Terra Ova is the biggest game I’ve built so far. It runs on iPhone, on Android, and right in your browser at terraova.com, no install needed.
The idea is simple: explore a world map, find eggs and fossils, hatch animals and dinosaurs, and take them into the arena. One thing mattered to me from day one: every species only shows up where it actually lives, or once lived.
Earth is the game board
The map has more than 12,000 hex tiles across seven regions, from Europe all the way to Antarctica. Snow leopards live in Asia, emus in Australia, emperor penguins only on the ice. Want a T. rex? Start digging in North America. Spinosaurus means a trip to Africa.
You don’t have to leave the couch for any of this, there’s no GPS involved. You travel inside the game: on foot, on a mount, by ship, through portals or on expeditions. Along the way you set up outposts and a base camp with its own buildings.
283 species, 43 of them dinosaurs
Every egg hatches a creature, and every species comes with a short fact. Those facts are real. Whenever I wasn’t sure about one, I left it out instead of making up something that just sounds nice.
Rarity runs through seven tiers, from Common to Lost. Dinosaurs come from fossils: dig up the skeleton, bring it back, add it to your field album. Each region has its own. Duplicates fuse into extra stars, and the time machine turns a species into one of its relatives.
Battles where brains beat brawn
Your deck holds up to five creatures, each with its own stats, class and attack style. Every arena has a different rule each week, so the strongest team doesn’t automatically win. There are master arenas too, plus a duel arena with a weekly league and rankings.
Friends make it more fun. Connect by code or link, send gifts, trade creatures, lend each other a creature for a tough arena, or team up in explorer groups with shared weekly goals.
No ads, no tracking
Terra Ova has no ads and no third-party analytics running in the background. The server only counts totals. There’s also no free text between players, on purpose: names come from a generator and messages are predefined. That keeps things relaxed for younger players, too.
Built on a phone
A small side note: Terra Ova was built almost entirely on a smartphone. I try every new feature on my phone before it goes live, and well over a hundred versions have shipped so far. Whatever changed in an update shows up in the game under “What’s new in Terra Ova”.
Where to get it
Terra Ova is free on iPhone and Android:
Or play it in your browser: terraova.com
I’m always glad to hear feedback. The easiest way is right in the game under More → Feedback. And if you like the game, a store rating helps a small game like this a lot.
