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Wingspan is a competitive, medium-weight, card-driven, engine-building board game from Stonemaier Games. It's designed by Elizabeth Hargrave and features 180 birds illustrated by Natalia Rojas and Ana Maria Martinez. You are bird enthusiasts—researchers, bird watchers, ornithologists, and collectors—seeking to discover and attract the best birds to your network of wildlife preserves. Each bird extends a chain of powerful combinations in one of your habitats (actions). These habitats focus on several key aspects of growth: Gain food tokens via custom dice in a birdfeeder dice tower Lay eggs using egg miniatures in a variety of colors Draw from hundreds of unique bird cards and play them The winner is the player with the most points after 4 rounds. —description from the publisher From the 7th printing on, the base game box includes Wingspan: Swift-Start Promo Pack.
★ Our Take
If you've ever wanted to collect birds the way a patient naturalist might — slowly, deliberately, with an eye for synergy — Wingspan is your game. The engine-building is genuinely satisfying: by the third round, your tableau is doing things you barely planned, and somehow it feels earned. The artwork is stunning enough that people stop mid-game to admire the cards, which we consider a feature rather than a bug. Runs long if someone at the table is a spreadsheet thinker, but that's what the birdfeeder dice tower is for — just rattle it and move on.
★ SUPPORT LOCAL
Found your next favourite? Your local game store will love you for it — and they'll probably let you try it at the counter before you commit.
