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Can we talk about how Terraforming Mars beats Ark Nova for replayability?
I know everyone's been raving about Ark Nova lately, but after 20 plays of each, I just don't see it. Terraforming Mars has this open ended feel where you can pivot strategies mid game based on what cards show up, while Ark Nova feels like you're locked into a zoo plan from turn one. Am I missing something or do others find Mars has way more variety per session?
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hart.taylor20d ago
Wait, have you tried playing Ark Nova with the marine expansion? I think that fixes most of the lock-in problem because it adds way more cards that let you switch up your animal focus mid game. Without it, yeah, I agree you're kind of stuck once you start building enclosures for big cats or something. But Mars has this thing where the milestones and awards change every game and that alone forces you to adapt your whole approach. Ark Nova's scoring is too linear for me, like you're just climbing one ladder while Mars has three different tracks competing at once. I also feel like the community overhypes how many paths Ark Nova has because the zoo theme makes people ignore the actual game design.
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@hart.taylor nailed it about the marine expansion helping Ark Nova, but even with it, I still think Mars has way more table variation. I've played both games a ton, and what gets me is how Ark Nova's scoring ladder makes you feel like you're just racing to the end, while Mars makes you juggle three different scoring tracks. The moment you get a bad card in Ark Nova, you're stuck trying to force a zoo theme that might not work, but in Mars you can just pivot to a different corporation or a plant build. What's your take on the expansions for Ark Nova though, do you find the marine one changes enough to match Mars replayability?
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