Quick Reference Icons

Icon	Action
	Any action
	Animals action
	Association action
	Build action
	Cards action
	Sponsors action

Icon	Partner Zoo
	Africa
	Americas
	Asia
	Australia
	Europe

Icon	Board
	Immediate effect
	Effect gained on conservation project support and Break
	Income in each Break
	Effect during final scoring
	Immediate one-time effect
	Draw card from deck or reputation range
	Snap (take any card from reputation range)

Icon	Definition
	Money
	Reputation
	Conservation points
	Partner zoo
	Research
	Appeal
	University

Icon	Animal
	Bird
	Herbivore
	Predator
	Primate
	Reptile
	Bear
	Petting Zoo animal

Icon	Condition
	Condition: Icon in zoo
	Condition: Appeal required
	Condition: Research required
	Condition: Partner zoo required
	Condition: Reputation required
	Condition: Upgrade required
	Ignore 1 condition

Icon	Animal Ability
	Constriction
	Hypnosis
	Pilfering
	Venom
	Hunter
	Perception
	Pouch
	Sunbathing

Icon	Build Definition
	Standard enclosure of specific size
	Kiosk
	Pavilion
	Build a 2-space/3-space Enclosure for free
	Specific special Enclosure
	Rock
	Water
	Enclosure requires adjacency to depicted type and quantity of spaces

Icon	Definition
	X-token
	Upgrade a card
	Action strength
	Support of a conservation project
	Move any action card to slot 1
	Perform another action
	New Association worker
	Hand limit
	Appeal limit
	Pay X money to play a Sponsor from your hand
	Multiplier
	Can be affected by interactive effects
	Your zoo
	Any zoo
	Large animal enclosure (4-5 hexes)
	Small animal enclosure (1-3 hexes)

Tips

Associated zoos count as a zoo icon for your card requirements. They also grant a -3 cost reduction for each icon on your animal card (meaning two Europe icons reduce cost by six).

If you find yourself lacking money, remember these tips:

• At the beginning of the game, play low-cost animals to increase your Appeal.
• Play Sponsor cards that increase appeal or money.
• Gaining Partner Zoos reduces the cost of animals from those continents.
• Building costs 2 money per hex, so don't build needlessly.
• The more Appeal you have, the more money you earn during Breaks.
• If you have no money or Association workers, your best bet is to advance the Break counter.
• During Break, Kiosks earn 1 money per building or occupied zoo space they are adjacent to. Place your Kiosks in spaces that are adjacent to as many different constructions as possible, not tucked away in a corner.
• Money is only earned during Breaks, except for "bonus icons" gained from:
  • Building a structure on the appropriate hex space
  • Conservation project cards that match the player token space with a money bonus
  • Advance the Break icon with the Sponsors action (if upgraded, money earned is doubled)

Universities count as Research icons.

Reputation determines how many cards you have access to for Snapping. You also earn bonuses with increased Reputation.

If your Association Action is upgraded, you can split the placement between two different workers as long as the total doesn't exceed the action strength. For example, a 5-strength Association Action lets you place one worker on the "Gain Reputation" task (power two) and one worker on the "Gain Partner Zoo" task (power three).

Don't hoard cards. Drawing a large volume of cards takes up time. You won’t be able to play everything you gain. An unexpected Break can decimate a large hand.

Early game conservation points are weighted heavily by providing a lot of bonuses in the first 10 points. Being the first one to the bonus spaces is always better than being second or third, as bonuses are eliminated once selected by someone (excluding the 5 money). If possible, try to be as aggressive as you can be with scoring conservation points in the early game.

Every used cube from your "income space" provides those resources during each coffee break. This makes early game support of conservation projects fairly important by increasing the power of coffee breaks.

It can be much more efficient and effective to focus on supporting the bottom tier of multiple Conservation Projects. It tends to be more difficult to support the top tier of a conservation project, especially across multiple projects. You will probably end up scoring more conservation points overall by supporting the bottom tier of several projects.

Early game conservation points can upgrade your draw cards action, thereby letting you access higher reputation rewards; gaining even more bonuses.

Don’t focus too heavily on future cards that may never show up. One trap that new players can fall into is waiting to draw certain cards with certain icons. Often this boils down to holding onto that Eurasian Brown Bear (which requires another bear tag to be in play), hoping beyond hope that you see, can draw, then play another bear tag.

Focus on as much early game synergy as possible. Between your starting hand, the base conservation projects, and the display, try to focus on drawing and playing cards that all work together and have some unifying synergy. This will help you score points quickly and effectively.

X tokens are a great way to boost actions immediately instead of having to wait for multiple turns for your desired action to move up to stage 5. Using a stage 5 action followed by a boosted stage 5 action can create powerful surges in your points and resources.

Ark Nova is a sprint, not a marathon. It all boils down to gaining appeal points and conservation points faster than anyone else. As a beginning player, it’s easy to become distracted by the options and animals at your disposal. "Burst out" your available options as quickly as you can, establish a superior position on points, then work to end the game as quickly as you can.