Skip to content
Tavernly

How to Play Ark Nova Online

By the Tavernly team ·

This guide explains how to play Ark Nova, Mathias Wigge’s 2021 game from Feuerland Spiele for 1 to 4 players. You can play Ark Nova online through Board Game Arena or the Dire Wolf app. We make Fernglass on Tavernly, a free browser alternative with its own art, plants and names.

The short answer

  • A browser table with a free account: Board Game Arena. Hosting may need Premium.
  • A paid copy on a computer or an Apple device: the Dire Wolf app.
  • Free, with no sign-up: Fernglass on Tavernly, against bots or with friends.

Which way is right for you?

BGA offers browser tables with free accounts; hosts may need Premium. Dire Wolf sells paid copies: Steam is $22.99 on Windows and Mac; the iPhone App Store listing is $10.99. Fernglass is a free browser game with no sign-up, for friends or bots.

You want to… Best choice
Join an Ark Nova table through your account Board Game Arena
Install a desktop copy Dire Wolf on Steam
Install a copy on your Apple mobile device Dire Wolf on the App Store
Send friends a private-table link Fernglass’s With friends card
Take turns when you like Fernglass’s At your pace card
Learn during a coached first game Fernglass’s Beginner card

Method 1: Board Game Arena, in your browser (free to join)

Board Game Arena runs Ark Nova in your browser and rates complexity at 4 out of 5. You enter through its game panel, then join a table through your account.

You need: your BGA account.

  1. Sign in. A free account lets you join.
  2. Open the Ark Nova panel. The Ark Nova panel lists 1 to 4 players and a 46-minute average.
  3. Join a table or start one. BGA marks Ark Nova Premium; free accounts may join, while hosting may need Premium.
  4. Invite your friends. Each friend needs an account to join your table.

Method 2: The Dire Wolf app (paid)

Dire Wolf develops and publishes Ark Nova on Steam. That version was released on 20 June 2025. The App Store names Dire Wolf Digital LLC for its iPhone and iPad listing. We did not check an Android version or test online play in the apps.

You need: the purchased app on a supported device.

  1. Install the computer version. Ark Nova on Steam costs $22.99 in the US. It supports Windows and Mac.
  2. Install the Apple version for mobile play. The Ark Nova App Store listing costs $10.99 in the US. It requires iOS 15.0 or later.
  3. Choose single-player for a solo session. Steam also lists multi-player.
  4. Choose online PvP for opponents over the internet. Steam turn notifications announce turns.

Method 3: An Ark Nova alternative: Fernglass on Tavernly

An Ark Nova alternative: Fernglass on Tavernly gives you rare plants and a walled garden.

Fernglass on Tavernly: play it free in your browser.

Fernglass has glasshouses and five plant climates: desert, rainforest, alpine, wetland and woodland. Quick play starts two seats with Plan A for everyone. Private tables default to choosing between two plans. Fernglass has no expansions. Start through one of four cards.

You need: a browser; enter your birth date once, with a minimum age of 13.

  1. Open Play against bots. Set opponents and Easy, Medium or Hard bots. Choose your garden plan, your estate’s map, then Play now.
The Fernglass page offers four ways to start: Play against bots, With friends, At your pace and Beginner.
The Fernglass page: play against bots, with friends, at your pace, or learn with a coach.
  1. Open With friends. Choose Start now or Reserve, then plans, seats and Start a private table. Press Share invite; Start now: bots take the empty seats begins play.
The waiting room of a private table, with an invite link, one host seat and one empty seat that a bot can take.
The waiting room of a private table. Share the link; a bot takes any seat that stays empty.
  1. Open At your pace. Press Find players for real people and turn notifications.
  2. Open Beginner. Press Learn by playing for a full coached first game.

Follow the lesson’s first actions

The coach opens: “Welcome to Fernglass. You run a garden estate.”

  1. Take a sister garden. This partnership discounts plants from its climate.
  2. Play a plant. Pay its cost and fill a bare bed, a planting space.
  3. Build a bed. Tap Bed 2, the marked space, then Place.

How to play Ark Nova: the rules in two minutes

These steps explain Fernglass through its own garden terms.

  1. Track visitors and care. Visitors and care are your two scores; their markers approach each other on one line.
  2. Keep four starting cards. You start with 25 coins; keep 4 of 8 cards using Keep these 4, then choose your plan. Plant cards grow plants; patron cards give effects.
The start of a game: eight cards on the table, and the button Keep these 4.
The first choice of the game: keep 4 of 8 cards.
  1. Use one action card per turn. Plant, Gather, Build, Society and Patrons occupy slots 1 to 5, which give their strength. Your used card moves to slot 1; cards to its left shift right, gaining 1 strength.
  2. Spend trowels for extra strength. A trowel adds 1 strength; you can hold 5. Trowel action moves any card to slot 1 and gives you one.
  3. Build within your action’s strength. Build makes one building up to its strength at 2 coins per space: beds of sizes 1 to 5, tea stalls, gazebos or the herb garden. Tea stalls earn income; gazebos give 1 visitor immediately.
  4. Place beside an existing building. Touch an existing building; covering a bonus pays it once. Tea stalls stand at least 3 spaces apart.
  5. Worked example: Build on Lakeside Lawn. Our first turn: Build in slot 3 gave strength 3; from 25 coins, we pressed Use, chose Bed 2, tapped a marked space, then Place. The size-2 bed cost 4 coins, leaving 21; Build moved to slot 1 and Plant to slot 2.
The Fernglass table after the first Build action: a bed of size 2 on the garden plan, five action cards on the left, and the display of cards on the right.
After our first Build action: a bed of size 2 on the plan, 21 coins left, and the Build card in slot 1.
  1. Plant into a bare bed. Strength 1 plants nothing, 2 to 4 plants one, and 5 or more plants two. Pay the printed cost, meet requirements such as a neighbouring pond, and fill a bed of the plant’s size or larger to gain visitors.
  2. Gather cards for your hand. Strength 1 draws one then discards one; strength 3 draws two then discards one; strength 5 can take a display card instead. Advance the season marker, the track toward winter income, by 2 spaces.
  3. Send a volunteer on a Society task. A volunteer, your task worker, gains esteem (access along six display folders), takes a college, or supports a project (care points) at strength 5. A sister garden task needs strength 3 and cuts the cost of that climate’s plants by 3 coins.
  4. Play a patron or take coins. Apply a patron card’s effects, or take coins and advance the season marker.
  5. Resolve winter. At the season track’s end, discard to 3 cards; visitors pay coins: 0 gives 5, 5 to 6 gives 10, and 20 to 22 gives 17. Each tea stall pays 1 coin per touching patron building, house, planted bed or gazebo.
  6. Finish when someone’s markers meet or cross. Everyone else takes one final turn. Score your two secret final goals, then add visitors to your care-space value.
Scoring item Contribution
Visitors One point each
Care The value printed on your care space, below zero at low care
Final goals Up to 4 care each

Tips for your first game

  • Start with Plan A. It gives more help than Plan 0; plans 1 to 8 give none.
  • Keep stonecrop beside water. Streaked stonecrop needs a size-1 bed beside a pond, costs 4 coins and gives 2 visitors.
  • Build a gazebo. Gain 1 visitor immediately.
  • Save a trowel. Spend it for a key action’s extra strength.
  • Reach care 2. Take a volunteer or upgrade an action card to its stronger side II.

Questions people ask

Can I play Ark Nova online for free?

BGA is free to join; hosting Ark Nova may need Premium. Fernglass is free with no sign-up, for friends or bots. Dire Wolf’s Steam and App Store copies are paid. For the browser alternative, open Fernglass and select a start card.

Do I need to download anything?

BGA and Fernglass run in a browser without a game download. Dire Wolf’s Ark Nova requires installation from Steam or the App Store. To start Fernglass directly, open its game page and press Play now, or choose its With friends card.

Can I play Ark Nova alone?

Steam lists single-player Ark Nova. In Fernglass, set Opponents to 0 or create a private table with 1 seat. Against one bot, there is no turn timer. You can read cards between actions and play at your own pace without a decision countdown.

Can I play with friends online?

Start a Fernglass private table and send its Share invite link. Human decisions have a 90-second timer. For turns when you like, open At your pace and press Find players; notifications bring you back. Steam lists online PvP for Ark Nova.

Can I play on my phone?

Ark Nova’s App Store listing covers iPhone and iPad with iOS 15.0 or later. You can open Fernglass in a phone browser and choose a start card there. We did not test Fernglass on a phone.

How many people can play?

BGA and Wikipedia list Ark Nova for 1 to 4 players. Fernglass also takes 1 to 4. Set Seats at the table on its private-table page; your waiting room shows its own table code and marks your seat as host.

How long does a game take?

BGA lists a 46-minute average for Ark Nova. Two-seat Fernglass takes about 75 to 100 minutes. Against one bot, Fernglass has no turn timer, so you can pause over cards. With humans, each decision has 90 seconds on the timer.

Sources

We did not test online play in the apps or on a phone.

Fernglass is not affiliated with or endorsed by the owner of Ark Nova. Ark Nova is a trademark of its owner. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

If you want the physical game, here is Ark Nova on Amazon.