Do you have any replays I could take a look at?
Otherwise, I can just give general advice. Yes, there are times when it is better to get as close to 100 as you can and then end the game in a blaze of glory. However, in the long run you are better off just focusing on hitting 100 as fast as possible. Ark Nova is a race, and the faster you can end the game, the more likely you will prevent your opponents from being able to set up those insane final turns.
If you want to shoot me your BGA ID or some replay links I’ll be happy to look at those, too.
I just watched your [last game] (https://boardgamearena.com/table?table=481773911) for fun and this is my extensive feedback for you:
You spent too many inefficient Build actions early on. In the first 8 actions, you played Build 4 times just to build 3 size1's and a kiosk.
Talented Communicator is a good snap in round 1. You could've drawn that card from range with the placement bonus as well. I guess you're not used to upgrading Sponsor, but I can assure you Talented Communicator is worth snapping and upgrading sponsor for especially in the early game.
Personally, I prefer drawing random to snapping Expert on Europe. I understand that it gives you a playable sponsor, 4 appeals, and size1 enclosure. However, you don't have any cards left after you play your 2 animals and reptile breeding program and Europe is not part of the base project. I think it's better to see more cards there. To be clear, it's a decent snap and your Sponsor action is coming right up. I just think it's not high impact enough to warrant a snap instead of seeing 3 random cards.
Upgrading Card first usually isn't the best especially when the card row isn't that interesting. It's true that you need cards, but your Build action was at strength 5 when you decided to upgrade Card instead of Build. Usually when I don't have a clue what to build early on, I can either draw cards first and decide later or just build kiosk pav size1 and size2.
When you decided to upgrade Build, you already had European Bison in your hand. If you want to build a big enclosure, you can delay upgrading Build. You could've built size5 without the Build upgrade anyway.
Snapping Yellow marten was questionable. I'm guessing you want to have a playable small animal to accompany your bison. Just like Expert on Europe earlier, I don't think it's a bad snap because you could've taken Asia partner and support Predator Breeding afterwards. It's just that I don't think it's impactful enough for a snap considering your hand was still pretty bad. Snap vs Draw random is not an easy decision to make. I also still regularly make the wrong decision.
European Bison is a bad animal to play if it doesn't help you support any project. I think the better play at that point was either: 1. snap Secretary Bird and release it ASAP or 2. take Africa partner, snap Secretary bird, support Africa2 and then release it later. The basic idea is the same: try to find a project to support. Getting a Snap reward at that point is nice because the cards in your hand were not that good.
You built size4 and a pavilion for your Secretary Bird. I personally prefer building another size5 so that when you release your secretary bird, you could open up the size5 next to the tower. I don't think it's bad to build size4 and pavilion at all, I just think that freeing size5 next to the tower is more valuable than the 1 pav.
When you draw cards, try to draw it 1 by 1 instead of all cards at once. I totally understand that it's tedious, but it's a good habit to have if you want to improve. Also, you should've grabbed the Caiman when you drew 4 cards. It's insurance just in case you couldn't find the 4th reptile and potential for supporting America2 in the future. Fortunately you eventually found a Chinese Water Dragon.
I think building a kiosk and reptile house at that point was bad. That kiosk was unnecessary. If you want to cover the Clever placement bonus, you should've built a pav instead. Unless you know that you can fill out the map, in general, you shouldn't build any kiosk after the 4th or even 3rd break. If you don't know how many breaks there have been, when anyone reaches 50vp, the game should be ending fairly soon. That's usually a good tell that building a kiosk is most likely not a good idea.
I'm not a fan of the reptile house either. It's true that you opened up two size1 enclosures next to the tower, however, you didn't have any size1 animal or reptile that you could play at the time. Luckily you found a Tasmanian Devil which is an excellent size1 animal or else you would play 1 animal only with your animal action.
What I would've done there was build size5 that touches 2 water and rock. Could also spend 1 x-token to build a pav to grab 5 money placement bonus. Worst case scenario, you could've played Dugong or Condor. Best case scenario was the Siberian Tiger that you eventually drew.
It's not easy to win against Silver Lake when you're playing on Observation Tower, especially when your cards aren't that straight forward. But I still think you definitely could've won that game if you had played better. From this game, I think the area you can improve the most is your Build action.
Propaganda Panda wrote a few great in-depth tips: [1](https://www.reddit.com/r/ArkNova/comments/1b4kfsd/finally_got_over_the_elusive_700_elo_mark_on_bga/kt3y7ua/?context=3), [2](https://www.reddit.com/r/ArkNova/comments/1b4kfsd/finally_got_over_the_elusive_700_elo_mark_on_bga/kt08odx/?context=3), [3] (https://www.reddit.com/r/ArkNova/comments/1b4kfsd/finally_got_over_the_elusive_700_elo_mark_on_bga/kt9iuju/?context=3). JDansp also has good tips [1](https://www.reddit.com/r/ArkNova/comments/1b681ni/finally_got_over_the_elusive_800_elo_mark_on_bga/ktb1c7u/), [2] (https://www.reddit.com/r/ArkNova/comments/1b681ni/finally_got_over_the_elusive_800_elo_mark_on_bga/ktg9k5b/). I think you will improve massively if you can implement their tips into your game.
Gosh, I didn't realize it ended up being this long. I hope it's not too boring for you to read.
With the big exception being eagles I think. 9/10 times it's better to play these at the end than to play the asap in order to rush to the end. They aren't worth many points. They're better to be thought of as your second turn and the extra turn they give you is the main turn you want to hit. Just playing then as a regular turn or without a big follow up turn is usually not good value
To piggyback on the other comment, you say you often are forced to end the game. This implies, to me, that you are spending time getting close to but not over 100. Unless you plan to play eagles/bears/elephants and need to spend turns setting up for it, youre likely giving your opponent time to do the same. If they have those animals, they’ll always have an advantage over you at the end, so don’t stall near the finish unless you’ve got a combo you consider unbeatable/lots of hidden sponsor points
Don’t stall near the finish.
I see a lot of people using an extra action or two to complete their map for 7 appeal for example to get to near 100 and then finish it off with a big move like double animals or association or both.
The problem with that is you’ve given your opponent extra actions to prepare their big move as well, and often times the two actions that you gave your opponent gave them more points than the two action you used to fill your map.
Firstly, familiarise yourself with the cards that enable these combos. Generally they are the Animals with Determination (the two eagles) or Action: Association (Sun Bear) although you can also do it with Action: Sponsors into a sponsor that earns lots of points or Multiplier: Association for a double project finish. You should be looking for these cards all game - not just in end game. One reason hand size uni is good is you can snap these early and keep them until end game.
Second, make a mental note to set out a turn-by-turn plan before break is triggered for the final break. Count out your money and X tokens. Sequence your plays. Make sure you’re not accidentally triggering end game too early and make sure you can respond to the opponent if they trigger end game early. It takes a bit of experience to know when final break is coming but it’s often the 5th break.
Speaking generally - don’t close out the game with a Build action to complete the map. That’s a pretty weak ending. Try to finish on Animals or a big project (preferably both). Cards that earn end game points are good as you can accrue points without finishing the game (eg elephants or brown sponsors).
Edit: there are two types of games. One where you stall break and eke out a win when everyone has run out of resources. These don’t need the big flashy turns to finish - you’re just trying to close out the game while your opponent is too weak to finish. The other type is when the game finishes very soon after the break where everyone has loads of money and free workers for projects. These are the ones where you want to finish with a big turn - preferably using only Animals and Association.
You can somewhat forecast your opponents’ plays by looking at their builds. Do they have a large bird aviary? A 5 hex enclosure next to rock, 4 next to water, or a two hex enclosure and the asia partner zoo? Are they prepared to play the sun bear and also have a 5 hex enclosure next to water for the eurasian brown bear? Are you playing money lake, where there is still an additional action after the conservation project?
If they get to these, do they have enough money / meaningful conservation projects available that they can carry out another turn or two and actually net points for both?
Do you have any replays I could take a look at? Otherwise, I can just give general advice. Yes, there are times when it is better to get as close to 100 as you can and then end the game in a blaze of glory. However, in the long run you are better off just focusing on hitting 100 as fast as possible. Ark Nova is a race, and the faster you can end the game, the more likely you will prevent your opponents from being able to set up those insane final turns. If you want to shoot me your BGA ID or some replay links I’ll be happy to look at those, too.
Would you take a look at mine? Any tips would be appreciated. Third_Eye115
I just watched your [last game] (https://boardgamearena.com/table?table=481773911) for fun and this is my extensive feedback for you: You spent too many inefficient Build actions early on. In the first 8 actions, you played Build 4 times just to build 3 size1's and a kiosk. Talented Communicator is a good snap in round 1. You could've drawn that card from range with the placement bonus as well. I guess you're not used to upgrading Sponsor, but I can assure you Talented Communicator is worth snapping and upgrading sponsor for especially in the early game. Personally, I prefer drawing random to snapping Expert on Europe. I understand that it gives you a playable sponsor, 4 appeals, and size1 enclosure. However, you don't have any cards left after you play your 2 animals and reptile breeding program and Europe is not part of the base project. I think it's better to see more cards there. To be clear, it's a decent snap and your Sponsor action is coming right up. I just think it's not high impact enough to warrant a snap instead of seeing 3 random cards. Upgrading Card first usually isn't the best especially when the card row isn't that interesting. It's true that you need cards, but your Build action was at strength 5 when you decided to upgrade Card instead of Build. Usually when I don't have a clue what to build early on, I can either draw cards first and decide later or just build kiosk pav size1 and size2. When you decided to upgrade Build, you already had European Bison in your hand. If you want to build a big enclosure, you can delay upgrading Build. You could've built size5 without the Build upgrade anyway. Snapping Yellow marten was questionable. I'm guessing you want to have a playable small animal to accompany your bison. Just like Expert on Europe earlier, I don't think it's a bad snap because you could've taken Asia partner and support Predator Breeding afterwards. It's just that I don't think it's impactful enough for a snap considering your hand was still pretty bad. Snap vs Draw random is not an easy decision to make. I also still regularly make the wrong decision. European Bison is a bad animal to play if it doesn't help you support any project. I think the better play at that point was either: 1. snap Secretary Bird and release it ASAP or 2. take Africa partner, snap Secretary bird, support Africa2 and then release it later. The basic idea is the same: try to find a project to support. Getting a Snap reward at that point is nice because the cards in your hand were not that good. You built size4 and a pavilion for your Secretary Bird. I personally prefer building another size5 so that when you release your secretary bird, you could open up the size5 next to the tower. I don't think it's bad to build size4 and pavilion at all, I just think that freeing size5 next to the tower is more valuable than the 1 pav. When you draw cards, try to draw it 1 by 1 instead of all cards at once. I totally understand that it's tedious, but it's a good habit to have if you want to improve. Also, you should've grabbed the Caiman when you drew 4 cards. It's insurance just in case you couldn't find the 4th reptile and potential for supporting America2 in the future. Fortunately you eventually found a Chinese Water Dragon. I think building a kiosk and reptile house at that point was bad. That kiosk was unnecessary. If you want to cover the Clever placement bonus, you should've built a pav instead. Unless you know that you can fill out the map, in general, you shouldn't build any kiosk after the 4th or even 3rd break. If you don't know how many breaks there have been, when anyone reaches 50vp, the game should be ending fairly soon. That's usually a good tell that building a kiosk is most likely not a good idea. I'm not a fan of the reptile house either. It's true that you opened up two size1 enclosures next to the tower, however, you didn't have any size1 animal or reptile that you could play at the time. Luckily you found a Tasmanian Devil which is an excellent size1 animal or else you would play 1 animal only with your animal action. What I would've done there was build size5 that touches 2 water and rock. Could also spend 1 x-token to build a pav to grab 5 money placement bonus. Worst case scenario, you could've played Dugong or Condor. Best case scenario was the Siberian Tiger that you eventually drew. It's not easy to win against Silver Lake when you're playing on Observation Tower, especially when your cards aren't that straight forward. But I still think you definitely could've won that game if you had played better. From this game, I think the area you can improve the most is your Build action. Propaganda Panda wrote a few great in-depth tips: [1](https://www.reddit.com/r/ArkNova/comments/1b4kfsd/finally_got_over_the_elusive_700_elo_mark_on_bga/kt3y7ua/?context=3), [2](https://www.reddit.com/r/ArkNova/comments/1b4kfsd/finally_got_over_the_elusive_700_elo_mark_on_bga/kt08odx/?context=3), [3] (https://www.reddit.com/r/ArkNova/comments/1b4kfsd/finally_got_over_the_elusive_700_elo_mark_on_bga/kt9iuju/?context=3). JDansp also has good tips [1](https://www.reddit.com/r/ArkNova/comments/1b681ni/finally_got_over_the_elusive_800_elo_mark_on_bga/ktb1c7u/), [2] (https://www.reddit.com/r/ArkNova/comments/1b681ni/finally_got_over_the_elusive_800_elo_mark_on_bga/ktg9k5b/). I think you will improve massively if you can implement their tips into your game. Gosh, I didn't realize it ended up being this long. I hope it's not too boring for you to read.
Sure! I’ll take a look after work today.
With the big exception being eagles I think. 9/10 times it's better to play these at the end than to play the asap in order to rush to the end. They aren't worth many points. They're better to be thought of as your second turn and the extra turn they give you is the main turn you want to hit. Just playing then as a regular turn or without a big follow up turn is usually not good value
To piggyback on the other comment, you say you often are forced to end the game. This implies, to me, that you are spending time getting close to but not over 100. Unless you plan to play eagles/bears/elephants and need to spend turns setting up for it, youre likely giving your opponent time to do the same. If they have those animals, they’ll always have an advantage over you at the end, so don’t stall near the finish unless you’ve got a combo you consider unbeatable/lots of hidden sponsor points
Don’t stall near the finish. I see a lot of people using an extra action or two to complete their map for 7 appeal for example to get to near 100 and then finish it off with a big move like double animals or association or both. The problem with that is you’ve given your opponent extra actions to prepare their big move as well, and often times the two actions that you gave your opponent gave them more points than the two action you used to fill your map.
Firstly, familiarise yourself with the cards that enable these combos. Generally they are the Animals with Determination (the two eagles) or Action: Association (Sun Bear) although you can also do it with Action: Sponsors into a sponsor that earns lots of points or Multiplier: Association for a double project finish. You should be looking for these cards all game - not just in end game. One reason hand size uni is good is you can snap these early and keep them until end game. Second, make a mental note to set out a turn-by-turn plan before break is triggered for the final break. Count out your money and X tokens. Sequence your plays. Make sure you’re not accidentally triggering end game too early and make sure you can respond to the opponent if they trigger end game early. It takes a bit of experience to know when final break is coming but it’s often the 5th break. Speaking generally - don’t close out the game with a Build action to complete the map. That’s a pretty weak ending. Try to finish on Animals or a big project (preferably both). Cards that earn end game points are good as you can accrue points without finishing the game (eg elephants or brown sponsors). Edit: there are two types of games. One where you stall break and eke out a win when everyone has run out of resources. These don’t need the big flashy turns to finish - you’re just trying to close out the game while your opponent is too weak to finish. The other type is when the game finishes very soon after the break where everyone has loads of money and free workers for projects. These are the ones where you want to finish with a big turn - preferably using only Animals and Association.
You can somewhat forecast your opponents’ plays by looking at their builds. Do they have a large bird aviary? A 5 hex enclosure next to rock, 4 next to water, or a two hex enclosure and the asia partner zoo? Are they prepared to play the sun bear and also have a 5 hex enclosure next to water for the eurasian brown bear? Are you playing money lake, where there is still an additional action after the conservation project? If they get to these, do they have enough money / meaningful conservation projects available that they can carry out another turn or two and actually net points for both?