Ark Nova

• Place the game board in middle of table, along with other component trays
• Place the Break token on start space according to player count
• Prepare bonus tiles:
  • Place random tiles on each of 4 open yellow spaces
  • Place 1 random tile next to space 15 of reputation track
• Prepare zoo cards:
  • Shuffle cards and place them face down on the board
  • Deal 6 cards face-down cards to spaces on board
• Prepare Association board:
  • Place next to game board
  • Place 1 partner zoo of each continent
  • Place 1 of each university on their spaces
  • Prepare Conservation project cards:
    • Shuffle deck of starting cards
    • Place 3 cards in first 3 spaces below game board
    • 4P: Place 1 extra card below game board
  • 2P, take 6 player tokens of an unused player and cover:
    • On the base Conservation project cards:
      • the left level on the left card
      • the middle level on the middle card
      • the right level on the right card
    • Cover the 3 spaces in the left column of the donation area on the Association board.
• Randomly determine a start player
• For each player:
  • Take a zoo map board:
    • All players use Map A for standard game
    • All players use Map 0 for more advanced game
    • Use Maps 1-8 when you want each player to have a different map:
      • Deal 2 maps to each player
      • Player chooses which map they want to use for game
  • Follow any instructions on selected map board
  • Prepare action cards:
    • Each player takes 5 standard action card set
    • Draft alternate action cards:
      • Receive 3 random alternate action cards
      • Choose 1 action card to keep and pass remaining 2 to player on left
      • Of 2 cards received, keep 1 and pass remaining card to player on left
      • From 3 alternate action cards, choose 2 to use in this game:
        • Selected cards must be for two different action types
      • Replace 2 standard action cards in card set with selected alternate action cards
    • Place Animals action card in space 1 under game board with blue side up
    • Randomly place remaining 4 action cards under game board with blue side up
  • Take all components of a chosen color
  • Place conservation marker on space 0 of conservation track
  • Place reputation marker on space 1 of reputation track
  • First player places appeal marker on space 0 of appeal track, second player on space 1 and so on
  • Place 7 conservation markers on spaces on the left side of zoo board
  • Place following on notepad area of zoo board:
    • 1 Association worker meeple
    • $25
  • Place 3 remaining Association worker meeples on spaces below notepad
  • Draw 2 random Final Scoring cards
  • Prepare starting Zoo cards:
    • Draw 8 cards
    • Discard 4 of them, keep the other 4
• Reveal 6 cards in display:
  • If any revealed cards have wave icons on them, cards are NOT rotated out of display

The game is played in a series of turns that are interrupted for breaks, when things are put on hold for administration, then resumed with the next player.

Each turn consists of performing 1 action (which may trigger effects and bonuses). The action is performed by executing one of the 5 action cards below your zoo map.

End of Game Trigger

• The game end is triggered if, at the end of a turn or during a break, a player's Conservation and Appeal counters are ever in the same scoring area. Note that there are multiple appeal spaces in most conservation areas.
• If the end of game is triggered at the end of your turn, all other players get 1 final turn, but not you.
• If the end game is triggered during a break, all players get 1 final turn.

Final Scoring

• If no player reached 10 conservation points, all players should discard one of their Final Scoring cards now.
• Gain any conservation or appeal points from Final Scoring cards.
• Gain any conservation or appeal points from any cards with the hourglass (also, brown stripe in the top left) symbol on them.
• Your final score is your appeal value minus the lowest appeal value in the space your conservation token exists. This means your score may be negative. The person with the highest score wins.
  • If there is a tie, the tied player who supported the most Conservation projects wins. (Count the number of missing tokens from the left side of player boards)
  • If there is still a tie, the players share the victory.