WINGSPAN
Stonemaier Games - 2019
picture from BoardGameGeek.com
For the past few years I’ve been doing a lot of urban wildlife photography. Most my subjects are pigeons, since there are so many in NYC. As I photographed them I began thinking that they’re a pretty underrated bird. Many people call them “rats of the sky” but I think that’s a little unfair. Yes, they poop on stuff, but humans have done much worse in this city than poop on stuff. I’ve also seen with my own eyes humans pooping on stuff in the city too. I gotta say, seeing something that’s been pooped on by a human is much worse than something that’s been pooped on by a pigeon. Other than pooping on stuff, what’s so bad about pigeons? They are actually secret custodians of the city. I read an article a while back that they use cigarette butts to keep parasites out of their nest. With so many people just throwing butts in the street, it’s nice of these birds to clean it up and put them to use. Also, did you know that pigeons are doves? Everyone loves doves, right? So maybe show the pigeon a little respect from now on, OK? Whew, went on a tangent there but I’m done standing up for pigeons for now. I’ve photographed a lot of common birds in the city and I’ve also photographed some hawks as well. But the pigeons started it all and got me thinking more about birds and reading about their behaviors. Then along came Wingspan.
When I learned about Wingspan I hadn’t bought a new board game in a long time. I had pretty much run out of shelf space and I wasn’t playing the games I owned enough to warrant buying something new. There were plenty of games I wanted, to be sure, but I used substantial self restraint to stop myself from buying them. Just looking at the box art from Wingspan was enough to get me interested. It is absolutely gorgeous box art, arguably the best I’ve seen. Then looking at the components for the game, the beauty continues. There are hundreds of bird cards, all with these amazing watercolor images. The player boards are vibrant with pictographic information. There are dozens of pastel colored little eggs and a bird house dice tower. It was clear they spared no expense on the components. Without knowing anything more about the game I went to buy it. Lo and behold, it wasn’t even out yet. This is the first time I’ve caught a game I was hyped about before it was even released. A few days later, they opened up limited pre-orders and I ordered my copy. Now, I just had to wait.
The day it showed up it was like Christmas. I busted open the box and marveled at the box art even more gorgeous in person. Cracking it open, I was met with the beautiful components. The player boards, when folded, resemble a bird watcher’s field journal. Totally unnecessary detail, it could have just been cardboard and it would have been fine, but that’s what’s great about this game. There is detail all over the place, detail you wouldn’t have expected but they still included. Somehow, this game isn’t $90, I don’t know how they are making money on it. The rule book is a sort of textured almost fabric-like paper. For once I was actually happy to hold a rule book in my hand and read through the whole thing. The rules can be a little confusing for new players, but the rule book is so clean and accurate that it will take only a round or two of playing for it all to click.
The game is all about creating a diverse and thriving bird conservation area. There are 3 habitats for your birds to live in - the forest, the plains, and the water. Each bird card has their preferred habitat listed in the corner along with their preferred food source. Also listed is a nest type, number of eggs their nest can hold, an ability they possess, and an endgame point value. On your turn, you spend an action cube. There are 4 zones on your player board in which you can play your action cube. Along the top, you can place action cube on a space to add a bird to your refuge. This bird must come from your hand of cards and you must spend the required eggs and food to add that bird to the habitat. If you place your action cube in the forest habitat you can select food from the bird feeder to add to your resources. If you place your action cube in the plains habitat you collect some eggs to place in any of your bird’s nests if space is available. Finally, if you place your action cube in the water habitat you can draw new bird cards to your hand. Once you perform the action on which your cube is placed, your cube moves one space to the left in that habitat. If your cube lands on a bird, and that bird has a power with a brown background, you can activate that bird’s power. Some powers allow you to get more food, get more eggs, get more bird cards, or perform predatory actions like hunting for other birds or food. Once that bird performs its action, your cube moves to the left again, activating more birds as it goes until it reaches the end of your board. Then your turn is over and the next player takes their turn placing an action cube and activating powers as it moves to the edge of their board.
This sort of game is often referred to as an “engine building game.” The idea is that your birds can form a sort of synergy between them so when they are activated in succession they empower each other. One bird power might be to lay eggs in another bird’s nest. The next bird in your turn could have the power where if an egg was placed in its nest that turn then maybe you draw another bird card. Some birds have abilities that activate on other people’s turns. I’ve spoken a lot about keeping players focused on the game and paying attention to other people’s turns and these abilities are absolutely crucial to the game. Without them, the game is basically solitaire with friends. There are no actions in the base game which will have direct effect on other player’s boards. You can’t send your birds to attack, you can’t steal eggs, you can’t do much to interact with other players. And yet, this is one game I’ve never really had an issue with people losing focus. Part of it is because the art is just so beautiful people can’t look away. When adding a new bird to a habitat, we also like to read aloud the factoid about the bird on the bottom of each card, which is always an attention grabbing moment.
The European Birds expansion actually addresses a bit of the issues I had with the base game. They added a new abilities which activates at the end of a round if certain criteria are met. There are only 4 rounds in a game, so these abilities are often extremely powerful. They also added some predatory action that can effect other people’s boards. When we first played with these cards some people were upset by the predatory action while others thought it was a great addition. There aren’t many cards that have direct effect on other player’s boards so they’re easy to omit from your own game. I’m on the fence about those cards because while I think it makes for an interesting game it may also take away from the joyfulness of the game. There’s no conflict in the game otherwise. The fact that we’re engaging in wildlife conservation is a joyful experience, sometimes the predatory action can have devastating effects on that joy.
Wingspan is a game that will almost always get played if I bring it to a game night with people who haven’t seen it, and it’s even more likely to be played with those who have already experienced it. Nobody can deny the fascination brought on by the box art. Once I tell them it’s a game about creating a bird refuge, they’re immediately curious enough to play. When I show them the bird house dice tower then it launches in to the must play category. Stonemaier Games absolutely smashed it when it came to designing the look of the game. I can’t think of many other games that generate that kind of appetite to play on look alone. Even people who don’t necessarily like board games want to play this game. My friend Christian doesn’t care at all for board games but she joined us for a round of Wingspan and not only loved it but also won her first game.
For me, playing this game isn’t about employing the best strategy and creating the tightest engine. I just want birds. I select the birds I like most and I try to get them in my refuge. That means getting the pigeon, or rock dove if you want to give them the respect they deserve. The ring billed gull, or seagull as it’s more commonly known. The house sparrow. The Canada goose. All the birds I’ve photographed here in NYC that get no respect from your average passer-by. The rats of the sky. The trash birds. The pests. The birds that will fight you. Those are my birds and they’re always welcome in my refuge.