to break agressively placing extra workers for 2 discount not worth it. Placing 2 workers with your action means you can't take that asso action again that round ( cause it would require 3 workers) Seems very niche and not worth it to me. That build 4 action card that lets you build over water/rock can be good on Outdoor Areas or Research institute. It means you can build and grab a uni or partner zoo first action.
I think the aquariums aren't that hard to build, the challenge is more prognosticating wether you want to build the 2 or the 5, which is a nice tension point. You're right it is harder on certain maps but overall there's plenty of reasonable placements IMO. Outdoor cats I'd have to look into but I can't imagine it counts opponents. Thanks for the corrections and really good callout on that build action being spicy for cutting corners on the right maps
Cut down allows you to get the same placement bonuses again if you put another tile back on where the removed placement bonus was. There are maps with free parter zoos and universities placement bonus where you get to double up on those.
Re: Landscape Gardener. You talked about getting three pavilions and three Xs for Posturing animals, but the Landscape Gardener card says "Max 1 per Action".
Ah, great notice! I'm notoriously bad at spotting "max per action" - this came up in our very first play of Ark Nova with the Release the Patents card. Something about parentheses.
This is Sooo much like Venus Expansion of Terraforming Mars. The next Ark Nova is going to be a Prelude expansion to make the game faster (maybe start with your choice of 2 prelude conservation projects to get out your first upgrade faster) Next one will be a colonies expansion where you have a special worker that travels to different worker placement spots that pool resources (money, facedown cards, X tokens, special tokens like the x2 token, etc.) and then finally a turmoil expansion of freaky random events that can happen to your Zoo. Each expansion will also add extra animals and sponsors along with these additional mechanism. - My 2023 Prediction
@BoardInTheHouseBGAplayer Prelude has nothing in common with Venus. No cards, no icons, nothing. You can play Venus with or without Prelude but nothing on the Prelude cards is related to Venus
I think you misunderstood a dimension of the number 4 sponsors card's magenta side (but maybe I did - still very new to ark nova) - you don't need to have the sponsors card in the right number slot to play a high-level sponsors card with money (If I understand the card correctly, that restriction only applies to playing sponsors cards normally w/ the top action), so it's letting you, say, play a level 6 sponsors card from the 1 slot if you really want to, as long as you have the money to pay for it (and the break X to get money obviously helps with that cost). That seems pretty good, honestly, but I tend to find sponsors sneaks up to the fifth slot fairly often anyway, so unless i'm trying to play tons of sponsors or something I'm not sure I need to be able to play sponsors from a super low slot? Still, getting to do it for cash is good, esp. with the built-in discount.... (Really enjoyed the video - thanks for making this!)
You mean the one with the business guy om the phone? I suppose that's a good point - if you want to just constantly jam sponsors for money this allows you to do that, but it really softens up the rest of your game plan which I think is too much to give up in the majority of instances. Plus when you draft this card at the beginning of the game you don't know if you'll be there? I'll have to give this a spin though and see if I'm wrong in my assumptions!!
@@phoenicksgaming Yep! And I agree, it still doesn't really get me excited, but I haven't tried it yet! Are you enjoying the expansion so far? Just picked it up yesterday and going to play with some friends tonight!
I do agree it's pretty easy AND in player control, but you may be giving up flexibility of building certain bigger enclosures to continually jam kiosks and pavilions. I think there's a chance this will mind control folks into making suspect plays. But yeah, seems great in general
Ok so the Dewgong in base game has 2 water icons... Do these fish have any water icons? Can a Dewgong go in an aquarium in real life? Trying to check for any inconsistencies in the water icon meaning. Also would Aquarium be OP in this expansion? Are they going to need to come out with a rock animals expansion?
You're obviously quite an experienced player but it sounds like you're playing kiosks wrong (or I am)... You implied that you could surround them with pavilions to get heaps of income, but don't you only get money for different/unique buildings around each kiosk?
I think you're playing them wrong - different buildings, yes, but not unique (its a different pavilion). So surrounding with pavilions is indeed extra income!
"Unique building" is confusing for sure. It means unique in it's purpose not looking for diversity of building. For example if you had multiple 2 size enclosures with animals in them they'd both count - so, yes, pavilions do fuel kiosks.
Yeah, Association 2 is completely busted. There are a couple that are pushed but Association 2 should have seen some kind of additional playtesting. A free Association worker at the start of the game for zero effort is unbalanced, especially at lower player counts. Likely won't be including it in the pool of replacement actions if we play with the module at all (which sucks).
I've played with this Action Card on Table Top simulator and its not as good as it seems. First, you have to place the worker you gain on the 5 spot so you can't use them the same round. So you are basically forfeiting a university or partner zoo if you use it the first round which can be very detrimental to your tempo. And if you do use it your first round, for your second round you cant get a second university or partner zoo because you only have 2 workers so you can't get the card upgrade as soon. Additionally the upgraded side of it is very very niche because most of the time you'd want to use the upgraded association action to do a double action with some x tokens.
@@cossakman101 seems most ideal for the maps that get 2 vp for unlocking all heads, in a game where you are rushing the end, which is a pretty niche scenario
Was JUST re-listening to the Friendly Ties ep about this expansion and had the thought that I'd love to hear more from you on Ark Nova. Voila!
Serendipity!
I think Mascot Statue exists as Victory Column on BGA right now. Very similar, if not identical.
Other hidden benefits for reconstruction: You can play animals into water/rock enclosures, then move the enclosures to provide space for water/rock enclosures on animals you draw later in the game. How often have you seen a great animal show up, but you've already used some of the premium spaces on the map to get bonuses. It's also really good on the map that gives enclosure bonus size, since the animals don't "track" that you've suddenly made their enclosures 2 smaller. That's actually the first thing I thought of since there's only the 1 rock near the tile space that gives the bonus +2 enclosure size. Somewhat situational, but not too much. I think it unlocks some strong plays in a way no other card does so far, so it's either going to be a complete stinker of a card since it's too situational, or it's going to be a strong enabler. It's just not generically strong
Ooooooo! Love that enclosure size (outdoor spaces?) plan. Very cool use of that power.
10 minutes in. The new animals seem like good value, but there is a downside I feel is glanced over here.
The aquarium you build needs to connect to water, which limits where you can start building on soms maps.
Also once the size 2 is full, you need to pay 10 for the big size 5 to get going which can be quite an investment.
Furthermore the size 5 can be a very awkward shape to place.
Farm Cat doesn't state "in your zoo" for the end game points. Would that mean it can score of other players kiosk as well?
Holywood Hills H symbols are not considered placement bonusses, so you can't double them with Excavation site.
( They also don't work with Archeologist)
56:20 That doesnt work, because the new worker also gets placed on 5. ( This is worded badly on the card, but clear in the rulebook)
So you basicly trade 1 asso action in the first round for one extra in the second round.
It's probably more likely you do this in the middle game when you already have a second worker, but no project to support.
You can get an extra worker from this and not upgrade asso to get that third worker and perhaps still get the last worker CP bonus.
The backside also not that amazing. Unless you are at a table with people who tend to break agressively placing extra workers for 2 discount not worth it.
Placing 2 workers with your action means you can't take that asso action again that round ( cause it would require 3 workers)
Seems very niche and not worth it to me.
That build 4 action card that lets you build over water/rock can be good on Outdoor Areas or Research institute.
It means you can build and grab a uni or partner zoo first action.
I think the aquariums aren't that hard to build, the challenge is more prognosticating wether you want to build the 2 or the 5, which is a nice tension point. You're right it is harder on certain maps but overall there's plenty of reasonable placements IMO.
Outdoor cats I'd have to look into but I can't imagine it counts opponents.
Thanks for the corrections and really good callout on that build action being spicy for cutting corners on the right maps
Cut down allows you to get the same placement bonuses again if you put another tile back on where the removed placement bonus was. There are maps with free parter zoos and universities placement bonus where you get to double up on those.
Seems reasonable enough, I think injust wanted something glitzier
Great vid! The income hand is also on the base box too! Took me ages to realise 😂
So sneaky!
Not too long! We have a pause button if needed :) Thanks, exceited to play Amazon House and Underwater Tunnel!
I know amazon house is going to mind control me into making bad plays just to get it out
Re: Landscape Gardener. You talked about getting three pavilions and three Xs for Posturing animals, but the Landscape Gardener card says "Max 1 per Action".
Ah, great notice! I'm notoriously bad at spotting "max per action" - this came up in our very first play of Ark Nova with the Release the Patents card. Something about parentheses.
I know. Wishful thinking. 🙂
This is Sooo much like Venus Expansion of Terraforming Mars. The next Ark Nova is going to be a Prelude expansion to make the game faster (maybe start with your choice of 2 prelude conservation projects to get out your first upgrade faster) Next one will be a colonies expansion where you have a special worker that travels to different worker placement spots that pool resources (money, facedown cards, X tokens, special tokens like the x2 token, etc.) and then finally a turmoil expansion of freaky random events that can happen to your Zoo. Each expansion will also add extra animals and sponsors along with these additional mechanism. - My 2023 Prediction
Wow! I like it. As long as the Prelude expansion isn't dependent on Marine Worlds
@@gregschmittgens1262 Can TfM Prelude be played without Venus? I'm pretty sure it can. Maybe remove some Venus Prelude cards
@BoardInTheHouseBGAplayer Prelude has nothing in common with Venus. No cards, no icons, nothing. You can play Venus with or without Prelude but nothing on the Prelude cards is related to Venus
I think you misunderstood a dimension of the number 4 sponsors card's magenta side (but maybe I did - still very new to ark nova) - you don't need to have the sponsors card in the right number slot to play a high-level sponsors card with money (If I understand the card correctly, that restriction only applies to playing sponsors cards normally w/ the top action), so it's letting you, say, play a level 6 sponsors card from the 1 slot if you really want to, as long as you have the money to pay for it (and the break X to get money obviously helps with that cost).
That seems pretty good, honestly, but I tend to find sponsors sneaks up to the fifth slot fairly often anyway, so unless i'm trying to play tons of sponsors or something I'm not sure I need to be able to play sponsors from a super low slot? Still, getting to do it for cash is good, esp. with the built-in discount....
(Really enjoyed the video - thanks for making this!)
You mean the one with the business guy om the phone? I suppose that's a good point - if you want to just constantly jam sponsors for money this allows you to do that, but it really softens up the rest of your game plan which I think is too much to give up in the majority of instances. Plus when you draft this card at the beginning of the game you don't know if you'll be there? I'll have to give this a spin though and see if I'm wrong in my assumptions!!
@@phoenicksgaming Yep! And I agree, it still doesn't really get me excited, but I haven't tried it yet! Are you enjoying the expansion so far? Just picked it up yesterday and going to play with some friends tonight!
@mac11115 I've only managed about 3 games so jury is still out!
Catered Picnic Areas looks incredible. Trivially easy to get 3 CPS for it. Probably an automatic 4 CPs in most games.
I do agree it's pretty easy AND in player control, but you may be giving up flexibility of building certain bigger enclosures to continually jam kiosks and pavilions. I think there's a chance this will mind control folks into making suspect plays. But yeah, seems great in general
Ok so the Dewgong in base game has 2 water icons... Do these fish have any water icons? Can a Dewgong go in an aquarium in real life? Trying to check for any inconsistencies in the water icon meaning. Also would Aquarium be OP in this expansion? Are they going to need to come out with a rock animals expansion?
Fish don't have water icons, but the Aquarium they live in does
@@timmaddams1093 Thanks! So to place an aquarium special tile you need it near water
so the octopus needs a rock icon. thematically how does that work?
Coastal oceans and rocky shores are a thing!
nice
You're obviously quite an experienced player but it sounds like you're playing kiosks wrong (or I am)... You implied that you could surround them with pavilions to get heaps of income, but don't you only get money for different/unique buildings around each kiosk?
I think you're playing them wrong - different buildings, yes, but not unique (its a different pavilion). So surrounding with pavilions is indeed extra income!
That's how it work on BGA
"Unique building" is confusing for sure. It means unique in it's purpose not looking for diversity of building. For example if you had multiple 2 size enclosures with animals in them they'd both count - so, yes, pavilions do fuel kiosks.
Yeah, Association 2 is completely busted. There are a couple that are pushed but Association 2 should have seen some kind of additional playtesting. A free Association worker at the start of the game for zero effort is unbalanced, especially at lower player counts. Likely won't be including it in the pool of replacement actions if we play with the module at all (which sucks).
I think it's worth trying at least - I suspect it suffers from tempo issues
I've played with this Action Card on Table Top simulator and its not as good as it seems. First, you have to place the worker you gain on the 5 spot so you can't use them the same round. So you are basically forfeiting a university or partner zoo if you use it the first round which can be very detrimental to your tempo. And if you do use it your first round, for your second round you cant get a second university or partner zoo because you only have 2 workers so you can't get the card upgrade as soon. Additionally the upgraded side of it is very very niche because most of the time you'd want to use the upgraded association action to do a double action with some x tokens.
@@cossakman101 seems most ideal for the maps that get 2 vp for unlocking all heads, in a game where you are rushing the end, which is a pretty niche scenario