Sanctuary is a tile-placement game where you build a thriving nature reserve.

If you can get the right tiles.

Sanctuary Overview

On your turn in Sanctuary, you choose one of four actions.

Each action lets you draw tiles or place tiles into your Sanctuary, but the strength of that action depends on where that action currently sits in your action track. The further right, the stronger it is.

After you take an action, you move that action down the track to the space on the left, making that action weaker the next time you use it. To make an action strong again, you need to cycle through the other actions first.

The four actions are:

Take Tiles & Place – You take a terrain tile from the shared market and place it into your hand.

Place Animals – Three of the actions for 3 different animal types. You put animal tiles from your hand into your sanctuary. Some animals want big contiguous habitats, others want specific terrain combinations.

How Do You Win?

When the tile supply runs out or someone fills their sanctuary, the game ends. Players score their animals, completed habitats, and end-game bonuses. The highest total wins.

Main Mechanisms

Sanctuary mixes action selection with tile placement and pattern building for scoring animals.

Theme

Animals and habitat tiles are bright and cute, making the building experience feel like you’re really crafting a colourful reserve.

Setup

Shuffle terrain tiles into the market, and give each player their board.

Components & Artwork

Colourful tiles, clear iconography, and adorable animal art make Sanctuary visually appealing. The animal tokens and terrain pieces look great on the board and help with readability.

Ease of Teaching

Moderate. The action system adds a layer beyond “place a tile here”, but once players see how the track weakens and strengthens, it flows smoothly.

Similar Games

Ark Nova obviously, for animal placement and habitat scoring.

Suburbia for spatial tile placement and economy building.

Civilization for using the same type of cycling action selection.

Sanctuary Review

Positives

The tile puzzle is genuinely fun and satisfying.

A lighter, cleaner experience compared to Ark Nova while retaining meaningful decisions.

Cute animal art and bright visuals make it inviting to play.

Negatives

Very dependent on the available tiles, if you don’t get what you need, your plan can collapse quickly.

Action sequence pressures can feel punishing until you’ve internalised the rhythm.

Not as deep as heavier habitat builders — though that’s also part of the appeal.

Summary

Sanctuary is a smart, approachable mix of action selection and spatial puzzle building.

It feels lighter and more elegant than Ark Nova, but the bad luck tile market can sometimes sting. The core puzzle and animal interactions are solid and enjoyable.