7 Games Like Ark Nova (For Fans of Big Brain Zoo Planning)

Ark Nova is one of the most remarkable games of the decade. It sits at BGG rank #2, carries a staggering 8.54 rating from over 100,000 voters, and packs a 3.80 weight that rewards players who don’t mind genuinely working for their payoff. You’re running a modern zoological establishment - building enclosures, acquiring animals from across the globe, supporting conservation projects - using a brilliant action card system where each card’s power is determined by its position in a row that shifts with every use.

It’s the kind of game that consumes an entire Sunday and leaves you planning your next session on the drive home.

But once you’ve played it ten, twenty, fifty times? You want more. The problem: there’s nothing quite like Ark Nova. But there are games that scratch adjacent itches - some lighter, some just as heavy, some sharing the nature theme, some delivering the same “everything clicked” dopamine hit from a completely different angle.

Here are seven of the best.

1. Terraforming Mars - The Ark Nova for Space Engineers

Image credit: FryxGames / BoardGameGeek

Terraforming Mars | BGG Rank #9 | Rating: 8.34 | Weight: 3.27 | 1-5 players | 120 mins

If someone loved Ark Nova’s card engine and wants to see where the genre pioneer lives, send them here first. Terraforming Mars is the game that arguably created the template Ark Nova refined. You’re a corporation racing to make the Red Planet habitable - raising temperature, oxygen, and ocean levels - by playing project cards that chain into cascading combos.

The parallels are striking: large card pools, tableau building, an overarching track that drives the endgame, and a satisfying arc from “struggling to afford anything” to “generating enormous output from a small empire.” TM is slightly lighter at 3.27 weight versus Ark Nova’s 3.80, and plays a bit faster at around two hours. The production is famously spartan (tiny player boards, thin cards), but the mechanical depth is immense.

What it shares with Ark Nova: Project card synergies, engine snowballing, a long build-up that pays off in a satisfying finale.
What’s different: Competitive rather than point-track focused, more direct player interaction, Red Planet aesthetics instead of conservation.
Who it’s for: Ark Nova fans who want a similarly complex engine without the two-board puzzle. Also excellent solo.

2. Wingspan - The Gateway Into This World

Image credit: Stonemaier Games / BoardGameGeek

Wingspan | BGG Rank #38 | Rating: 7.99 | Weight: 2.48 | 1-5 players | 40-70 mins

Before Ark Nova, Wingspan was the game that made nature-themed engine building mainstream. It’s considerably lighter at 2.48 weight, plays in half the time, and serves as the perfect gateway for anyone who might struggle with Ark Nova’s complexity - or a lovely palette cleanser between heavy sessions.

You’re building a bird sanctuary across three habitats, and the genius is that every bird card has a special power that triggers when you take an action in its habitat. A good engine starts generating free food, eggs, and card draws seemingly from nothing. The loop is tighter and more legible than Ark Nova, the production is outstanding, and Elizabeth Hargrave’s real-world ornithology research makes every bird card a small act of education.

What it shares with Ark Nova: Nature theme, card-driven tableau building, the satisfaction of watching your engine hum.
What’s different: Much lighter, faster, friendlier for non-gamers. Less of a brain puzzle.
Who it’s for: Introducing Ark Nova fans to friends, or a quick weeknight game when you can’t commit to three hours.

3. Everdell - The Beautiful Middle Ground

Image credit: Starling Games / BoardGameGeek

Everdell | BGG Rank #43 | Rating: 7.98 | Weight: 2.83 | 1-4 players | 40-80 mins

Everdell occupies the productive middle ground between Wingspan and Ark Nova. At 2.83 weight, it’s substantially more strategic than Wingspan but won’t demand the mental stamina of Ark Nova. You’re building a civilisation of forest critters across three seasons, using worker placement to gather resources and laying cards that interact with each other in increasingly clever ways.

Where Ark Nova has its shifting action cards and conservation board tension, Everdell has its Everfrost card (a shared event mechanic) and the urgency of a shrinking active card pool as the year progresses. The three-dimensional Ever Tree centrepiece is one of the most arresting things in hobby gaming, and the woodland critter art is genuinely delightful. Everdell doesn’t have Ark Nova’s weight, but it captures the same feeling of building something you’re proud of.

What it shares with Ark Nova: Tableau building, card synergies, a satisfying arc from nothing to a humming engine.
What’s different: Lighter, worker placement foundation, no overarching track tension. Nature aesthetic rather than conservation management.
Who it’s for: Ark Nova fans who want something playable midweek, or who game with partners less comfortable with heavy rules overhead.

4. Carnegie - The Strategic Twin

Image credit: Quined Games / BoardGameGeek

Carnegie | BGG Rank #128 | Rating: 7.96 | Weight: 3.82 | 1-4 players | 90-120 mins

Carnegie is criminally underplayed, and it’s the closest you’ll find to Ark Nova’s strategic weight in a non-nature context. At 3.82 weight - effectively identical to Ark Nova - it asks just as much of you, and delivers just as satisfying a payoff.

You’re building Andrew Carnegie’s industrial empire across late 19th-century America: hiring employees, constructing buildings, sending teams to cities across the country, and investing in philanthropic projects that score big at game end. The action system is elegant and ruthless - you choose one of four department cards, and every other player gets a weaker version of the same action. Synchronisation is both opportunity and constraint.

Carnegie has a reputation for being difficult to learn but impossible to stop thinking about. BGG reviewers routinely describe it as “Ark Nova for people who want more interaction” - the philanthropic project tracks feel similar to the conservation board tension that makes Ark Nova so distinctive.

What it shares with Ark Nova: Near-identical complexity weight, long-term project investment, action economy management, significant end-game point multipliers.
What’s different: Industrial/historical theme, more player interaction, no nature theme.
Who it’s for: Ark Nova fans who want equivalent depth with more direct player engagement. Exceptional for 2-3 players.

5. Cascadia - The Quick Decompressor

Image credit: Flatout Games / BoardGameGeek

Cascadia | BGG Rank #60 | Rating: 7.89 | Weight: 1.84 | 1-4 players | 30-45 mins

After a three-hour Ark Nova session, sometimes you need a 30-minute nature game that doesn’t require a PhD. Cascadia is it. You’re drafting habitat tiles and wildlife tokens to build a Pacific Northwest ecosystem - elk, salmon, hawks, fox, and bears each score according to different placement patterns. It’s accessible at 1.84 weight, plays beautifully solo, and is one of the cleanest designs in recent memory.

The nature connection is genuine: the animals, habitats, and ecological relationships are grounded in real Pacific Northwest ecosystems. Think of it as the amuse-bouche before the main course, or the cleanser between heavy games. The Spiel des Jahres nomination (and subsequent win) says everything about its accessibility, but experienced gamers consistently find it more layered than it first appears.

What it shares with Ark Nova: Pacific wildlife theme, careful spatial reasoning, satisfying ecosystem building.
What’s different: Much shorter, tile-placement rather than card-engine, much simpler rules overhead.
Who it’s for: The Ark Nova fan who wants a quick nature fix, a family game night option, or an excellent travel game.

6. Meadow - The Contemplative Alternative

Image credit: Rebel Studio / BoardGameGeek

Meadow | BGG Rank #216 | Rating: 7.70 | Weight: 2.25 | 1-4 players | 60-90 mins

Meadow is one of the most genuinely beautiful games ever published. The artwork - detailed botanical and nature illustration - is extraordinary, and the game underneath is a gentle, contemplative card-drafting experience about building a nature landscape around a campfire setting.

You’re a naturalist selecting cards from a grid (using directional pointers to navigate the board) and building a field of nature cards - plants, animals, phenomena - that score when placed in valid chains. The combo chains feel distantly similar to Ark Nova’s card synergies, though at a much lighter 2.25 weight. Meadow is quieter, shorter, and more meditative. It won’t satisfy the hunger for heavyweight strategy, but it delivers something Ark Nova doesn’t: a genuinely relaxing game that rewards attention to pattern and beauty.

What it shares with Ark Nova: Nature theme, card combos, the pleasure of building something organic and connected.
What’s different: Much lighter, no real tension, contemplative rather than competitive.
Who it’s for: Ark Nova players who also appreciate Wingspan’s aesthetic quality and want something peaceful for non-gamer friends or quiet evenings.

7. PARKS - National Parks as a Board Game

Image credit: Keymaster Games / BoardGameGeek

PARKS | BGG Rank #178 | Rating: 7.61 | Weight: 2.13 | 1-5 players | 30-60 mins

Every game needs an entry point, and for the nature-themed hobby gaming world, PARKS is one of the most stunning. You’re hiking trails, collecting resources (sunshine, water, mountains, forests), and visiting US National Parks - each represented by a gorgeous illustrated card. The production, designed in partnership with the Fifty-Nine Parks Print Series, is legitimately breathtaking.

At 2.13 weight, PARKS doesn’t challenge Ark Nova veterans strategically. But it has a clever anti-congestion rule (the further back on the trail, the more it costs to move forward) and genuine decisions about timing and resource management. Where it truly shines is as an introduction: the National Park cards evoke a sense of place and wonder that few games manage, and it’s converted more than a few casual players into hobby gamers.

What it shares with Ark Nova: Conservation/nature theme, the pleasure of completing a tableau of beautiful park cards.
What’s different: Much lighter, route-based rather than card-engine, faster play.
Who it’s for: Introducing Ark Nova’s thematic world to people who’d be intimidated by its complexity. Also excellent for solo play.

The Hierarchy at a Glance

All weights and rankings verified via BGG (May 2026).

Where to Start

You want something just as hard: Play Carnegie. It matches Ark Nova’s complexity weight almost exactly and delivers a similarly ambitious strategic experience.

You want the same card engine, lighter: Terraforming Mars. It’s the template Ark Nova refined - marginally lighter but mechanically kindred.

You want the nature theme with less overhead: Everdell at the medium-weight tier, Wingspan for something accessible enough to teach in 15 minutes.

You want 30 minutes and a beer: Cascadia. It’s fast, peaceful, and surprisingly deep for what it is.

Whatever you pick, you’ve already got great taste. Ark Nova is the #2 game on BGG for a reason - and most games on this list are in the top 220. You can’t really go wrong.

All BGG ratings, weights, and ranks accurate as of May 2026. Images sourced from BoardGameGeek.