Wingspan: Review

Wingspan: Review

Information:

Mechanics: Engine Builder, Hand Management, Drafting, Dice Rolling Set Collection
Player Age: 10+ 

Player Count: 1 - 5 Players

Time to Play: 40 - 70 Minutes 
Game Designer: Elizabeth Hargrave

Game Artist: Ana Maria Martinez Jaramillo, Natalia Rojas, Beth Sobel

Publisher: Stonemaier Games

Year Published: 2019

BGG Weight: 2.39

Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the publisher.

Objective:

You are a bird enthusiast who is discovering and attracting birds to your network of wildlife preserves. Gain the most points through goals, eggs, birds and many other exciting means. By the end of the game prove you are the most alert and knowledgeable bird enthusiast.

Game Anatomy:

Birds:

Each bird in the game is unique. On each bird card there will be: a name found across the top; the habitat they can be played on and the resource cost in the top left corner; end game victory points, type of nest and maximum amount of eggs that can be placed on this bird down the left side; and the bird ability at the bottom of the card.

The abilities have a coloured background according to when they are activated. A white background will activate when played, a brown background activates when the habitat is activated, and a pink background that activates once between the owners turns. All other text on the card will show the geography, size and fun facts for that bird. Mostly, these are just cosmetic.

Player Board and Action Cubes:

The player will choose what actions they will take each turn by using the action cubes shown below. The round will end once every player has used their action cubes in the round.

Each player will receive a board that depicts the four actions within the game. Of these actions a player will choose to perform one a turn. Included on the board are the three habitats: forest (gain resources), grasslands (lay eggs) and wetlands (draw cards). Each habitat has five positions available to play a bird. The fourth action, found at the top left of the board, is the action of playing a bird.

Goal Board and Goals:

There is a small double-sided goal board that will be used in every game and adds to end game scoring. The goal board is two-sided and both sides have spaces that will hold a total of four goals.

These goals are randomly selected at the start of the game. Beside each goal are four positions where players will place their action cube. One side will give players points equal to how many times each player has met the goal during the round (maximum 5 points). The other side is a much more competitive scene. The player to meet the objective the most at the end of the round will score the most points (the position closest to the goal tile). The next player to have scored the second most amount will be placed in the second position for less points, and so on.

Food:

There are five foods that the birds eat: rodents, fish, invertebrates, seeds and fruit. These are the resources which are used to pay for bird cards.

Dice and Dice Tower:

With these dice, players will gain food in order to play cards. To use the dice, player’s must use the ‘gain resources’ action by activating the forest habitat. Each die has all five foods (one per face), as well as one face with a combination of the resources where the player will choose one of the two resources to collect.

If at any point when a player goes to use the dice in the dice tower and there are only dice with the same face (includes one single die), that player can reroll all the dice and then continue with the choice.

Eggs:

Eggs will score one point at the end of the game for each one on a placed bird. One of the most important uses for the eggs is during bird placement later in the game as after the first bird on each habitat the cost to play birds will now increase by eggs shown on the top of each player board. The different egg colours have no function in the game, this is just a fun aesthetic and helps the game to stand out more.

Bonus Cards:

Bonus cards (jobs) give the players alternate methods to score that is hidden from opponents until the end of the game. Before the game, each player will choose one out of two job cards to keep. During the game, some birds have ‘when played’ abilities that help the players gain more bonus cards.

Setup:

Game Setup:

- Shuffle the bird cards and deal three face up on the bird tray included.
- Place the food and egg tokens within reach of all players.
- Roll the food dice into the dice tower.
- Shuffle the bonus cards and place to the side.
- Select what side of the goal board you are using for the game then place four goal tiles on the board randomly from the goal tiles available.

Individual Setup:

- Each player receives:
    • One player mat
    • Five random bird cards
    • One of each food type
    • Two bonus cards
    • Eight action cubes of one colour
- Each player can keep up to five bird cards, the catch is that for each bird card they keep they must discard a food token. So be careful in this decision and try to keep food that will let you play one or more kept birds straight away (you can have five food tokens and no bird cards).
- Choose one of the bonus cards to keep and discard the other.
- Randomly determine the first player and give that player the first player token.

How to Play:

Each player starts the game with 8 coloured cubes. Each turn a player will use one cube to be placed on the action of their choice (taking turns by playing a cube). If playing on a habitat, the cube goes to the leftmost uncovered place. So if a habitat contains one bird in the first of the five positions then the cube is placed in the second position and collection begins from here and is moved down through the line to activate any card abilities until the cube reaches the end of that habitat. In some open spaces the player can spend  extra food, cards or eggs to gain one more of the resource that the habitat allows. The cube will remain to the left of the board where the actions are named to show how many turns have been performed in the round.

When playing a bird the active player will place their action marker at the top of the player mat and select a bird from their hand. The player will place this bird in the leftmost vacant spot on one of the respective habitats the bird can be placed in. They will then have to pay the food (two of any type of food can be used as one wild food type) and egg cost (after the first column in each habitat one or two eggs have to be paid when placing birds as shown at the top of each column).

The round will end once everyone has used all of their cubes. At the end of the round, everyone will place one coloured cube on the goal board. This now remains here until the end of the game, lessening the amount of turns that will be in the next round. There are four rounds in each game and all players will end the game with only four cubes.

Game end and scoring:

Following the four completed rounds, the player with the most points will be the winner. These points are determined using several criteria:
- The total points combined of all played birds
- Each egg or food on a played bird
- Each tucked card under a played bird
- Any points gained from the round goals
- Points based on each score card (job)

Final Thoughts:

Pros:
- Each bird is unique
- The turns are simple to explain but challenging to optimise.
- The engine you build for each habitat gives each player an abundance of options but doesn't leave the player over analysing, keeping the game at a fast pace.

Cons:
- The decision at the start of the game can leave new players over analysing or confused about what to choose.

'Wingspan' is an amazing gateway game of resource management and engine building. From the beginning, the component quality stands out as the egg tokens and dice tower really draws players in. Game play wise, it brings a game with tons of replay-ability and intriguing decisions into a game with easy rules and quick turns that will help newer gamers stay engaged. This earns a Go-To Golden Game Seal as this is the kind of game that could introduce new or curious gamers into more complex games with simple rules.

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