• 4 Players per table, or 3 if not enough players. Order of table is irrelevant.
• Ark Nova with multiplayer rules
• Start: 1) Action Cards, 2) Draft starting hand, 3) Choose Map.
• Tournament Rank: first by TP (Tournament Points) then Skill. With >64 players, more than one person may win all three, then skill decides.
• Only advanced maps numbered 1-8 are allowed.
• You may play with the additional final scoring cards (V2) (we have extra copies).

11:00 | Opening
11:15 | Table assignment
11:15 - 14:00 | 1st round
14:00 - 14:30 | Break
14:30 - 17:15 | 2nd round
17:30 | Award ceremony
18:00 | Closing Tournament

• Please do not be late.
• If you are going to be late, please notify us +31 621713995 or in the Ark Nova whatsapp group.
• If you have to leave prematurely, please notify us.
• As this is a test tournament, we may accelerate the schedule if everyone is ready and rested.
• When you finish your game, please tidy it up for the next round.
• After the round's time has passed, then the game proceeds as if the active player has triggered the end game: every other person gets one more action and you tally up scores.
• If you feel another player is playing too slowly, please be lenient and give them some thinking time. Just make sure your own actions count.

• Each table will have 4 players, or 3 players when there are insufficient players. Never 2 or 5 players.
• In the first round players are randomly paired up for each table.
• In the second and third rounds, players are matched up by their tournament points.
• If you want to switch due to language / familiarity, please contact us.
• However, we simply cannot guarantee for everyone that you will not match up with someone who you know or played before.

Match

• At the end of each match, write down on the provided tournament paper: the players names, their final Victory Points, their rank (in case of ties) and chosen maps. Afterwards, please submit the paper to a judge, and please tidy up your game.
• When scoring, the order for the rank is (in order): Victory Points, Conservation Projects claimed (first official tiebreaker), and then (unofficially, in order, if needed) by Most Animals in Zoo, Most Filled Map, Most Sponsors, Most Conservation Points.
• First place gets 3 Tournament Points (TP), second gets 2TP, third gets 1TP, and fourth gets 0TP.

Tournament

• Tournament Ranking proceeds first by total Tournament Points over all played matches, secondly by Skill and thirdly (unlikely required) total Victory Points over all played matches.
• Skill is a developed system based on computing differences between players. "The better you perform against your opponents and the better they perform against theirs and so on, the higher your skill". For example: Player A beats Player B by 3 points, and Player B beats Player C by 5 points, then we expect that Player A will beat C by 3+5=8 points. This is done simultaneously for everyone based on all matches. For the mathematically affiliated: each player has a "skill" parameter value that we estimate using the matches' performances (estimated using the value iteration algorithm).
• If we have 3 rounds and more than 64 players participating, there will be more than one player with the highest achievable TP, and their final rank will be decided by their Skill.

• We play Ark Nova Multiplayer rules.
• Only advanced maps numbered 1-8 are allowed. (new 9 and 10 not that common yet)
• You may play with the additional final scoring cards (V2). (They are balanced with each other and we have extra copies.)
• 0. A random player is chosen as starting player. You may use apps like Chwazi.
• Players start conform the rules: 25 cash, and starting appeal based on player order.
• 1. Place your action cards: animal on 1, and rest random.
• 2. We draft the initial starting cards: you receive 8 cards, set 2 of them aside, pass the other 6 cards to your neighbour, get 6 from your other neighbour, set 2 aside, pass 4, get 4, set 2 aside, pass 2, get 2, and from the 8 cards you have now gathered you keep 4.
• 3. Choose one of two advanced maps that you were dealt randomly.

• We draft at the start of every match.
• You may draft clockwise or counter-clockwise. Choose randomly.
• Drafting proceeds according to the following rules:
  1. Each player gets 8 cards
  2. Choose 2 cards and set them aside (not in your hand)
  3. Pass the remaining cards to your neighbour (clockwise or counter-clockwise)
  4. Receive from your other neighbour their passed cards
  5. Back to step 2, until you receive no passed cards anymore
  6. From the 8 cards that you set aside, choose and keep 4 as normal, and discard the rest
• After everyone has chosen their cards, the starting player starts the game.

• If you forget an action, forget a trigger or make a misplay, please first try to come to an agreement at your table.
• Keep it fair and nice. Everyone can forget something.
• When performing actions or receiving triggers, clearly communicate this at your table.
• If you cannot come to an agreement then contact a judge.
• If you did an illegal action, you must rewind the action. E.g. an animal card goes back to your hand and you get your money back, but you also lose appeal and so on. Try to be as accurate as you can.
• Officially: it is your own responsibility to play everything correctly. If you miss triggers or actions, then that is unfortunate.

Forgetting an Action or Trigger

• Example 1: you forgot to receive three money from an expert sponsor.
• Example 2: you forgot to receive an X token from a trigger.
• Ask your opponents if it is okay to receive it. Be a bit lenient and nice to each other.
• Officially, you didn't do the action, therefore you don't get it.

Making a Misplay or Illegal Action

• Reverse the steps that you did as you played the card or did the action incorrectly.
• When uncertain, discuss with the others on the table.
• Finally, reach out to a judge if necessary.

• As per the official rules: you may choose the order of effects.
• Unless the effect explicitly states "after the current action" just like in the rulebook.
• E.g., playing an animal with venom, you may first trigger its venom effect, before increasing your appeal.

When releasing an animal, you must follow the conditions:

1. The animal category or continent must be appropriate for the conservation project card.
2. The size must be available and match with the size of the animal. (You can't release a 4-sized animal for size 3.)
3. You lose the appeal of the animal and nothing else (you keep CP/Reputation/etc.).
4. You must choose the smallest occupied enclosure that the animal can fits in and flip it if it is a standard enclosure. (Even if you put your 1-sized animal in an enclosure of 5)
5. The animal is discarded face down.
6. (Also Animals that are flocked with the released animal have no effect on release and remain in your zoo as is.)

• Remember, you may first do venom/pilfering/corruption effect, and then apply appeal and so on.
• You must however play one animal in its completion before playing another one. (You cannot first play two venom/corruption and then apply their appeal.)
• For pilfering, if more than one player can be chosen, you choose one of them unless that player is you.
• For venom and corruption: a card can only have at most 1 of each token. Animals that would give a second token to the same card have no effect.
• For venom: you must only pay the two money if you did not remove any venom token from your action cards AND at the end of your turn. If you cannot, you must rewind and choose a different action.
• Remember: you can use sponsors break to pay for venom, and you can remove any token by performing the 6th action: get an X-token.

• Remember, you may first choose the hypnosis target before applying appeal.
• But you may only perform the hypnosis effect AFTER you have finished your own animal action in its entirety.
• You choose the applicable player and one of the cards at slots 1 to 3.
• When you play their action: that card moves to action 1 (as if the player used it), and you use its strength and level (even if flipped).
• You may increase its strength by using your own X-tokens.
• If you do an association with their card you must still use your own worker (likewise you play animals from your hand and use your own money). You may donate if their card is level 2.
• Any venom, corruption or 2X-tokens remain on the card. You may not use their 2X-token.
• If you managed to play multiple hypnosis animals (congrats), you execute them one by one in their entirety.

• The player triggering it gets the X-token.
• The player must first finish its action in its entirey before the break triggers. (e.g. animals that break)
• First players must discard to 3 (or 5 cards if they have lab).
• Any venom, corruption or 2X tokens are discard.
• Refill the association board.
• When players have succesfully discarded down, remove cards on location 1 and 2, and refill.
• When receiving income, you may choose the order in which you receive them. E.g. a two-enclosure may trigger other effects.
• If a player gets an effect that interacts with the river/market (snapping/card-in-reputation/digging) or association board (get lab/partner zoo), then this proceeds in player-order starting with the triggering player. After each player the market/river is refilled, the association board is not.

• Ask at your table what the ruling is. When still in doubt, ask a judge.
• The game comes with a rulebook and glossary that should answer (almost) all your questions.