Wingspan Board Game

Simon Hampel

Simon Hampel

Administrator
Staff member
20+ year member
Not exactly a zoo game - but still likely of interest to members here.

My father alerted me to this board game Wingspan

He's only just bought it and it is waiting at the post office for him to collect when he gets home from visiting us, so hasn't yet played it.

Wingspan is a competitive, medium-weight, card-driven, engine-building board game from Stonemaier Games.

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.​

If you are into birding and tabletop gaming - this looks worth investigating.

Anyone played it? Thoughts?

Will probably be after the new year before I get a chance to go and visit and play it with my dad.
 
I've heard of it, but every time I look on Amazon it's super expensive. I see it's $103 US on Amazon right now (with shipping), and that's the cheapest it's been for a while.
 
There's an online store my dad bought it from here in Australia for AU$89.95 (about US$63) - but I don't think they deliver internationally :(

You might need to shop around a bit.
 
The reason it’s so expensive is because it’s very new and a big hit in the boardgamecommunity and currently unavailable (in reprint).

So the few people who have it are asking rediculous prices. As soon as a new edition is available and especially when the game get’s a little older, the price will probably drop somewhat.

The game features north American birds, but other expansions are already planned

It’s on my “got to have” list...
 
I managed to pick up a copy a copy at a local game store a couple weeks ago for $60 US. This game is amazing and totally worth every penny.
 
I got lucky enough to find a new copy of this in a local shop which was considerably cheaper than the prices online. It really is brilliant, I only own a handful of boardgames but this really has to be up as one of my favorites, alongside Dominion.

I'm hoping a second printing run reduces the cost so more people can pick it up. But for those on the fence this really is a quality product. Everything is printed on high quality, textured stock, the illustrations are gorgeous, and a lot of work has gone into building the single player version of the game which is excellent.
 
We got this when it released last year and I bought my wife the expansion for Christmas. It's one of our favourite games and, while it might look a bit daunting to the uninitiated, we've managed to teach it to plenty of people without too much difficulty. The artwork for the birds is lovely and the quality of the pieces is very high.
 
I managed to grab a copy earlier in the year, and finally played it this week. Am loving it! Gameplay is elegant with clever mechanics, and excellent components. Have only played against the automata deck so far, but have found it wonderfully challenging! Am already eyeing up the Eurasian expansion, along with the upcoming Oceania expansion
 
A small café near where I live called 'Bad Moon' allows people to play a wide variety of games in pristine condition whilst having a cuppa, Wingspan included. Of course, I tried it out and loved it. I am thinking of getting it after this crisis is over, but probably the Oceania expansion - most colourful and interesting birds are down under after all! :)
 
Crowthorne said:
I managed to grab a copy earlier in the year, and finally played it this week. Am loving it! Gameplay is elegant with clever mechanics, and excellent components. Have only played against the automata deck so far, but have found it wonderfully challenging! Am already eyeing up the Eurasian expansion, along with the upcoming Oceania expansion
Click to expand...
Hadn't seen the Oceania announcement. Jamey Stegmaier usually does a runthrough of the new features. Do you know if he has for this one, yet?

For anyone still looking for this, if you are in or can buy from the UK, then Titan Games has six copies at £48 which isn't much more than it was when it came out. Best price is currently £38 elsewhere but it's out of stock.

Wingspan

For the US, the situation isn't so great. Seems to be out of stock everywhere, still. However, Walmart are taking preorders for an expected delivery of September this year. At $60, that might be a good option if you want it!
EDIT: I don't know why I didn't think to check the Stonemaier website, but you can preorder it at $60 from them for delivery in June. It is available now at $60 (US) for Canada, Europe and Australia if you order this way.
 
Last edited:
Ashley said:
Hadn't seen the Oceania announcement. Jamie Stegmaier usually does a runthrough of the new features. Do you know if he has for this one, yet?
Click to expand...

Looking at the chat on BGG, it wasn't due for release until later in 2020, so with everything that's going on it might not be till 2021 now. They only made the announcement so early to be able to make a donation towards the Australian wildfire efforts
 
Crowthorne said:
Looking at the chat on BGG, it wasn't due for release until later in 2020, so with everything that's going on it might not be till 2021 now. They only made the announcement so early to be able to make a donation towards the Australian wildfire efforts
Click to expand...

Ah right. I've had my eye off the ball for a while so missed this! Just signed up for the preorder reminder. Thanks for the heads up.
 
I have bought this game and the expansion recently. Great game, although playtime is a bit longish. The ravens are way overpowered though, so I took them out.

Still, pretty and addictive.
 
I'm very excited for the Steam version of this to come out as well, looks fantastic! Also means I'll still be able to play with our group with the current restrictions.

Wingspan on Steam
 
Dormitator said:
I'm very excited for the Steam version of this to come out as well, looks fantastic! Also means I'll still be able to play with our group with the current restrictions.

Wingspan on Steam
Click to expand...

Oooh yes! I forgot about this! Might be good for digital games night. I believe it is coming to the Switch, too, if that's anybody's preferred cup of tea.
 
The Oceania expansion is also available now. From what I've heard it really improves gameplay (not that it needed improving!)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top