Ark Nova Replay Analysis #8 (a 4p game??)

[@TomoakiTokunaga]

Hi, thank you for introducing my replay results. To be honest, I think I had good luck with the cards in this game. Hydrologist and Engineer are especially powerful in Silver Lake. And the statistics (see below) show that Silver Lake is a map that is particularly affected by the luck of cards.

[@TomoakiTokunaga]

This is my stats. docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Uu3XjDQd2fqOeSX6cifyqhx7Ux1fC6lM/view

[@TomoakiTokunaga]

On a different note, I thought I would mention Observation Tower when I had a chance. As you can see from the statistics I compiled for my own results, I have never found the Observation Tower to be a weak map. I'm a bit disappointed since it is often labeled as weak. Perhaps this is a feature unique to 4p games, but I hope my opinion will spark some kind of discussion.

[@NoWondersTV]

Hello! Thanks for your comments. I am not very familiar with the strategies of 4 player games, so watching your replay was very enlightening. I was particularly impressed by your use of the "Clever" ability! Only using the Cards action 3 times for the game shows a high level of skill. Can I ask why you decided to draw the Probiscus Monkey? The timing seemed very odd to me. Is it because you think Primates are less contested? Therefore easier to get 5 of them. Or because it is important to secure a big animal that scores a lot of points when you get the chance? From what I understood about 4 players games and the way you approach them, is that money and points are very important. Reputation not so important. So it does not surprise me that Observation Tower is good in 4 player games, because it gives you a lot of points (and income) early. Sadly we do not have official stats about the win rates of each map, but I suspect Observation Tower would not be the worst. I look forward to analysing more of your games in the future 🙂

[@TomoakiTokunaga]

I have made some corrections to the text above. Since I am using a translation tool, there may be some inappropriate expressions sometimes. If there are any strange expressions, I hope you will take them favorably. Indeed, I may be careful not to do card actions too often, since the action itself is zero points. In this game, I was lucky to get 3 cards due to the bonus at 8 conservation points. The reason I took Proboscis Monkey was simply because I judged it to have a higher expected level of effectiveness compared to a random draw. I think it is possible that I could have developed to discard Proboscis Monkey depending on the cards that appeared afterwards, and I don't have any deep thoughts about it at the time I picked it, and I am not sure if this move was a good one. To begin with, I consider Proboscis Monkey to be a strong card in many situations because it is efficient in scoring and always leads to primates' conservation project. In fact, I have a tier list on wiki, and I give Proboscis Monkey a rating of S. (The address is below. It is in Japanese, but I hope you can follow it by the card number 451.) sonia-g.co.jp/boardgame/?%E3%82%A2%E3%83%BC%E3%82%AF%E3%83%8E%E3%83%B4%E3%82%A1/%E5%8B%95%E7%89%A9%E3%82%AB%E3%83%BC%E3%83%89 Another factor is that the map is Silver Lake. In Silver Lake, the priority of high-cost large animals will be higher than in other maps because their performance will be reduced if the money gotten around the lake is not used effectively. I just finished a game of Observation Tower, and I would like to introduce it. It ended after 26 moves in the 5th round although there has been an irregular development. boardgamearena.com/table?table=407952589 You are right, it is easier to end games quickly in 4 players games because it seems to be easier to support many conservation projects. And there is often no time to increase reputation especially in the game among skilled players. And this characteristic allows the advantage of appeal points by the Observation Tower to come into play. If the Observation Tower runs through the scoring race smoothly, it will often end the game before the determination by Silver Lake and the multiplier token by Commercial Harbor are ready.

[@NoWondersTV]

@@TomoakiTokunaga Thank you for your explanation. Your wiki is very useful for Ark Nova and for Lost Ruins of Arnak! I will visit it often. And I look forward to reviewing this Observation Tower game in the future 🙂

[@monkeyunit4533]

About position in 4 ( or 3) player game: For me it really depends on where your action cards start. You could be in 4th position but still be the first to get a university ( or maybe even partner zoo if all others have it at 2) I feel in general the position of action cards can make a huge difference. I swear every time I have a hand with multiple good sponsors it starts at position 2, and when I have none to play it starts at 4/5 with the cards action on 2 or something.

[@aetherllama8398]

Such high action efficiency from Tomoaki. Utilized everything except that dominance ability haha.

[@NoWondersTV]

It was very impressive. Just when you think he’s about to take a Cards action… nope! Clever saves the day.

[@jankogo]

Super interesting to see have to improve a four player game. I won´t play it that often because of time, but still pretty cool.

[@NoWondersTV]

They do take a while! Tomoaki plays only in turn-based mode, which isn't for everyone, but solves the issue of them taking too long in one go.

[@alexbove106]

I mean, BDW played it well, of course, but can we talk about those astonishingly lucky card draws? Breeding Program after Breeding Program. Egads!

[@NoWondersTV]

Almost too many of them! The funniest to me was the Crocodile draw. How often do you already have a 5 enclosure and 3 reptile requirement ready? Never!