Nova Island
Experience one of the top-rated Free games on the App Store, Nova Island! Developed by the innovative team at Thirteen Games, LLC, this Card game provides a unique gaming experience like no other. With a content rating of 9+, it’s perfect for a wide range of players. Since its initial release on 5th August 2021, the game has seen numerous updates, with the latest version launched on 19th October 2023.
Are you a fan of Card, Strategy, games? Then Nova Island is right up your alley! You won’t be able to resist its appeal.
User Ratings of Nova Island
Over 195 players have rated Nova Island. Join them and share your thoughts!
How Much Does Nova Island Cost?
Good news! You can download Nova Island on your iOS device absolutely free!
Nova Island Release Date
Eager to know when Nova Island first graced the App Store? It was launched on 5th August 2021.
When Was Nova Island Last Updated?
The latest version of Nova Island was updated on 19th October 2023, ensuring a more enjoyable gaming experience for all players.
Where Can I Download Nova Island?
To get started with Nova Island, head over to the official Apple App Store.
A Glimpse into Nova Island
Nova Island is AD FREE & FREE TO PLAY! DOWNLOAD Nova Island NOW!
Looking for a unique card game that combines strategy & chance? On Nova Island, you can take on challenges, play matches with friends, or compete against players from around the world to climb the leaderboard. Play cards to gain strength, deal damage, and disrupt opponents in ways they’ll never see coming. It’s FUN! It’s FREE! IT’S COMPLETE STRATEGIC FREEDOM!
Choose from one of 6 GAME MODES!
- RANKED – Vs players around the world. Level up on RESEARCH ROAD, collect NOVA JUICE, and climb the leaderboard!
- DAILY CHALLENGE – A unique single-player experience every day – with credit rewards and streaks!
- CENTRAL CIRCUIT – Single-player run set in the Nova Island universe with rewards and scoring leaderboards
- TURBO CHAOS DRAFT CHALLENGE – Vs. players around the world in a fast paced draft mode. Complete runs to get exclusive crown skins and other rewards!
- FRIENDLY – Add friends in game and challenge them to friendly battles
- TRAINING – Test out new decks against your choice of pro and trainer difficulty
Collect RESEARCH POINTS to level up on RESEARCH ROAD!
- Unlock new PROS and GAME MODES
- Research NEW CARDS
- Earn Nova Juice rewards
7 Pros to choose from to lead your team!
- MAX (Energy) – Big health fast
- DR. BOOM (Boom) – Damage, damage, damage
- FLORA (Floral) – Grow allies over time
- JACK (Moxie) – Territory and spawning
- ASTER (Cosmic) – Coin gain and Nova Zap
- SLAYBORG (Cyber) – Shut down opponents with tech
- CAMILLE (Magic) – Transformation
Over 100 characters/cards to collect, including:
- 7 Pros, each with a thematic soundtrack – hear it when you play against them!
- Over 60 Friends with animations, sound effects, and skins to change their look!
BUILD DECKS with strategy and style
- Mix & Match pros and cards to create personalized decks
- Theme your decks with skins
Visit THE SHOPS:
- CARD ACTIVATOR – Unlock researched cards to build new decks
- SNAKESKINS – Collect skins to display your style and put on a show!
- ISLAND EXCHANGE -Trade in credits for Nova Juice
SPECTATE live matches:
- Cheer on players from around the world
- Learn different tactics and strategies
We also have a growing community for you to join for all things NOVA ISLAND!
Discord: https://play.novaisland.com/discord
Need SUPPORT? Visit our Website: https://novaisland.com or Email us: [email protected]
Just some important legal information:
PRIVACY POLICY: https://novaisland.com/privacy-policy
TERMS OF SERVICE: https://novaisland.com/terms-of-service
What’s New in the Latest Update?
Find out what’s new in the latest version of Nova Island updated on 19th October 2023:
New Cards & Mechanics
Legendary, Common, & Event Skins
Emotes
Seasonal Player Profiles
User Reviews on Nova Island
Looking for more information? Read a comprehensive review of Nova Island below:
The rng can be a real pain sometimes but its just your luck stop crying about it and accept that this is a pretty good game, our only thoughts is the devs should add more professionals and a lot more cards.
We have tried a lot of mobile games and this is our favorite. We enjoy the strategy, fun, and competition.
We enjoy the gameplay and its super fun and addicting all it need is a way to play with friends so we can enjoy this game with our friends!
We just played a game that had us in the lead with units in the 60, 80 and 90 slot all amounting to 25 points. Our opponent had units on the low rate slots like 30~ which anointed to 10 but of course rng decided that all of his units got energized while non of ours did and that was the second time that happened in the same game. The previous theme shouldve been our win but again our opponent got the rng.
Entire game based off of rng if you have one really bad round you lose the entire game.
Usually with card games like this there is always some form of RNG involved which is fine, as thats the nature of card games. This game decides to take it to the extreme and make EVERYTHING RNG! This is literally just gambling, the card game Meaning we can already predict this game doesnt survive long at all. Theres no way to express skill once you get to a certain level. Once you have a good deck it turns into picking four cards and hoping you get lucky simulator every single game.
RNG square activation makes for a terrible card game. To have 15 points on the board and get 9 points over two rounds and lose to someone with 10 points on board in lower percentage squares is garbage.
We hate this game because its unbalanced and the transform ability is very annoying and we cant use certain cards and so we die because we give them a free turn and most of the fights Im up against are people who are professionals with op cards.
Cute graphics and aesthetics, but the gameplay is horrible. RNG ruins the game. Also it is extremely unbalanced. Dev team clearly doesn’t play their own game. Until major changes are made, the game is unenjoyable and therefore not worth playing.
This is the new PVZ heroes for multiple reasons: Free-to-play Free-to-win PVZ heroes does not even have new content now so theres now point in playing PVZ heroes Concept is almost the same as PVZ heroes Stop posting about among us [UPDATE] [KRIS GET THE BANANA]
We see many people complaining about RNG. While it is annoying to not land the 90% lobby tile, it is necessary to make this game very unique by making it fast paced and surprisingly strategic. -Avoiding RNG: Id figure most people could understand that RNG can be avoided. The Lobby and Basement environments both equal 100% per column; in other words, its guaranteed that one card can energize per column. Simply put, place a card in both the lobby and Basement to ensure one card energizes. -Use of RNG in placement: You need to understand that RNG does play a role in placement, just not always on the 90% tile. The following cards: -Destroyer -All Penthouse spawning cards -Bloomshooter -Snapper -Bruiser -Bomber -Beebie -Ray -Seedlt Are NOT always meant to be played on the highest percent tile, but rather the leftmost tiles. For example, if you have a Titan on the 90% tile, it is best to play a destroyer on the 75% tile rather than the 80% or 85% tile. This is to have the best chance to kill the Titan with the Destroyers energizing ability before the Titan can gain novas. Our point being, stop complaining about the game. Its free to play, free to win, nice graphics, and its a new game with potential so play before the game gets big. Because we think they know what theyre doing as far as advertisement and progression of the game.
Fun little game.. Like the concept. But its very unbalancednot fun..
We cant even get past picking a pro before the game crashes.
Scoring 20 points to win is way too low. The rng determines almost every match. Certain heroes powers are useless in the short time it takes to win. Hopefully another dev uses this idea better because the idea is good but the delivery is bad.
- Unique deck building/ card placement strategy – Draft mode – play against other others for ranking – play challenge mode against computer to earn more currency (to buy cards) – no in app purchases, truly free! – art and animations are a joy to look at Seriously, how is this game free!
Not often do you find a fun game that is play to win. Really enjoyed playing!
RNG is a huge part of this game and it honestly never seems to be on our side which kinda kills the game for us. Looks like its a common complaint too. While we wont be continuing with the game right now, Ill def keep it on our radar and will check it out after a few updates.
We love the game mechanics and concept! Its cool. But in every time us or the opponent movesthe game interrupts to reconnect. It breaks our concentration and takes away from experience.
Game deciding too level RNG is quite offputting, and results in games coming down to an explicitly signaled coin flip. High cost cards are unsubtle stronger then cheap, and progression involves losing to them repeatedly in a gauntlet mode that forces you to win.
This game is genuinely riggednot hyperbole. Its not just poor RNG; it is NOT random at all. The pattern we have observed is that tile hits are more favorable to the higher ranking player. The odds of the 75% tile not hitting for 7 rounds in a row and the 90% tile not hitting 4 rounds in a rowwhile dancing around every single character we have on the board is a ridiculous way to lose. If youve got a character on the 90% tile that when energized snipes a random enemy character, but it doesnt hit for 4 rounds in a rowand you lose the gamethats more than suspicious. Aside from the impossible RNG and seemingly bot-like players, some of the actual deck types and cards are simply frustrating to play against. The pirate trainer can kill any card you play. We’ve played matches where the opponent sniped every character and we ran out of cards. Its frustrating to put a card down and it being instantly destroyed by a seemingly unending chain of spell cards. Whats fun about that? The only good things we will say about this game is that it is free, ad-free, and the card characters are well drawn. Thats it.
The RNG is abhorrent and the games ai may seem balanced at the start but becomes game breaking later. DO NOT DOWNLOAD UNLESS YOUR LOOKING FOR A BAD TIME.
Very sticky, unique gameplay with awesome style. What more could we ask for?
We LOVE THIS GAME BECAUSE we CAN WATCH MATCHES AND PLAY WITH OTHER PEOPLE ON THE GAME.
The bots are Ridiculously overstacked as a new player it doesnt make us want to play the game when the bots are so perfectly stacked we cant even play a card let alone enjoy myself.
Missed on the 90% chance block 4 turns in a row. Not sure why the game would ever be able to do that but _()_/
We love this game it is our favorite card game to play right now! The concept and action is amazing! A question we have is if there is a possibility of friending and playing matches with friends in the future?
Im a big fan of cars games, and this one really hits the mark. Great game, great art, great vibes. Definitely check this one out.
Free game, no iaps. Fun, pretty quick battles. The rng that reviewers are talking about we think they dont understand. Each square where you can choose to put a card has a percentage chance of activating for points each round. So theres a good tension in the game between whether to choose a high percentage space, or a space you prefer but the chances may be lower. Its part of the game! You can see all of the percentages when you are moving your card to choose a space. Its not a hidden rng. You build a deck, but its chance/luck which cards are drawn from your deck. Its fun to discover new cards by playing others who have them. And it doesnt hurt too bad to lost. Games are quick, and the main currency you still get some of it even when you lose.
We see other people complaining about the RNG, but we honestly dont have a problem with it as its very consistent. If you play your cards in the right places at the right times, you win. Plain and simple. We honestly have more of a problem with the character balancing than anything, as some abilities can be pretty op, but theyre kinda compensated by equally op abilities..? Other than that, the art style is sublime and the card choices have wide variety to accommodate any play style. Very addictive game. 10/10.
This has to be one of the best games we’ve ever found on the App Store. We know that sounds exaggerated but with the current landscape of mobile gaming, Nova Island is of much higher quality than anything we see ads for in other games and Im honestly surprised that its free. Its clear that a lot of love and effort went into the art, animations, UI, and character designs. Like literally none of the character designs are bad we love ALL of the cards, theyre so awesome. The game itself is really fun once you get the hang of it! We’ve been battling our boyfriend a bunch via queue sniping and we love experimenting with new cards and builds, we really hope an in game friends system is introduced later! The only bug we’ve run into is the game occasionally hard crashes but it doesnt hinder the game at all because you can easily reconnect to the battle you were last in! We have very high hopes for this game and wish the dev team nothing but luck! We look forward to future updates, hopefully new cards or professionals or anything really!
This is such an underestimated game, we love it wish more people come and play:)
Im not a huge CCG fan but this a surprisingly great game. Im looking forward to seeing how this game develops. Keep up the great work.
If you like strategy games that are quick, fun, and unique, youll love this game. If you are just scrolling through the App Store and want to try out a new game, choose this one. We downloaded this game 2 days ago and we’ve played it everyday since. We are thoroughly enjoying this game and we suggest that you should give it a try.
This game is an amazing game. Love the progression. We only wish there was a way to help support the devs.
This game is really something. We think if there isnt as much RNG put into it, it could be one of the best card strategy games on the app store. We recommend this game to everyone who likes card strategy games. Also NO MICRO TRANSACTIONS!!!!
The gameplay can be so infuriating sometimes. It feels like the game chooses the winner sometimes. An example from a game we just played: Im losing with 13 points while they have 19 points but we have two cards on the %90 and %85 spots and they have two cards on the %20 and %15 spots. We could have won and honestly should have won considering the odds were very heavily in our favor yet whatever stupid algorithm this game uses caused us to lose. We have a theory that the odds are better for the higher ranked player. Sometimes we just get incredibly lucky against lower ranked players and we’ve noticed higher ranking player than us getting crazy lucky against us. Everything else in this game is amazing but the big downfall will definitely be the games algorithm.
The game is fairly fun, the main thing that sets it back a ton is the constant use of RNG. No matter how well you play, literally any match can make you lose if your unlucky. A few better ways that we’ve thought of on how they could make the game better is by -Making a game mode where spaces dont DONT use RNG to determine gaining points. For example : make each spot multiply your characters hearts by a certain amount. (Like some that multiply by 2, or 0.5, or 1, etc.) Better spaces multiply it by more and vice versa. (Games might move quicker so they might have to add you have to reach 30 points instead of 20) – You can also add cards that increase the RNG amount on the space (these could effect both players or only you) but it helps at least have a way to GUARANTEE points. -Another way is for every time a spot with RNG does NOT trigger, the RNG amount could slowly increase so EVENTUALLY it will HAVE to trigger. (After it triggers, it could reset to the base amount.) we really see huge potential for this game, especially if they add more cards and professionals! Just being able to use SKILL rather then relying on things you cant control will VERRRRY much help. If they can find we way to fix these problems we would happily rate this game 5 stars!!
It stops working in the first game.
Doing nothing in the menu crashes our phone and puts it in a reboot loop for half an hour. We can play PUBG with maxed out graphics at 60 fps but cant handle being in the menu in this game? Terrible optimization, be aware.
As many other reviews state, the game concept is somewhat unique and fun, but gameplay is ruined by RNG. Rounds are only to 20 points, so they are unforgiving. If your 8 point tile doesnt hit on 85% chance two turns in a row, good luck winning.
While the game is interesting, the sheer fact of RNG dictating a win over any type of skill is unacceptable. Hearthstone is the premier of RNG, but at least you can use skill to put maneuver the opponent. When, in this game, you can slot all the high % slots to still lose bc your opponent on sub 50% slots trigger every round is unacceptable. If you like a game that is pure RNG, this is it. If you like to play the game with a small % of chance, this is not it. TL;DR: Avoid this game unless you just want to RNG spam to some goal.
A great concept although All the gameplay is at our level, is get put up against a boom deck and lose, you have no chance of winning. Nerf boom or we quit.
We hate the chance element. The amount of times we’ve filled the board and dont get a single card active is ridiculous. Its incredibly frustrating when we spend time trying to win and strategize only for our opponent to get dumb luck with one card. We really think the chance should only active the cards abilitys and have all the hearts count at the end of the round. Its just such an dumb way to lose a easy game too. Everything else about this game is absolutely perfect. Love the cards, characters, even the market prices are relatively fair. We’ve even found the match making is great except every now and then. This game is amazing but this one thing is just holding it back.
Its been a while since we’ve found an original turn based strategy game. Great mix of deck building and field change, love the art style and different heros or champions you can pick from. Gets a lot of constant updates!
Not sure why this doesnt have more downloads. Its an incredibly well made and well thought out game. Plus, it really is completely free to play! No ads or anything! You can tell the devs put a ton of effort and love into this game.
Card battlers are probably one of the more saturated game genres on the market. This is what makes a game like Nova Island refreshing when it shakes many of the conventions found in the genre. The most apparent is that you are not planning a direct attack on your opponent’s health. Instead you focus on keeping your cards alive so they can score a currency necessary to win. This simple but major change to the card battling formula creates a lot of strategy on when you should defend your cards or eliminate your opponent’s cards. Sadly, the 0.11 update introduced two features that just overall make getting proper cards feel much, much more worse. The first is the addition of the Research Road, a more linear progression system that while it does help players with no friends know they can acquire all cards without attending daily challenges, has a stingy reward system where you can spend 5+ minutes in a match just to lose and earn 1/5th of a single card that you still need to spend Nova Juice on. Even after reaching the proper research road level, cards still cost Nova Juice, which can be earned in game or purchased with credits purchaseable with real money, going against the motto of "play to win." If that wasn’t enough, Ranked is the only game mode that awards research novas for progressing the research road, leaving no PvE or casual avenue of progresssion. Hopefully this is adressed soon. The RNG nature of the game (energizing a friend for points) means games can be very swingy. Whether you like it or not will very much depend on the player. The game’s current version is also 0.11, and the game can be content light in terms of gamemodes because of this. Give it a shot, but the stingy progression system may not be worth sticking around for.
The tile system is such a refreshing concept in comparison to most games combat systems. And to those complaining about RNG. You might just be bad at the game.