Ark Nova Sponsors and Money: Building an Economy

A common first-game wall in Ark Nova: a hand full of great animals and 4 money. The animals are the exciting part, but money decides how many of them you can actually play. This lesson is about the economy behind the zoo: where money comes from, where it goes, and how sponsor cards turn into engines.

Where does money come from?

You start with 25. After that, most money arrives at breaks:

• Appeal income. The money printed beside your appeal space. It grows with appeal, fastest early on.
• Kiosks. Each kiosk pays 1 for every unique building, special enclosure, occupied standard enclosure, and pavilion next to it.
• Income icons. Some sponsors and some of the zoo map bonuses you reveal with conservation projects pay again at every break.

Between breaks, smaller sums come in:

• placement bonuses printed on your zoo map, paid when you build over them,
• the 5 money option at 5 and 8 conservation,
• the Sponsors action’s cash option,
• animal abilities such as Sunbathing, which sells cards from your hand for 4 money each,
• sponsors that pay you whenever a certain icon is played.

Where does it go?

• Buildings cost 2 money per space.
• Animals cost what the card says, minus any discounts.
• Cards played straight from the display, with upgraded Animals, Sponsors, or Association, cost extra: the number of the folder they sit in.
• Donations for conservation, with Association II.

Animals are the big line. The official starting decks show the range: a Rock Monitor costs 12, and a Sumatran Tiger costs 26.

Partner zoos are discounts

A partner zoo cuts 3 money from every animal from its continent, per continent icon on the card. With an Africa partner zoo, that Rock Monitor costs 9. Partner zoos also add a continent icon to your zoo, which counts toward projects.

The association board shows only one partner zoo per continent at a time, and it refills at the next break. If a rival takes the Asia zoo you wanted, you wait. So look at your hand early and claim the continent you will play most.

Anyone can take two partner zoos. A third and a fourth need Association II.

Kiosks: small but steady

A kiosk pays only for buildings that touch it, and two kiosks must sit at least 3 spaces apart. The rulebook’s example pays 2 money for each of two kiosks. That sounds small, but it repeats at every break.

Two habits help:

• Place kiosks where several buildings will meet, not on the edge of your map.
• Fill the enclosures beside them. An empty standard enclosure pays nothing. An empty special enclosure does count.

What makes a sponsor worth it?

A sponsor costs an action, and the strength to match its level. It has to pay that back. Read the color of each effect:

• Purple: income at every break. Best played early, because it pays you more times.
• Blue: a recurring trigger, such as money each time a certain icon is played. Watch the wording: “into any zoo” pays you on rivals’ turns too.
• Yellow: a one-time effect when played.
• Brown: an end-game effect, counted at final scoring.

A card always counts its own icons. The Herpetologist pays 3 money each time a reptile icon is played into any zoo, and it has a reptile icon, so it pays you once the moment it lands.

Before playing a sponsor, ask how many breaks or triggers remain. A purple card played two breaks before the end has two paydays left. The same card played in the opening has several more.

Check the conditions too. Some sponsors need a minimum reputation, certain icons in your zoo, or an upgraded Sponsors card.

When should Sponsors take the money?

Instead of playing a sponsor, the Sponsors action can move the Break token as many spaces as its strength and pay you that much money. Side II pays double.

Take the money when:

• you are broke and the next break is close, so pushing it also brings your income sooner,
• your hand has no sponsor worth its action,
• rivals hold big hands that the hand limit of 3 will trim.

Think twice when a rival is waiting for income more than you are. Every push of the Break token speeds up everyone’s payday and clears folders 1 and 2 of the display. If you are the one who triggers the break, you also take 1 X-token.

Spend before the wave

Money sitting in your pocket at a break is not working for you, and the break adds more. The strong pattern is to arrive at each break nearly broke, with your best animals already played and your appeal as high as it can go. Then the break refills you for the next push.

Cards work the same way. You keep only 3 at a break, or 5 with one of the universities. A big hand that has to shrink at the break was money and actions spent for nothing.

If you enjoy watching an economy grow from nothing, our engine building explainer names the curve every engine follows, and Ark Nova’s sponsors trace it closely.