Ark Nova - Playthrough with Friends

[@johnm86136]

Absolutely the best playthrough of this game I have watched. My wife and I learned the majority of the game from it. Each player takes the time to explain their decisions, as well as the mechanics involved, and it's done at a pace that you can follow. Most importantly, the banter between them is interesting and focused almost entirely on the game. And the use of TTS kept what can be a messy, expansive game rather clean. Really well done all around.

[@JonGetsGames]

It's so great to hear that the video was a big help for you :)

[@smilingbadger6209]

This is the best playthrough for this game I have watched. I have watched four others.

[@Xscone]

Wonderful play through Jon, really gave me a feel for the game. Your skills with TTS really helped and with all three of you talking through your moves I really felt engaged. Loved this format.

[@JonGetsGames]

I'm so glad you enjoyed this new format :)

[@AntonioCarlosPorto]

@@JonGetsGames The action camera on each move was super appreciated! Great work!

[@LukeDavisWarhammer]

I LOL'd at 'people come here for our medical breakthroughs and also our common wombat who ate a wolf'

[@jessewieman6955]

This was incredibly enjoyable for a 2 hr watch. Thank you. Really helped to learn the gane

[@JonGetsGames]

So glad to hear you enjoyed it the whole way through :)

[@JonGetsGames]

CORRECTIONS: 17:28 - That sponsor card has a herbivore icon on it, so I could (and probably should) have used it once immediately after playing it. 28:50 - I only have 7 cards, not 8! So I should have only discarded 2 instead of 3. 39:30 - Nick forgot to place his worker on the association board when performing this action. 57:09 - Nick shouldn't have that worker since he forgot to place it on a previous association action. This means he shouldn't be able to perform this association action now. 2:08:55 - I only took 20 money instead of 24.

[@deathgrip509]

I think you actually had the science icons at the end plus the x tokens to do a 5 association action plus the 12 money for the donation.

[@akmalfikri]

Anastasia should have got 6 dollars discount instead of 3 for her bison.

[@snoepkontify]

Too bad you’re stopping these. I had no clue you did these until you mentioned it on another video. Usually watch your other videos to learn games. Really enjoyed this one as well.

[@orinlong889]

What a great video. I really appreciate everyone talking out their actions. As someone who listens more that watches (while at work, while cooking, etc), it is REALLY nice to hear what is actually happening instead of so many videos that just say "I am going here and getting this, you're turn". So thank you for that! I love this game and didn't realize there was a TTS version, I will be checking that out.

[@JonGetsGames]

I'm so glad you enjoyed this, thanks for the kind words :)

[@DonnieLeap]

Nick is like one of the players I game with, if you don't watch and review his actions closely he can and will get away with a ton of inadvertent cheats, lol.

[@samiamagaimagain]

Same. But how did he miss that (max 3) on the card?? It's right there! 😵

[@SipiTheOne]

Friends are like a trampoline... I really really want one. Keep up the great introduction videos Jon! I love learning games with you.

[@JonGetsGames]

I'm glad you've been enjoying these :)

[@harleygrattan2851]

This game is awesome. Thanks for showing this game and getting your friends to play Jon. Anastasia and Nick are fun company. Please more videos of games to play.

[@JonGetsGames]

Couldn't agree more regarding their company :)

[@Chivvy695]

Nice playthrough. One of the better TTS gameplay videos

[@JonGetsGames]

Thanks!

[@pierrewhite2062]

I love all the graciousness in this video 😍😍

[@michaelblank9597]

Amazing Playthrough. Thanks to All Three of You. I will definitively buy this game. It has an appeal of 10 for me. :-) All the best from Germany

[@JonGetsGames]

I have it on preorder as well :)

[@rainfallprojects501]

great playthrough, really enjoyed this. helped a lot learning the game.

[@monicap.2188]

Thanks for this great video and other reviews. I know this took forever to make but it is a very well made video 😊

[@Donpipio]

Thanks for the video. I haven't played my first game yet and I'm kinda confused. How do you know the anaconda requires an American partnership @21:30? I thought the top left edge icons were tags and not requirements, and the partnership requirement below the cars cost is gray.

[@JonGetsGames]

The rulebook explains that the grey partnership requirement on the left side is always tied to the continent tag in the top right. It is somewhat counterintuitive.

[@michaelwalesch1652]

Exceptional Good playthrough ! Like the Players and their interesting thoughts on theiir gameplay! Also great editing!

[@JonGetsGames]

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

[@terrytoriq]

Apart from how the end score works, this game is very very appealing to me. Jon, you did so much and yet you were… 10 final points behind or so? Not Gucci. I think I am gonna pick up a copy any way. The animals call to me. 😁 Lovely job all three of you, again. Love the series. Keep them coming. ❤️🔆

[@JonGetsGames]

The score should have been way closer, Nick accidentally scored 3 extra conservation (which is 9 appeal equivalent) by not seeing a maximum printed on a card played.

[@Jindorek]

Since the game has been added to boardgame arena they have come up with a less "negative" way of scoring which is much more appealing.

[@Justin_Leone]

The game also wouldn't have ended that turn had he not had the 3 extra conservation.

[@alexblake5828]

I think at 2:15:12 Jon should have associated. It looks like he has 3 science icons on his sponsors and 1 on the university. Then he could have donated giving him 5 total for the action. Either way, a great playthrough of a great game.

[@Fernando-og1ul]

what a nice and friendly playthrough!! it felt so cozy ;)

[@f_c_r_]

Wait, shouldn't Jon not be allowed to place two pavilions adjacent to each other (around 56:57 or so in the vid)? I'm using your video to help me learn the rules before my first playthrough so sry if I'm mistaken! This has been so helpful.

[@JonGetsGames]

There are no placement restrictions for Pavilions, only Kiosks. Kiosks must have at least two spaces between them.

[@f_c_r_]

@@JonGetsGames ohh cool, got it! Thanks!

[@spartangoat87]

I'm really loving the look and feel of this game, there is so much depth and options to go with. Looks like a lot of fun, thanks for making the tutorial and playthrough. I was just wondering when this will be available to purchase on TTS or similar? I can't find a release date online. Thanks!

[@edgewizz862]

Aww heck I laughed so hard when Anastasia revealed the White Rhinoceros. I had a vision of a Rhino stuffed in a Kangaroo pouch. So funny.

[@brazillb2]

Much more interested in the game after seeing the playthrough. Seems like you can get some really fun combos going. The core mechanic of those "charged" actions is super interesting but like you all said throughout that they can lead to serious AP

[@JonGetsGames]

I will say that the game is getting faster as we play more. The three of us played a full game in 2h15m last night. AP is still there, but not enough to overall slow things down and we are still digging it.

[@brazillb2]

@@JonGetsGames glad to hear that! Guess it should take some time to build out a whole zoo haha

[@troyajohnson26]

Found AN for $44, excited to give it a go. It reminds of of Gaia Project in that there are soooo many options/routes to take.

[@Jindorek]

my only bugbear with this game is how luckbased it can get. you reveal the conservation projects and then suddenly never see any of those cards EVER. much frustrate.

[@bill0804]

Thank you for the video I have all ready preordered

[@LarrySchneider]

1:40:54 - Minor clarification: Jon is calculating income from Kiosks. He says he gets 3 money from the first one, which is correct. He then says he also gets 3 money from the second, but, in fact, that one only generates 2 money (nothing is earned for unoccupied enclosures). Lastly, he takes 2 money for the third enclosure, but that one actually generates 3 money--he missed the fact that is was adjacent to 3 different structures. So he earned the correct amount from Kiosks in total (8), just in the wrong order. Also worth noting that on many occasions, players forget to earn the ongoing benefits for their sponsors. For instance, Nick forgot to move an action card to slot 1 on a couple occasions, any time he player an Africa icon, thanks to Expert on Africa (1:41:55 is an example of that).

[@JonGetsGames]

I think you are mistaken regarding that Kiosk income phase. The second kiosk is next to a pavilion, a flipped size 1 enclosure, and a special enclosure so that is 3 buildings for 3 income. The third kiosk is next to just 2 buildings which are the two special enclosures. bummer about the other commissions, though sometimes it does make sense to not use abilities that move cards to the 1 slot, based on your current plans.

[@LarrySchneider]

@@JonGetsGames You're absolutely right. I guess what looked like a tile to me was pre-printing on the board and vice versa. My apologies!

[@martintomov7576]

How long did it take you to finish the game? I see the video is 2:22 hours in length, but is that the whole story?

[@JonGetsGames]

Our first play took over 3 hours I think, but even our second play came in at 2ish hours and they've gotten faster since then. This one went longer due to us doing lots of explanations for what it is we were doing.

[@nickyo.7875]

At 1:15:00 and 1:19:00 neither Anastasia or Nick moved the break token.

[@JonGetsGames]

I just looked and I think it was moved during both of those Cards actions.

[@nickyo.7875]

@@JonGetsGamesmy bad then.

[@HoustonTaylor0]

In future playthroughs, will yall us the "take that" actions or the "friendly" ones from the solo variant??

[@JonGetsGames]

No. Our group has collectively played this game 20+ more times and always use the friendly variant.

[@ayuba.abdulkadir8192]

At min 29:00 youre talking about discarding down to 5 - but aren't you discarding down to 4 😅? Or what am I missing

[@JonGetsGames]

That's correct. I added a correction about this already to the Klingon subtitles and the pinned comment under the video.

[@ayuba.abdulkadir8192]

@@JonGetsGames aah sorry i thought I had it on my bad... Thx for a great video !!

[@beakerkell]

This and the tutorial video really helped me learn how to play! Excited to give it a go on TTS this next weekend. :)

[@zottleporcupine8722]

This is brilliant. Thanks!

[@billmiller5722]

39:30 Nick forgot to put his worker on the Association board

[@JonGetsGames]

Wow good catch! Amazing it took 20k viewers to notice this mistake. Unfortunately he later on used that worker to associate when he shouldn't have been able to as well. I added corrections for both of these, thanks for pointing it out.

[@wendygreen4276]

I replayed it a few times but can’t figure out why at 1:40:32 everyone got a conservation point

[@JonGetsGames]

All three of us had the 1 conservation point income unlocked on our boards.

[@nevstark2395]

Hi Jon! Thank you for this amazing video! Quick question: Did you give yourself an extra 7 appeal for covering the whole map? I didn't see that applied but I may have missed it.

[@JonGetsGames]

It looks like I did take this bonus at 2:09:18.

[@SandmanX82]

He did

[@nevstark2395]

@@JonGetsGames Thank you!

[@nevstark2395]

@@SandmanX82 Thanks!

[@MrJaymz2012]

Thank you for the playthrough, and nice TableTop skills. Question: at 4:40 Anastasia takes an Association action, places in the same area as your worker. Should she have used 2 workers for this action? Thanks.

[@MrJaymz2012]

I found my answer. You only have to place 2 workers in an Association action space if it is occupied by one of *your* workers already.

[@rohitramnath5401]

When you built the Okapi Stable, do you also get to play a sponsor because it has a herbivore icon?

[@JonGetsGames]

Good catch! Yeah I definitely could (and probably should) have used that immediately after playing it.

[@nickmozzetti327]

Not sure if its just this game but it looks like therea alot of flailing around in this game, chasing cards for your engine or waiting for cards to get some form of direction.

[@kuldeep4932]

At 2:08:36, Jon you gave yourself 3 income for 1 herbivore icon from Sponsorship: Elephants, which took your money to 4. Then, based on your appeal of 44, you called out an income of 24 at 2:08:51. However, you proceeded to take your money to 24 instead of adding 24 to your existing money of 4!

[@JonGetsGames]

Good catch! I've added corrections, thanks!

[@Thesussysuscat]

Is thier only on country to partner with per game ?

[@JonGetsGames]

You can partner with each continent once per game.

[@tc3p]

I think all three of you had upgraded your animal action, but I don't recall anyone playing an animal from the board in their reputation range. Did they not really match up with the strategies, or was it something that was hard to remember to check?

[@JonGetsGames]

I can't speak for them, but I honestly forgot it was an option :P In my 4th game I realized you can actually split a flipped association action among multiple workers, so I'm still not fully in control of all the levers yet even though I'm super enjoying each experience now.

[@joelbehne706]

@@JonGetsGames What?? how?!

[@timothybrink5566]

@@joelbehne706 If association is at level 5 and you have 2 workers you can use one worker at 3 and one at 2. Could also use an X or more to go higher, as long as the tasks are different in that play (9 max).

[@martyvandenbosch7697]

If you add/subtract all the mistakes, it would have been Jon's by a few points. Great walk through overall - thanks!

[@goranlovric5059]

On 22:15 Nick played animals for 5, played 2 animals. He got 10 appeal from the wombat and could put 1 action card on the 1st place. What's the correct order? Cause he got first 10 appeal, then he put the card Animals on place 1 and only then he used the monkey's ability to put the action card he wanted on place 1. Is that legit?

[@JonGetsGames]

Yep, that's how it works. Abilities that affect the card row always activate once the entire action is complete.

[@goranlovric5059]

@@JonGetsGames Right, I thought it was one of those cards that make something when everything is over. My bad. :D

[@ItsGamingCatsandDogs]

Jon, just a question about strategy to make sure I understand the rules: on your last turn, could you have gotten 4 Conservation points by getting your third university for 2pts, gotten a bonus pt for the Sponsor card, and then spending 12 money to make another donation? I don’t think it changes the result but I wanted to make sure I understood the rules. Thanks in advance!

[@JonGetsGames]

Huh, yeah I missed that option. That being said, the Animals pay got 1 conservation and actually 9 appeal which I think turned into the same overall score.

[@jeffhiatt1682]

oh my....-41. i cant wait to get this to the table. i can see some of the TM comparisons with the cards. good interplay and you dont seem to go through a lot of the deck, so in each game there are going to be lots of cards you are not going to see. The card play in TM is one of Karens and my favorite things, (so TM Ares is our "quick fix") and i think this game is going to have some of the same feel. Have you played it 2 player? are there any changes to the setup / play for two players?

[@JonGetsGames]

Between the three of us there have been 3 two player games now. The only difference is some blocking cubes on the donation track and on the basic conservation cards to tighten them up. It's played SUPER well at 2p, we actually discuss this a bit in the Friendly Ties podcast since we recorded an addendum after some 2p games. Also, even many games in we keep bumping into cards we haven't seen before and reacting with "whoa, this card is cool!".

[@jeffhiatt1682]

@@JonGetsGames thanks for the reply. That sounds really good, as i am most likely going to play it at 2 player. This seems like a game (assuming popular enough) that would be suited to expansions without adding much in the way of new mechanics.

[@kylelange5613]

While Nick took 6 conservation points instead of 3, there were at least 2 breaks, possibly 3 where he only took one conservation points instead of 2 (medical breakthrough + income from conservation project). Also it seems that Jonathan and Anastasia could have benefitted from playing animals from within their reputation range on the last turn instead of just playing from their hand.

[@JonGetsGames]

Yeah, this was only our second play of the game and we had certainly not fully grasped some of the more intricate concepts like playing cards from the middle row.

[@SmackleFunky]

29:00 - you only had 7 cards?

[@jeffhiatt1682]

i think 2 of them were the goal cards which are not part of the hand. I wondered the same thing at first, but pretty sure thats the case.

[@JonGetsGames]

Ah, good catch. I've added corrections, thanks!

[@ΣωτήρηςΣαράβας]

i think a partner zoo reduces the cost of an animal by 3 money per icon on the card so if a card has 2 asia icons and u have the partner zoo for asia u pay 6 less money not 3

[@JonGetsGames]

Yep, that's correct. Did we miss that at some point in the play?

[@jarrysciligo5395]

How did Nick build the aviary when he hadn't upgraded his build card?

[@procrastionick]

Emu builds it for you

[@timothybrink5566]

For our games even with the Emu you need the upgraded card. It says if possible, so it wouldn't be "possible" without the upgrade.

[@zaxanq]

@@timothybrink5566 I'm pretty sure the restriction is only applicable when playing the Build card. The only Emu restriction ("if possible") is that you need to have a place on your board to fit the aviary.

[@lindafarrell4158]

Awesome

[@monkeyunit4533]

This game looks amazing. It's kinda weird you aren't able to "upgrade" unused enclosures into bigger ones when building. Surely a size 1 or 2 enclosure is easy to enlarge into a 3/4/5 irl. Also kinda sad Nick getting 3 extra points from that one card ( with a max3) kinda gave him a lead you couldn't catch up on. With so many thing going on I can see how it would be easy to miss such things.

[@JonGetsGames]

Yeah, Nick was pretty bummed when I told him about that mistake. It's hard to say due to the ripple effect, but without that mistake I think I had a good shot to actually win this one.

[@KesSharann]

Enclosures are often ringed by moats and ditches and other barriers. Potentially concrete pads underneath for diggers. Behind the scenes is even more complex with networks of fencing and buildings supporting feeding and isolating animals. Tearing up everything would be the only way to really enlarge one. Game mechanics would require an action for removal and a separate action for rebuilding but that really detracts from the "fill your map" goals.

[@SandmanX82]

Also don't forget that the inadvertent mistake also benefitted the other two players as they got additional income that may have allowed them to do things they wouldn't have otherwise. I think there were a few rounds before a break after that happened where Jon was at 1 or 0 income, so without that extra 6, maybe he doesn't get to do as many things either. Not to say it wasn't MORE beneficial for Nick, but it was a boon for all three.

[@richardscales9560]

Looks like it's hard to catch up if you get a bad run which is a shame.

[@JonGetsGames]

We've actually noticed that there are many ways to catch up here. We've played this one a bunch now (Anastasia 6 times, Nick 5, and me 4) and in several games we've seen someone who floundered early roar back into a close win.

[@timoseppa9124]

Looks like you need to be very aware of lots of discounts and such. Seems like it's easy to make accounting mistakes. That's a bit of a negative. But it looks like fun in what I've watched so far.

[@JonGetsGames]

There is a lot to keep track of, I think we are making less mistakes as we get used to it though.

[@rooseveltcooper]

I would have loved to see the first playthrough and see how bad y'all butchered it lol. I've only played part of one game at Origins, it was a lot of fun ended up buying it but haven't gotten a chance to play the full game yet.

[@JonGetsGames]

It was rough, we were not happy campers by the end of it :P Fortunately that recording is lost to history.

[@joshtaylor6137]

"we've played for many hours, but only twice" ... yikes, that does not sound like a game for me. Great playthrough though :-) You three are wonderfully entertaining

[@JonGetsGames]

I will say that we can consistently finish 3p games in 2 hours now, but it took a couple plays to get used to it enough.

[@joshtaylor6137]

@@JonGetsGames Well that's not too bad then :) Just waiting to get closer to the holidays so I can check out the podcast after bingeing the 3 player playthoughs!

[@Skycroft1000]

This game is often compared to Terraforming Mars. I've seen some people criticize that comparison, noting that the cards are similar but the rest is pretty different. But while that is true, I think the similarity in the card play is more than just the way the cards are designed and interact. It's also in how you need to be stingy with money and ruthless in which cards to keep and which to discard if you want to win. A common beginner mistake in both games is going for cards that fit well into your strategy over boring but easy to play cards that will get you more points in the end. Unfortunately it also has the main downside of Terraforming Mars, and that is how much of your game is affected by the card draw luck. It's not as bad as TM w/o draft because of the central card row but if anything it might be worse than TM w draft. And that's TM's big weakness, and from what I've seen (I've watched multiple full playthroughs at this point) it's somewhat turning me off this game too. It's a pity because I like a lot of the other stuff in it. But I also don't like the way the game ends (always feels abrupt - I would prefer 'finish out the round and play one more round' at least) via the scoretracks crossing (was also not a big fan of it in Rajas) and two knocks probably pushes this game into 'don't get' for me. Though I would be happy to play it if someone else pulled it out, so it's not like I didn't like it! Just a bit below the critical level where I go out and proactively get it, that's all. (Haven't listed to the podcast yet).

[@JonGetsGames]

You have some great points there, and I do think that Ark Nova isn't going to be for everyone (though I mostly think that due to the length and need to warm up to its systems with multiple plays). I personally adore TM, it's ranked a 10 for me on BGG so that added to me being predisposed to really enjoy Ark Nova. I've been ok with how this one ends (the crossing track) because you do always get one more turn, though finishing the round means sometimes you'd get 2 more.

[@rb4551]

In many less words, its a card game.

[@Izathel1]

I thought I wouldn't mind, but TTS playthrough with no cams is apparently too ResidentSleeper for me. No physical game and no people too look at just makes it too unengaging IMO. The choice to not include any of the minimal player interaction cards didn't help in my book. I did really like the teaching video though.

[@plaidflannelgeek]

Min 40. Can Nick do the university connection? Wouldn't he need 2 workers? Dontthink he even put out one.

[@plaidflannelgeek]

I realize as I slowly watch through this, that the double worker penalty is for the same player.

[@JonGetsGames]

Ah, yeah you are only restricted by yourself in this game.

[@SaschaKleiber]

Wow, I really gotta slow down the video, youre talking way too fast for me.

[@JonGetsGames]

Sorry about that. I try to talk slower in my tutorials, but when I'm playing with friends I can't help but revert to my standard speed.

[@SaschaKleiber]

@@JonGetsGames Hey, it’s ok! That’s what KZbin’s playback options are for. Don’t worry ;)

[@orlan3bgamer]

Wow im not native english speaker and i watch this videos (playtrhoughs or learning videos) in 1,75x or 2x speed, guess its a matter of tastes, greeetings from Chile!