Ark Nova Solo Mode Review - with Mike DiLisio

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Certainly agree with you that the solo mode is great. I still enjoy the game multiplayer though, granted 4 players can take a while but I usually try to merry people along and get the game flowing. The game's just awesome full stop! :D

[@JoeyJocco]

Totally agree-great solo experience. I played my first two games of it this weekend and I’m loving it. Such a smooth solo implementation!

[@MDawgGaming]

I have really enjoyed playing Ark Nova at 2 players a few times now. After watching this, I think I will try the solo version as well. Wonderful video as always, Mike!

[@sherlockhomeless7138]

Thanks, mr. Dilisio. I think I will mostly play this game solo mode, so this helps to decide if I want it. One more advantge of playing solo is that you decide how often you play it, so.. that also means that if a game costs 60 euros and you play it 60 times.. it only costs 1 euro per play. If it's a game that I will only play with others, then I won't get it to the table that often, so.. then it's basically more expensive.

[@ellomate..]

mike is so awesome , so easy to listen to

[@Bodyknock]

Totally agree with Mike on this review. Ark Nova is a really fun game but a bit long with more than 2 players. Being able to play what is for all practical purposes the same game in 45 minutes solo is fantastic, it's easily one of my favorite solo games.

[@Sexygrannyful]

Excellent review of the solo mode. I think the term "multiplayer solitaire" gets bandied about too carelessly when talking about Euro games. In Ark Nova, competing for Conservation Projects and manipulating cards in the display are important aspects of this game. The break mechanism can be used to devastating effect in a multiplayer game. You can really hurt your opponent if they are collecting cards, only to have to discard most of them because the break happened way earlier than they thought. Is Ark Nova a highly interactive game? No, but there is more interaction than initially meets the eye, which I think is the case for more Euro games than people realize.

[@kmechwarrior1684]

Considering I'd only ever get to play the game solo most likely, this is one I'll look for on sale.

[@svenbudde7530]

This is also my opinion of Ark Nova. It's a great solo Game. Will you review Riftforce Beyond as solo, too?

[@amchasteenable]

Great video! Makes me want to try it just for solo play.

[@EfrainRiveraJunior]

Nova is on my to-play list.

[@Boomerang161286]

I like efficiency puzzles a lot (Scythe is in my top 5), but I don't like solo variants that force a number of turns or rounds on me when the multiplayer version doesn't... that's why I wasn't fond of Viticulture solo, and I liked Terraforming Mars solo, but not as much as 2-player (that one was even more egregious... because of the number of round restrictions, I never played any cards that featured putting on resources, which is a big part of the game for points, but doesn't contribute to terraforming the planet, so not useful on the solo game!) I feel the same way here, and the fact that the breaks come quicker and quicker is even more annoying than the set number of turns... at the beginning of the game, I have too many actions but not enough resources... but at the end of the game, I have too many resources (what's the use of having all four association workers? The break is gonna bring them back to me in 2 turns...) and not enough actions. I've only played it solo for now, and I see the potential in the game, so looking forward to playing it 2 player this week, but that solo mode has me feeling lukewarm.

[@nirszi]

This game is great any player count. Agree that solo is a pure efficiency puzzle.

[@ryangilmore3678]

"An efficiency puzzle" is a great way to describe many solo modes. It's not really my bag since you have to play the game differently than you normally would and ignore aspects of the game. I didn't mind Viticulture solo but it was the same, don't play the game just play the right moves to get points fast.

[@chuckm1961]

Curious to hear more ... both Viticulture and Ark Nova are RACE games, trying to achieve a certain goal faster than your opponents. So it seems that playing "the right moves to get points fast" would be the goal whether playing solo or multiplayer.

[@ryangilmore3678]

@@chuckm1961 For me, there's just more moving part when playing multiplayer. Yes you can race out to get points fast, but if you can keep pace with others while building for a long-run-payoff, that can be a lucrative strategy. In solo, you have to get a certain amount of points in a certain amount of rounds. Multiplayer you can spend more time building other areas to increase your overall production. Especially in Viticulture when the end game is triggered at a certain score, I try to get close to that score while also building up for a big point payoff as soon as that score is hit. So then you can jump past the other player that may have just barely reached the threshold. Hope that made sense! I ramble.

[@Sebastian-rt9qf]

I could not have said it better. Maybe I'll rate the solo play slightly higher... ;-)

[@Frostation]

I am not a solo player, but I've solo'd Ark Nova over a hundred times. It's a great efficiency puzzle and I love that. I do own a copy, but all my plays were or tts, and a game on there takes me no more than 20 minutes.

[@ssteadfast]

100 times? Thats a lot of Zoos!

[@Novica89]

Building a "zoo" is just not my type of a board game.. I want fantasy setting, heroes, or a very thematic game like Arkham Horror or similar.

[@elqord.1118]

Oh come on Mike. The mode doesn’t do anything really other than restricting number of turns. It really doesn’t deserve praise because it just proves Ark Nova is multiplayer solitaire where more players are just adding downtime

[@nihlify]

That's what you want in a solo mode lol, wtf are you rambling about....

[@12345678abracadabra]

Did you... expect a different game by playing solo?

[@hucz]

You started by saying the game doesn't deserve solitaire praise and then in the same comment go on to say that the game is a solitaire experience despite player count, you contradicted yourself and argued against your own point 😂

[@stephens2401]

not sure why the negativity towards multiplayer solitaire. With the amount of choices you can make and how tight everything is, a solo efficiency puzzle works in solo or multiplayer. I'd argue in multiplayer, dealing with a player who pushes the break is very interactive.

[@namelessfire]

Facts. The solo is just a score attack. The multiplayer is just a longer score attack.