A review of Wingspan board games
A review of Wingspan board games
As hundreds, if not thousands, of board games are released each year, a game that is remotely original is becoming increasingly difficult. Nevertheless, the Elizabeth Hargrave Wing Range has a completely unique theme and style. I hope you are ready to get to know the species of birds as the range of wings is all about these feathered creatures! Read our full Wingspan review below.
- For 1-5 players. Age 10+
- 40-70 minutes of play
- Competitive game of collecting birds, making engines
A brief overview of the wingspan
Wing Range is a game about creating the most attractive habitat for new birds to migrate and nest on. In mechanics, a game can be described as building a motor or table strategy game .
It can be played with up to 5 players , and includes a standalone mode . The best experience, however, is 3 to 4 players , with game sessions lasting about 1 hour. The problems are balanced so that the game is accessible to more casual players, while also satisfying the more experienced crowd.
The game was published by the publisher of Stonemaier Games , a company with successful hits. Wingspan is no exception and has earned countless nominations, accolades and awards since its 2019 release.
Variations and extensions
Wing span: European enlargement
The first expansion of the wingspan focuses on increasing the number of bird species with those found specifically on the European continent. With them come new skills and the ability to fully integrate the extension into the original game.
In addition to the new cards, the expansion includes a larger card storage tray, extra food chips, purple eggs and a new tile for multiplayer and standalone games.
- For 1-5 players. 40-70 minutes of playing time
- The first extension to the wingspan
- It includes the royal, beautiful and diverse birds of Europe.
Wing Range: Extension of Oceania
Like European expansion, Oceania is increasing the number of birds, this time from the regions of Australia and New Zealand. In addition to cards that can be freely shuffled with the base game and the previous expansion, Oceania adds new types of food , game cushions, eggs, and new goals at the end of the game.
- Another Wingspan extension has colorful and ...
- This extension includes new carpets for players and a new type of food, ...
- Includes new bonus cards and more goals at the end of the round and ...
Unpacking the wingspan
The wingspan includes the following components:
- 1 Rules
- 1 Appendix
- 1 target board
- 1 Cube chair for feeding birds
- 1 Notebook
- 1 Bird tray
- 1 first player token
- 5 Custom wooden cubes
- 40 wooden action cubes
- 170 bird cards
- 26 bonus cards
- 75 miniature eggs
- 103 Food tokens
- 8 tiles for goals
With the lid raised, you will find the rule at the top of the box. It is printed on high quality large format paper with color illustrations. I appreciate if things are separate and easy to follow, which Wingspan does with its add-ons and automation rules.
Most Wingspan components can be stored in the small boxes and trays provided with the game. There are small containers for plastic egg chips and cardboard food chips, while a large blue tray is used for cards. The tray cover is also used during the game for convenient display of cards.
The bird feeder is made of cut cardboard and is quite solid. The tray may need some glue to make it firmer, but the overall design and strength are great. Its use is completely optional, but it is a beautiful dice tower that you can use for other games as well.
The most important thing I need to talk about is bird charts. Not only are they well crafted and easy to read, but there are 170 unique illustrations, one for each card. This is one of the most impressive sets of cards I have ever seen in a board game, as each illustration looks like from an encyclopedia.
I don’t remember the last time I opened a board game and was excited about the components. I couldn’t criticize anything, and if I really had to get stuck, I could say the wooden cubes would be a little better, but that’s only because everything else is made to such a high standard.
How to play Wingspan
Wing Range is a fairly simple game of building engines . The play can be summed up as a cycle of collecting food tokens, laying eggs, and expanding the bird collection. Everything you do during the game will contribute to your end result. Now let’s start with the setup and go through the elements of the gameplay.
Game setup
Game setup includes standard shuffling of cards and positioning of various chips. In this part, you will follow the rules, but everything is quick and easy.
It is important that the player starts with 5 bird cards and 5 food tokens. For each bird you want to keep, you need to discard one token of food. Choose one of the two randomly dealt bonus cards and discard the other. Each player also receives a play mat and 8 action cubes of their color.
Round breakdown
The game is played in four rounds with a randomly selected first player. In the first round, everyone can perform 8 actions. The number of actions is reduced by one after each round, with the last round consisting of 5 turns per player.
When turning
Players can perform one of four actions on their turn. Once the game starts, you will be limited in the actions you can perform, but the possibilities will expand during engine construction.
- Play Bird - You pay for eggs and food and consider its habitat. Place the bird in the leftmost available position in the appropriate habitat. You have the option to activate the power of the bird "while playing".
- Get food and activate the power of forest birds - Food is needed to pay for bird cards. The types of food you can get are determined by the dice icons in the bird feeder. You have the option to activate the brown powers of forest birds, from right to left.
- Lay eggs and activate the power of bird grass - Eggs are an important part of getting new birds and contribute to your end result at the end of the game.
By performing the egg-laying process, you get egg chips in the amount specified in the far left available slot in the egg-laying queue. Activate the brown powers of meadow birds if you so choose.
- Draw bird cards and activate the power of the bird wetlands - There should always be 3 cards face up on top of the bird tray. To draw a card, place the action cube in the provided slot on the carpet, draw the cards, and then play all the brown powers of the wetland birds as desired.
Bird power
There are three types of bird power:
- When activated (brown) - triggers from right to left.
- Once Between Turns (pink) - Triggered during an opponent's turn.
- When playing (no color) - Triggers during playback.
Birds have different powers, which are described in detail in the appendix. They are an important part of the engine, so choose your birds carefully to maximize their productivity .
Scoring and end of the game
After each round, remove any action dice you have placed, discard the cards face up on the bird tray, and move the first player's chip clockwise. One goal board is competitive and the other allows each player to score points at their own pace.
The game ends when the scoring in the fourth round is over. Add up the points for each bird played and the bonus card, the hits at the end of the round and the remaining funds. The player with the most points wins, if there is a draw, the one with the most food wins.
Your first Wingspan game
Every Wingspan match is different, but your first will be the most challenging. The rules are quite simple, but they are unnecessarily complicated in the rules. If you play with someone who has already learned them, they will be able to explain the rules more clearly and quickly.
I can’t cover much in explaining the rules, such as the specifics of habitats and the power of birds. But I can give you some tips that will make a lot of sense when you start playing.
Depending on the goals and bonuses, choose the primary and secondary habitat, but do not consider the third. You want to focus on maximizing the value of one or two locations, instead of dividing your efforts into all three.
Some birds have a special “activated” ability to drop a bird card under it and gain bonuses. You won’t be able to take full advantage of this mechanic during the first game, but remember that you won’t be surprised when others pull that move.
It’s not bad to avoid pink cards in the first game. They’ll all seem like a carefree game, but as soon as you put them down, expect other games to run around your card so you get minimal benefits from it. However, if your pink card involves an opponent’s action, then they need to take it, then it’s okay if you play it early and get as many benefits as possible.
As with any scoring game, the final round is crucial. Throughout the game, try to pull out some birds with big nests so you can collect a lot of eggs in the last round and turn them into dots! Discover bonus targets and play high value birds that would have been a burden in previous rounds.
Advantages disadvantages
Advantages:
- Brilliant theme
- Easy teaching
- Rank well with multiplayer
Were it not for the theme and Stonemaier’s name, Wingspan would have had a hard time reaching a grip on the board game scene. However, the Stonemaier brand also brings a dose of expectations, and Wingspan more than meets them.
I’m not a person who deals too much with the topic, but I can definitely appreciate it if it’s well done. The wingspan is one of the best examples of how a theme should be related to play. It’s all about the birds, from the cards to the eggs and feeding the birds. I can’t praise the artwork enough, both for its quality and its uniqueness.
Wingspan isn’t a very complicated game - there are four actions, do one, and then have some time to think about your next move when the others do theirs. It’s pretty easy to learn if you’re taught by another player. We will touch on the policy in the policy.
From standalone mode to four players, Wingspan works great together to accommodate a variety of players. Five-player mode is useful, but game sessions can be unnecessarily long.
Weaknesses:
- Unclear rules
- Happiness in Draw
- Playing salad points
To the best of my ability, I have tried to give you a brief summary of the rules based on what is written in the policy to make it as compact as possible. However, it seems to me that I could have done a better job and that Elizabeth could have fared much better in writing the policy.
It feels like it was written by an expert, for professionals. Eliminating ambiguity is of little importance, as you should know in advance how a mechanic should work. If you’re the first person in your group to learn the rules, I highly recommend that you check out the YouTube guide and run the policy for reference only.
The next two points have more of an impact on how much you like your game, rather than a particular flaw in the mechanics. I wouldn’t label Wingspan a very competitive game, as there’s a lot of luck in drawing cards.
2.43 / 5 on the BGG complexity scale seems too high. The game isn’t as complicated as it seems, and the assessment is most likely related to how hard it is to learn and not master. The term salad dot is often used to describe games that give you points no matter what you do, and Wingspan fits the description.
TL; DR
Wingspan is a game worth trying if you’re looking for a fairly lightweight board game to make engines with a strong theme. It has some of the best components in its price range, and in addition to the rules, there are no flaws in the physical parts.
Playing is fun from start to finish, whether you’re playing alone or with a group. Overall, Wingspan meets the hype and expectations of Stonemaier!
Conclusion: a verdict?
I’m the type of actor who doesn’t attach much importance to the theme. It’s a nice selling point and will keep my attention for some more play, but sooner or later I don’t notice it completely and focus on playing.
It didn't go that way with Wingspan. Slight interest was needed as we began to memorize the appearance and names of bird species and learn more about them. In most games, the theme is just a mask to disguise the gameplay mechanics, but Wingspan holds the theme perfectly.
The only thing that keeps me from playing Wingspan more is his problems. It’s not exactly a casual game, but I still prefer something harder. I’ll still be happy to sit back and play Wingspan whenever I want, but that wouldn’t be my first choice.
Still, you should try Wingspan just because of its uniqueness and amazing theme. Elizabeth did a great job with the artwork, and the components of Stonemaier are top notch!
- For 1-5 players. Age 10+
- 40-70 minutes of play
- Competitive game of collecting birds, making engines
We hope you enjoyed our Wingspan review. Have you tried this award-winning board game ? Let us know in the comments below. We would love to hear from you!
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