Ark Nova - I just had very bad starting cards and couldn't mitigate it, so I was doomed to be behind the whole game. Seriously with that big number of cards you can just get very unlucky and have no good combo available. It's too much chance in this game, but I might just be more of an Euro game fan...
Its a pity, its my favorite game this year. If you would ask my girlfriend, she would agree with you. So far, while I had kinda meh starting hands I managed to have a tight game. I think that its essentially a 2 player game and more players can really hinder the game flow. As a 2player it is probably one of the deeper ones out there. Rarely is a game best played at 2, unless its a duel game