Ark Nova: Marine Worlds
Ark Nova: Marine Worlds Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
81 cards (+38 for replacement):
- 54 (+9) zoo cards
- 6 (+7) final scoring cards
- 1 (+2) conservation project cards
- 20 new action cards (+20 for replacement)
- 32 animal cards
- 16 (+8) sponsor cards
- 6 (+1) conservation project cards
Boards:
- 1 Association board (replacement)
Wooden components in each player colour:
- 3 alternative markers (counters)
- 7 alternative player tokens
Tiles and tokens:
- 8 special enclosures (both sides identical)
- 4 small aquariums
- 4 large aquariums
- 4 unique buildings
- 7 universities
- 6 (+1) bonus tokens
- 1 token for solo play
- 3 kiosk/pavilion tokens
Before Setup
Add the new special components, unique buildings and additional kiosks/pavilions to the game. If you can no longer fit everything in the organiser, use a zip-lock bag.
Add the new bonus tokens to those from the base game.
Add all the zoo cards, final scoring cards and the base conservation project card to the matching decks from the base game. If you later want to play the base game without this expansion, you can find all the new cards by this icon, which is on the left side of the card's title colour strip:
[icon: the expansion's card symbol, a stylised squiggle]
Attention! The following cards replace cards from the base game: 001, 003, 005, 008, 009, 010, 011, 101, 102, 131, 207, 208, 225, 226, 227, 250, 261, 262. Please make sure you have removed the corresponding old components.
Some of these cards are replaced because their power has been changed for the new cards of this expansion. Others are replaced because they carry the "various animal types" icon, which does not include the new marine animals. The replacement cards show a new icon symbolising "various animal types". This expansion also adds a new icon for "various continents" (the old icon is replaced by a globe icon). This expansion contains no new continent.
Also, the base game's action cards are replaced with a version that is functionally identical (and allows building aquariums), but uses less text, to free space for the new alternative action card variants.
The box also contains an additional tile, "Play on a sponsor card, pay money". It now has a grey background and the icon added to the new expansion tiles, which means it can be used going forward. More information about these can be found in the Glossary.
Setup
When playing with this expansion, set up the game as usual, with the following changes and additions:
General setup
- Add 1 additional random bonus token to the end of the reputation track (the 15 space). The rules for this token are on page 8.
- Use the new Association board. 5a. On the new Association board, add the new general university with the university icon shown on the board. Place the universities with animal icons (6 pieces) next to the Association board.
Personal setup
B. Immediately after choosing your zoo card, choose 2 alternative action cards (details of the draft are on page 8 of these rules). Replace the 2 standard action cards with the new ones and lay them out as usual. (Place the "Animals" card to the left of all cards in slot 1; place the remaining cards in random order in the remaining slots.)
C1. Use the player markers on the tracks of the game board.
C2. Use the 7 new player markers for conservation projects on the left side of your zoo board.
Gameplay
This expansion introduces 3 new concepts: marine animals, the new university, and action cards with a twist.
New animal type: marine animals
General rules
Marine animals are marked with the marine animal icon. Some marine animals may belong to several animal types at once (for example, both "marine animal" and "predator").
Placing marine animals
Most marine animals must be placed in the 2 new special enclosures: the small and the large aquarium. They cannot be placed in other enclosures.
Only a small number of animals that are both marine animals and another category may be placed in standard enclosures or the terrarium.
[Diagram: large aquarium, 5 spaces] This is the large aquarium, 5 spaces.
[Diagram: small aquarium, 2 spaces] This is the small aquarium, 2 spaces.
Both aquariums are marked with the water icon. This means that they must be adjacent to at least one water hex. The water icon on the aquariums counts as other water icons in your zoo.
You can build 1 large and 1 small aquarium in your zoo. They are special enclosures, so each can be built only once, and you cannot have 2 aquariums of the same type.
If you build both types of aquarium, they do not have to be adjacent to each other.
You can build both types of aquarium with a standard Construction card. An aquarium does not require upgrading the Construction card.
When you build an aquarium, you may relocate an animal from a terrarium or a standard enclosure into the aquarium, if the conditions allow. Conversely, you may relocate an animal from an aquarium into the terrarium when building the terrarium. If you build the second type of aquarium, you cannot relocate into it an animal from the terrarium or a standard enclosure if there is enough space in the first type of aquarium.
Possible placements of marine animals
[Icon: red hex with the number 1 and the small aquarium icon] Such animals can only be housed in aquariums. Note that the size of the standard enclosure is highlighted in RED. This means that this animal cannot be placed in a standard enclosure. The size of the standard enclosure is used only to determine the size of the animal (in this case, a small animal). Next to it is the aquarium symbol with a number on it. This number shows how many player markers you must place on the aquarium when placing this marine animal. Although the card shows only the large aquarium symbol, you may place the animal in either type of aquarium. You may even place player markers on both types of aquarium if necessary.
[icon: red hex with the number 3, the stone hex icon and a large aquarium icon] The aquarium for this marine animal must be adjacent to a stone hex. If you place the animal in both types of aquarium, both aquariums must be adjacent to a stone hex.
[icon: red hex with the number 4, the large aquarium icon with 3, and the terrarium/standard enclosure icon] This animal can be placed either in an aquarium or in the terrarium. You must place 3 player markers on this special enclosure. You cannot place the animal partly in an aquarium and partly in the terrarium (for example, 2 markers in the aquarium and 1 in the terrarium). The standard enclosure size shown here is "4", which means that the animal is a large animal.
[icon: brown hex with the number 3, the mountain/enclosure icon, the water icon and the stone hex icon with 2] This is a rare specimen of marine animal, which can be placed both in a standard enclosure and in an aquarium. Therefore the standard enclosure size here is shown in the normal colour, not red. Either type of enclosure must be adjacent to a water hex and a stone hex.
Reef Dwellers
About half of the marine animals in this expansion are Reef Dwellers. They have a new icon on the right side of the card, with the Reef Dweller effect (1). When you play a Reef Dweller card, the Reef Dweller effect of every Reef Dweller in your zoo is triggered (including the Reef Dweller you have just played). So you can get several Reef Dweller effects at once, not just one.
New Reef Dweller effects are marked with the corresponding icon and explained in the card text. In that case, the description of the effect is preceded by the Reef Dweller icon (red coral), as shown in the example (1a).
Some Reef Dweller effects are not explained in the card text, because they are already familiar from the base game.
If a Reef Dweller card has some text without the reef icon before the description, this is simply another ability of the animal (2).
You may choose the order in which to resolve any Reef Dweller effects and additional abilities.
Wave symbol
All marine animals (and some sponsor cards relating to marine animals) are marked with a wave icon on the card. It is located at the right edge of the card, directly below the coloured title strip.
This icon does not have any effect when the card is played.
If during the card refresh on the common board you reveal a new card with a wave icon, discard the last card in the row (folder no. 1) and reveal one more new card. In rare cases you may reveal 2 (or more) new wave cards at once; then discard 1 card for each wave icon (the last 2 cards or more).
Ignore the wave icon during setup.
Example: placing an animal in an aquarium
You have both types of aquarium, and you play the animal Coastal Manta Ray. It requires placing 4 player markers in an aquarium. At the same time you have the Common Octopus card in your hand, which requires 2 free spaces in an aquarium adjacent to a stone hex. In your zoo only the large aquarium is adjacent to a stone hex, so you want to leave enough free space in it for the octopus. Thus, when playing Coastal Manta Ray, you place 2 player markers in the small aquarium and 2 more in the large one.
[Diagram: the zoo board with the Coastal Manta Ray and Common Octopus cards and four arrows pointing from the markers to the two aquariums]
Example: playing a Reef Dweller
- You play Southern Blue-ringed Octopus as your first animal; it gives you 3 coins and 1 X token (in solo play or in the friendly variant).
- You play Palette Surgeonfish as your second animal. It gives you both Reef Dweller effects, in any order of your choice: 3 coins (from the octopus) and the ability to exchange 1 X token for 5 coins and vice versa (from the surgeonfish). But you do not receive an X token from the octopus again.
If later in the game you play another Reef Dweller, you again get 3 coins from the octopus and the option to exchange 1 X token for 5 coins and vice versa from the surgeonfish, in addition to the effect of the Reef Dweller card being played.
Example: a card with a wave icon appears
- During the refresh you discard the 2 last cards on the board, shift the remaining cards forward, and reveal 2 new cards into folders no. 5 and no. 6 on the board.
- One of these new cards has a wave icon, so you discard the new last card (folder no. 1) on the board, shift the remaining cards forward, and reveal one more new card into folder no. 6.
- The new card has no wave icon, so you finish the refresh of the card row and move on to the next stage of the refresh.
[Diagram: three rows of card slots showing the shifting of cards in steps 1 to 3]
New type of university
Sidebar: these universities are thematically based on the WAZA (World Association of Zoos and Aquariums) initiative to create educational materials.
When you use the Association action card to get a partner university, you may take a new type of university if the following two conditions are met:
- The general university with the multicoloured general university icon is still on the Association board.
- You have no university of the new type on your board.
Take a new-type university with an animal icon from beside the Association board and place it on your board in the next free slot.
Take the general university from the Association board and place it beside the board. During the next interlude, put the general university back in its place when you refresh the Association board.
Thus:
- each player may have at most 1 university of the new type;
- until the next interlude, only one player can get a new-type university;
- the later you choose a new-type university, the fewer choices there are.
Getting a new-type university gives you 3 advantages:
- You get 1 animal icon in your zoo (which one depends on the university you chose).
- You may find 1 card from the deck of the corresponding animal type. Reveal cards from the top of the deck until you reveal a card of that animal type. Whether it is an Animal card or a Sponsor card, take it into your hand; put the remaining cards under the deck, in the same order.
- You get 1 research icon in your zoo.
Example: getting one of the new universities
You want to get a new-type university using the Association action card. The university with the bird icon is already unavailable, so you choose from the remaining 5 universities.
You choose the university with the primate icon and place it on your board. You also remove the general university from the Association board, so no other player can take a new-type university until the next interlude.
Getting a primate icon in your zoo triggers the effect of the sponsor Baboon Rock, which gives you 2 appeal points.
The new-type university also lets you find one card of this animal type. You reveal cards from the top of the deck until you find a card with the primate icon. You put this card into your hand and put the other revealed cards under the bottom of the deck, in the same order.
[Diagram: the Association board with the new universities, the player's zoo board with the primate university and the Baboon Rock card]
Action Cards with Bonuses
New action card template
To fit the additional text on the new action cards, the action card template had to be changed. (Standard action cards in the new template are marked "0", while the new ones are marked with the digits "1-4".)
Drawing cards or playing cards is now shown above the card name as icons instead of text:
- Draw a card from the deck.
- Play a card from your hand.
- Take a card within reputation.
- Play a card within reputation with an additional cost of X.
New action cards
In addition to their standard functions, the new action cards give you a small bonus and/or allow some manipulations that were not available before. (The new bonus of an action card is shown in a circle in the top left corner.) For each of the 5 action cards there are 4 alternative versions. At the start of each game you will replace 2 action cards with their alternative versions.
Kinds of new action cards
Some of these action cards give you an additional effect. For example, this Cards action card allows you to pay 2 coins to move one of the action cards into slot 1 after this action ends.
[Card: Cards action card with BREAK 2; Draw 1 1 2 2 3 / Discard 1 - 1 - 1 / OR Snapping - - - - (one card); cost 2 coins to move an action card to slot 1]
Others have a different value but otherwise match the standard cards. For example, this Build action card allows you to build with a value of X+1 instead of the standard X.
[Card: "Build 1 building with a maximum size of X+1. Pay 2 per space. Available: Kiosk, pavilion, aquariums, standard enclosures, and petting zoo."]
Some of these action cards keep the same bonus after being upgraded, but reduce or remove its cost. For example, after upgrading this Cards action card, you no longer have to pay 2 coins to move one of the action cards into slot 1 after this action ends.
[Card: upgraded Cards action card; Draw 1 2 2 3 4 / Discard - 1 - 1 1 / OR Snapping - - (cards)]
Some action cards give you an additional effect after being upgraded. For example, this Build action card still allows you to build with X+1, but also allows you to build more than 1 standard enclosure of the same type.
[Card: "Build 1 or more different buildings with a total maximum size of X+1. Pay 2 per space. Newly available: Large Bird Aviary and Reptile House. You may build more than 1 of the same standard enclosure."]
Finally, some action cards give you 2 different effects from their 2 sides. For example, this Cards action card saves coins on side I, but on side II gives you the option to pay coins to gain additional reputation points.
[Card side I: "Play Animal cards. The first animal you play costs 2 less."]
[Card side II: "Play Animal cards. Additionally, for each animal you play, you may pay 2 to gain reputation."]
A detailed description of all action cards can be found in the Glossary.
Setup: Drafting New Action Cards
At the start of step B of personal setup (after choosing your zoo card, but before everything else), each player takes 3 random new action cards.
The action card draft process
From your 3 action cards, choose one and pass the other 2 to the player on your left. From the 2 action cards received from the player on your right, choose one and pass the other to the player on your left. From the 3 new action cards you now hold, discard one; use the remaining 2 in the game instead of the standard action cards. Return discarded action cards to the box.
In the first 2 phases of the draft you may keep 2 action cards of one type. After receiving the last card from the player on your right, you must choose 2 cards of different types. In rare cases, after the draft ends, you may have 3 action cards of one type in your hand. Take 1 random action card from those that did not take part in the draft. You must then use this one random action card and one of the 3 action cards from the draft.
Solo play
In solo play, take 3 random action cards and keep 2 of them, of different types, for the game. In the rare case that you get 3 action cards of one type, follow the instructions above.
Bonus Token on the Reputation Track
When you occupy space 15 on the Reputation track and gain one more reputation point while the bonus token is still at the end of the Reputation track, you have a choice: take this bonus token, or gain one appeal point, leaving the token there until someone else takes it.
Solo Play Tile
Starting from 2023, we have been adding a solo play tile to the base Ark Nova game. This tile is also included in this expansion, for those who have an older version of the game.
If you start a solo game from turn 10 or turn 20, place this tile with the 35 or 45 side up on the corresponding space of the turn track during setup. When using a sponsor card with the condition "maximum 25 turns", consider that it instead reads maximum 35 or maximum 45 turns. The tile on the turn track reminds you of this.
This setting ensures that the appeal condition matches the difficulty level. This also applies to games without the expansion.