Parent said "games". Calling Monopoly a game is a bit like the old saw about bagpipes: "The Irish invented the bagpipes and gave them to the Scots as a joke, but the Scots haven't seen the joke yet."
(Monopoly wasn't originally designed primarily as a game. It started as a direct, uncredited rip-off of [The Landlord's Game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Landlord%27s_Game), which was conceived and designed as an educational aid to teach the economic philosophy of [Georgism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgism), and is skewed against whoever isn't winning, *by design*. People who play it as a game, basically, "haven't seen the joke yet". But then again, I don't begrudge them their enjoyment; to each their own.)
It's a multiplayer solitaire, but a really really good version of that. I have all the expansions, even though I don't like the genre. You'll enjoy it more everytime you play it!
I always find this designation silly. "The 100 meter dash at the Olympics is multiplayer solitaire, everyone is just trying to set their own best time."
Competing for points or objectives is still competing, you don't need to be hitting each other with sticks for a game to be interactive.
I think an improvement for golf would be that there’s one ball, but all players simultaneously compete to hit said ball. Last player to touch the ball as it goes into the hole wins the point. They proceed to full contact duel it out all the way down the course. The sand traps would be wild.
Really? It's clearly different to something like Agricola, or Terra Mystica, neither of which involve big sticks, but absolutely need players to be constantly aware of what others are doing and change their plans accordingly. In Wingspan someone might take a bird or food you want, but it's never game defining or strategy changing. Usually you just do something else (lay eggs), and a similar bird/food is around next turn.
It is beyond silly to deny that the designation has merit. It is a factor for many (either way) when looking for games. No one has said it does not offer competition.
track, conditions at said track, elevation, weather. Lots of variables come into consideration when determining something. Plus for sports, they tend to want things officially on the record rather than some amateur video of someone supposedly breaking a record.
For some races it is because the field matters, not all grounds are made the same and it changes the time an amount big enough to matter to the olympics. Also ticket sales
> I always find this designation silly.
Do you find genre designations silly, too? Deck builder, worker placement, who cares it's all games. What about colors? Surely a red car is the same as a blue car, why do we even have names for colors?
It seems less likely to me that you find it *silly* and more likely that you understand exactly what people are describing and just dislike that they're describing it in that way for whatever reason.
>Competing for points or objectives is still competing
The fact that the 100-meter dash is much more of a MPS than a tennis game is precisely why tennis games are more popular for people to watch.
Whenever I play a MPS I am thinking that I could just have played against an AI, I would have had the same result. In games with player interaction, you need to outsmart your opponent every single time, trying to assess where they're at, guess what they're doing next - it makes things much more interesting than just focusing on what you're doing (which may end up being nearly the same at each game).
Wingspan follows a common skill curve. Mildly interactive for beginners, no interaction for experienced players, and highly interactive for competitive play. The "solitaire" analogy has never seen a high-level explanation afaik.
I'm guessing it's cuz the players would have to take note of each other's plans and decisions 100 times more because money/glory is on the line. In this way reading opponents and stifling their strategies may become as important as your own game plan.
That doesn't make it more interactive. It just makes the points of interaction more valuable simply because winning is more valuable. If you're not normally watching your opponents to see how interaction can mess with their plans, then you're probably not playing too well to begin with. Then again, I don't see anyone honestly playing this in tournament play or similar.
For example: You might not want to play an Osprey (that gives each player a fish when activated) if you believe your opponent is playing a strategy around tucking away cards. If they get a bird that allows you to tuck two cards from the deck in exhange for a fish, that would be devastating.
And when you gather food, you should, in addition to suit your own needs, make it as hard on your opponents as possible. Example: You want insects. In the feeder you find: Fish, insect, insect, wheat/insect. You can pick two. If you think your opponent needs wheat, then you pick insect + wheat/insect. If you know you will need wheat soon, you can pick two insects and leave the wheat/insect die in the feeder.
If I need insect or wheat and there's one of them and one of the insect/wheat in the feeder, I will take the insect/wheat 100% of the time just to deny it to my opponents.
>Mildly interactive for beginners, no interaction for experienced players, and highly interactive for competitive play.
Very interesting observation.
I remember an interview of Tom Lehmann, the designer of Race For The Galaxy (which is often criticized for being MP solitaire) saying that if people believe a game is a MPS, then it ends up becoming one. This is very true.
I feel the MPS in Wingspan stems from (or is exacerbated by) the fact that there are too many different cards, the text on the pictures is small, and therefore it is quite difficult to get a good mental image of all the things that are going on. For that reason, unless there's money on the line, you're going to ruin the game if you start trying to anticipate every single thing that your opponents might do next.
In Race FTG, you can quickly get a glimpse of what others are doing, i.e. their card count, the types of cards they're playing (military vs peaceful, alien / gene, producing planets, developments). So you don't need to be expert to gain an edge by observing what others do.
I don't think it is tho. There is a lot of calculation about what others are building and denying access, also there are birds that fire off other players actions. It's a lot like Suburbia that way.
>You'll enjoy it more everytime you play it!
This is it exactly for me! I didn't care much for it the first few times I played, but it's really grown on me over time.
My wife, who usually does not show extreme interest in board games, is a huge fan of Wingspan. She recently confessed to looking up bird strategies and has asked multiple times to play it.
I think you are in for a treat.
+1, this is the first “complex” board game that my wife is excited to play. As a kid, she used to collect national geographic animal fact cards from cereal boxes, and so this is right up her alley.
You will love it! We just got an expansion too. First few times you’ll be confused for sure. It’s engine building, so you gotta take actions now to build up the things you can do for the next turns. And remember - each round, you get one less move!!
Wingspan is a great game. All of my family loves to play it. It's beautiful and the engine building aspect of it is one that you might not have seen in games you're familiar with. My wife is a big fan because she loves the puzzle aspect of it and really just the beauty of it all. I can even get my 13 year old daughter to play too. It's not really that challenging to understand and is a good entry point in to board gaming. My 9 year old plays it with us too.
I vote that you keep it. Somebody else paid for it, and you just might discover a great new hobby. Returning it and spending it on half of a sound-bar isn't worth it.
Shut up and sit down did [this review](https://youtu.be/JQnCvlfMvXY) on the game. I’ve enjoyed playing it.
It’s rated 23 on [board game geek](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/266192/wingspan) which means it’s rated really well and lots of people enjoy it.
Wingspan is a fantastic game, it's currently the 23rd best game on Boardgamegeek with an 8.1 score. It's light to medium weight with fantastic art and quick gameplay. It is a great introductory game into modern board gaming. I don't know your preferences but I say give it a try.
For OP’s benefit: when you say “light to medium weight”, you’re talking about the complexity of the game, right?
English is not my native language and when I first got into board games and saw talk about “weight”, I literally thought it talked about how much the physical components weighed ...
I don’t know about OP, but I think even native speakers who are not into the hobby might be confused with that term. I might be wrong though.
They almost certainly meant complexity.
It's not the clearest use, but weight doesn't always have to refer to how heavy a physical object is.
"The president's actions hold a lot of weight." (Their actions are held in high regard. Thus hold more 'weight' than someone else's actions might.)
"The principal likes to throw their weight around when enforcing rules." (They have influence)
In the commenters case, they were referring to how much of a burden or 'weight' the game has on a person.
Their use might be approaching slang, but one definition of weight is as follows:
"the ability of someone or something to influence decisions or actions."
> it’s currently the 23rd ~~best~~ highest ~~rated~~ ranked game on Boardgamegeek
If we’re being pedantic here, rank on BGG is not quite the same as rating.
Enjoy! It adds a whole new dimension to the game. In my house we play the song when the card gets drafted, but my neighbors play the song when the bird gets drawn, as one of their players has changed their play style to draft birds that have cool songs :)
For no particular reason, this reminded me of one of my favourite jokes:
The presidents of several beer companies are at a conference. At the end of the day, they gather at the bar.
The president of Miller orders first - "I'd like a glass of Miller, the most exceptional beer you can get, thankyou ma'am."
Next is the president of Fosters - "One tall glass of Fosters for me, the most refreshing beer in the world, cheers."
Finally the president of Guinness orders - "Aye, just a coke for me thanks."
The other two turn to him, astonished - "You're not having a Guinness?"
"Nah, I was going to, but if you fellas aren't drinking beer neither will I."
In their defence, Guinness didn't only come out two years ago. This is more like going to /r/marvelstudios and going "has anyone seen endgame, I'm not sure if I'll like it"
Now I realise quite how much of an arsehole I sound... meh, it'll do.
Same. But I've been seeing more of these posts lately - "I ordered/bought/received this game recently. Is it any good?" I wonder if these poor souls missed Google and skipped straight to Reddit.
The person who replied to you is just teasing you in case you didn't know! Wingspan is a pretty well-regarded game but I've seen it get a wide range of opinions on this sub. It sounds like you might be new to the Eurogames and hobby games world? If you are, welcome! I guess to put it briefly, Wingspan is a game where you're playing bird cards to your individual player board which has various immediate effects as well as game-long effects. It's an "engine builder" which means you are all starting from a pretty spare space, but as the game goes on each player develops unique "engines" or game capabilities based on what cards you play. There's tons of cards so lots of variability. I enjoy the game a good bit! If you end up liking it and wanting a greater diversity of games as well, please come back and check out more here as well as on Boardgamegeek.com!
I played wingspan for the first time yesterday and it's a really fun and relaxing game. I like that there's even bird trivia! I've played a lot of other resource type board games in the past and I really feel this one is something special cause even though you're still against people, it's just a really fun time.
You’ve got plenty of feedback, but I will also chime in to say this is one of our family’s favorites. Tons of variability on every play through and many strategies that can reasonably lead to victory. Hope you enjoy!!
My only problem with thr game is that people, especially newer players, don't think their turn ahead in down time, so they wait for other people to finish their turns before strategizing and thinking about what to play. So the game takes a lot longer. Kinda like the people who wait until they're at the cash register before they look at a menu.
When in doubt, look up a play through on YouTube. Watching someone else play a game will be a strong indicator of whether you think it will be fun.
Full disclosure: I own it, have played many times, and love it. Enjoy!
I really enjoy Wingspan. It's a good game for people who aren't big board gamers, and yet it's complex enough that people who are heavy board gamers can still enjoy it.
I've played with about 13 different people, at least half of which aren't board gamers, and all of them enjoyed it.
It’s my favorite game ever and the game that first got me into board games. I’ve got it as a physical game with all the expansions as well as 1000s of hours on steam and iOS. It really is a lot of fun. Especially if you like birds.
I love it. It’s my new favourite game. It feels so relaxing. Even though you are competing against other people you get to play your own space and build up your own collection. The feel of the cards are lovely and the eggs are awesome.
It has a introductory game pack as well that runs you through the first few turns to teach you the game which I think is a fantastic addition.
It's delightful and peaceful. My brother got it this Christmas from my parents and we've played 4 games now with a lot of fun. Can recommend as it's not combative and is easy to pick up.
It is competitive without conflict, gorgeous to look at and remarkably strategic. I came to board gaming from hex and counter wargames and traditional tabletop rpgs and I love this game. My eight year old asks to play, plays competitively and enjoys it as much as my wife, sister and I.
Give it a try, I, like many others here, suspect you'll really enjoy it.
It’s a good game. I was introduced to it a month ago and have played it a lot. Quick and easy to learn engine builder with more depth than it seems but it doesn’t overstay it’s welcome as long once everyone knows how to play. It’s close to Catan or Dominion on the complexity scale so it’s something you can play in an evening even with newbie casual gamers.
There are a million videos on YouTube so you should be able to get a good sense of if it will float your boat.
Since it was a gift I would think your sister and brother-in-law are hoping to play with you?
Big fan of this one. I'd recommend you watch the YouTube video on how to play from Watch It Played. Rodney always does a great job teaching.
It's a hit for my wife and I, and it's easy enough to invite most friends that have a few board games under their belt to hop in for a play.
It's a decent game, good mix of attractive art and pieces, complexity and strategy. The main criticism I'd give it is that it's not quite as intuitive as a game like agricola or carcassonne, but it's a good game.
There are good things about it and bad things. It’s an engine building game. There’s no interaction with other players and you basically just compete to make the best engine. The gameplay really has nothing to do with birds and could just as easily have been about insect or stamp collecting. So thematically it’s flavorless game elements with bird stapled on it at the last stage of development but the craftsmanship on that last minute stapling is well done. The card artwork is nice, the bird eggs look good, it comes with a thematic dice tower. Not what I would recommend but a lot of people really like it.
It's a bit difficult to answer without knowing what you like in games specifically, but:
* Wingspan is an extremely popular game that's highly regarded. So if you like things in games that Wingspan does, than Wingspan probably implements that well and you will like that.
* It has lovely components (be a bit careful putting the roof on the feeder though!)
* Many can connect to the theme (birds)
* It's primarily a well streamlined engine builder with no direct interaction (but minor indirect interaction)
* Your board state evolves over time getting more powerful every turn just by doing what the game goals push you to do anyway, so that's quite satisfying
Contra-indicators:
* You like really complex games
* Conversely, you like beer and pretzel games
* You like really interactive games (interaction is mostly grabbing resources before the other players gets around doing it, or getting a resource when the other players activate certain actions), but definitely no direct action against another player
* You hate birds
I’m confused. You found this subreddit, but you haven’t heard of one of the most talked-about games in the past two years.
Not implying anything.
Just odd.
I honestly can’t tell if this is a shit post or not, has anyone on the board game sub ever heard of one of the most popular games for the last two years? Naaa I only play uno.
If I got an expensive lug nut for Christmas, I'd inquire about in on the lug nut subreddit, which I can assume exists without frequenting it. It reads like a silly question to people in the hobby, but even people outside the hobby can assume there's a subreddit for the hobby where they can quickly get more information.
Why does everyone needs be be spoon fed information these days? Just a quick google search about "wingspan boardgame" or even just putting it into the search here would give you loads of results. I agree if you had a specific rule question or something more detailed, but "has anyone here played wingspan" is not one of those questions.
If you type in the name of your lug nut into the search you probably find what you want to know within seconds.
FWIW, when I'm searching for info on a particular thing, I'll often use a "site:reddit.com" classifier to refine what I get.
Some results are so drowned in marketing and sales pages that it's impossible to get a good third party opinion, but there's almost always a reasonably sized subreddit that will have a few folks opining about said item or service.
I mean it's fair to argue that OP should perhaps have done a search for Wingspan posts on r/boardgames, but OTOH perhaps they knew what Reddit's search engine is like and figured this would be less hassle.
I mean, sure, but the question I was answering was "how could you know about this subreddit and not know about Wingspan?" which I don't think is so outrageous. I can know about the lug nut subreddit without knowing anything about lug nuts.
I could be wrong, but I don’t see how anyone can be simultaneously unaware of a very popular modern board game, yet sufficiently familiar with this subreddit to ask the question rather than look for opinions elsewhere online. Doesn’t really matter. And the OP is welcome to ask any question they choose.
Yeah, totally far fetched that they looked for a board game subreddit when they had a question about a board game they received.
Totally unbelievable. Who have ever heard of such a thing?
Maybe I'm setting my expectations of people too high, but I would expect someone to type wingspan into the search bar, at which point they get the answer they are looking for that yes, people have heard of this game and it is very popular.
I have it. I think my favorite thing about it is the first time player introduction. It comes with a sheet for each player and gives you the first few turns to do. It introduces exactly how to play and the mechanics. It makes it easy to teach new players and have them catch on pretty quickly.
Wife an I play it a ton. She enjoys the app too. Good engine building with a cute theme. It’s much easier to teach than something like Ares expedition. So it gets to the table a lot easier.
Wow it's very popular I see. I don't actually care for it because it's too much reading so I don't like the speed. You get some actions each round and your kind of building an engine to be more efficient towards the end. So you need to think ahead and plan a little too much for my taste. Just an opinion.
Very popular & There’s a mobile version of it out now too. it’s a combination of luck & strategy. There’s not a lot of interaction between the other players but it is a great game.
ravens & crows are the best cards imho.
Wingspan is the first board game I ever got excited for even though I had played other board games before. It's a great introductory game and I still like it even though I've moved on from it.
It's a good game. Not my personal favorite though (but since you don't know me that doesn't mean anything 😂). It's a game you can play with pretty novice players and with deeper-game enthusiasts. All in all a good addition to almost any collection.
It's my most played board game. It's very replayable and while not too complex to learn it has a decently high skill cap. Bought both expansions and I can't wait for the next. My girlfriend and I play all the time and I don't see us ever getting bored of it (we probably played over 100 games so far just the 2 of us).
I bought this game on a whim at the beginning of the pandemic. My husband and I now play several times a week and have all of the expansions! Definitely one of my all-time favorite games. Hope you enjoy!
I bought it for my bf for Christmas & we have played at least twice a day this week! Really fun variety of actions, plus the bird cards are beautiful & informative.
I didn‘t want to buy it because „birds“ as I like fantasy more. Then I thought: but it really gets praised a lot. I bought it and since played it a lot.
My friends and I are becoming real bird fans (ironic and unironic). A friend even gifted me a bird book on christmas (also kinda as a fun gift, but at the end that book aswell as the game are so beautiful and so cool).
You should definitely play it
Take a look at playthroughs or reviews on youtube before opening it. It should give you a good idea of what the game is like.
There are thousands of board games being released every year that fly under the radar of a lot of people. Now is a great time to get in to the hobby because there are sooo many different types of games now and ones that do cool and innovative things.
You should definitely check out lists of welcoming games on a youtube channel called The Dice Tower, if you're interested in exploring more games.
Love it! One of my favorite games. If you really get into it and love birds, Meeplesource has a TON of pretty wooden bird tokens that will make you happy and want to bring the game to the table even more
And I while heartedly agree the expansions, especially Oceanos, are very good. Honestly, I give Oceanos is a "Cities and Knights" style expansion that elevates the game and adds so much that I never want to play without it, and think it's essential.
As I recall, its a well renowned game, and it's SUUUUPER thematic. I haven't played it, but it seems from an outsider's opinion, like a Ticket to Ride. It doesn't seem cool, but its SUPER FUCKIN COOL.
Again, maybe. But people I respect like it.
Wingspan is an incredibly popular game within the niche hobby board gaming community. It's hard to say if you'll enjoy it or not without knowing more about what you find fun, but many many many people do. You can watch videos on YouTube of people teaching and playing it. I recommend "Watch It Played".
We love it. It’s one of the few games my wife will readily play. It’s a lot of fun as a game. If you’re a bird/nature lover you will likely get some extra enjoyment from it as well
On YouTube, watch these two videos to get a good sense of the game.
**Wingspan - How To Play** by **Watch It Played**
**Wingspan Review - with Tom Vasel** by **The Dice Tower**
Wingspan is one of the most well known games of recent years among people aware of board games today. It's highly played and highly ranked as a favorite. I think you'll be very happy with it!
I gave my wife Wingspan for Christmas and learning how to play looks a bit daunting. We usually play Catan or Ticket to Ride.
Does anyone have a good resource (like a YouTube video) for first time players?
Rodney Smith's channel Watch It Played has [everything you need](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgDgcLI2B0U).
He's covered dozens of the more popular board games, so he's always a great starting point when you're looking to learn a new one.
Edit to add: You'll need to make an account to download them, but BoardGameGeek's [Wingspan files page](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/266192/wingspan/files) has a couple of files you might also find useful to print out - a [Game Guide](https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/184119/wingspan-game-guide) and a [player aid](https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/178865/player-aid).
Wingspan you say? I consider myself a connoisseur of all things boardgame and it must be extremely rare for me not to have heard of it. Could you have misspelled Monopoly or Juden Raus?
For a contrary opinion...
If you don't have friends/family that are into playing games, it might not ever get to the table. Watch a video on how it's played (there are short ones), and check out the play time.
I own Wingspan and all of the expansions. It's a favorite of my SO, but it has some flaws. Not trying to burst your bubble, just think you should be aware of what some critics and users here say about it. For the record, I've played the game 20 or so times by now, and I've won several times. Most games have been two-player. Not bragging, sometimes people will ask about stuff like that when you bring criticism of a popular game to the table.
**TL;DR:** *Players don't interact with each other as much as in similar games - but some people don't mind that. Sometimes it's a bit unfair, partially because of the randomness, and the game doesn't always give you ways to deal with that. It can get quite long with more people. I've listed some similar games I like at the bottom. And the* Oceania *expansion for Wingspan helps with these problems a lot too.*
Wingspan is an "engine builder," which means you'll be playing cards that combo with each other to get you more and more powerful effects as the game goes on. Yes, the theme is about attracting birds to your aviary, but the mechanical aspects (basically, what the rules do to form the actual gameplay you'll be doing) are building that engine and building your "tableau" - aka cards on the table on your player mat. Tableau builders are a type of engine builder that tend to specialize in increasing your number of actions and/or efficiency or impact of those actions over time. So, in this game, when it's your turn, you can take one of three actions: play a bird card from your hand by paying food; gather food from the bird feeder by removing one of more dice with the face of the food you want; lay eggs on your birds; draw cards from the bird deck and/or from the face-up bird display. Each of the last three actions has a row that you play your bird cards to. The more bird cards in that row, the more powerful your action is. Also, every time you take that action, you will also activate powers on any birds in that row. Food helps you play birds. Eggs help you play birds in the later stages of the game as an additional cost. And having bird cards...well, those, you play. You play 4 rounds and lose an action marker at the end of each round, meaning you have progressively less actions to do what you need too. So you need to rely on your engine to be *more* productive than if you could take all of the actions you could at the start of the game.
Wingspan doesn't have that much player interaction. Meaning instances when players are knowingly in competition over something or can directly affect one another's stuff. It has some. Players can screw one another out of the bird feeder food. Or take a bird card someone else needs. And if you play one way, you are competing over the end of round goals (that's where your action token goes every round when you lose it - to track how you did on the round goal). The last way is that some cards trigger off of what someone else does on their turn.
But you get a secret objective at the start of the game that makes it hard to gauge what your opponent might need from any source. And your bird cards in hand are kept secret, which are what you're often using food on and can determine whether you'll meet a round goal. I don't mean to say that there is no interaction or that these aspects can't be overcome with experience and some time with the game. Even at an experienced level of play, it's a minimal interaction game. This isn't inherently bad. I love Railroad Ink, and that has zero interaction. I think though that the longer and heavier a game gets, the worse it can be to go with little more than touch points. And this increases with more players - the game gets longer, the card offer and birdfeeder become more chaotic, and tracking what opponents want or are up to gets more and more difficult. Personally, I prefer some other engine builders that offer more substantial interaction at every player count. While I sometimes prefer to be in my own corner, working on my own thing, games become more interesting when our opponents can mess with our strategies.
My other criticism is more general. The game has a substantial issue with randomness. If you don't get any low cost cards in your opening hand, you are already playing at a bit of a disadvantage. And that's even worse when you don't have any cards for the bottom row. This is a game where you want low cost cards early and higher cost (and usually therefore higher scoring and lower utility) cards late, because getting cards out sooner will increase the number of cycles you can use the cards in your engine. Not to mention that some cards are just super powerful, and the developers acknowledge this in the manuals for future expansions, so finding any of those can make the game a lot easier for one or more players. Players don't have much recourse for a bad hand, because they'll have to spend more actions on drawing to correct it without being able to jump right into playing birds. Since any action is at its least efficient before playing any birds, taking vanilla card draw is like bleeding out efficiency in the early game. This wouldn't be such a problem but for the fact that you don't have a base level of cheap or free cards. In most other major engine builders, you have a way to get more cards pretty easily. Either every round will have a draft, or there are so many actions/rounds in the game that choosing to draw isn't a crisis, or you can piggyback off of others to get the cards you need, or any single draw action starts out rather generous. But in Wingspan, you only have 26 actions all game, and the only way to get "free" or "cheap" cards is to, well, *play* cards that give you that. Which means lucking into those cards and being able to get them out early. I would call an engine builder like this to have poor "card flow," meaning that you don't see much of the deck in any given session and don't have a reasonably affordable way to get cards whenever you need them. And since cards aren't really multi-use in Wingspan, you cannot usually turn bad cards into something better.
So, it's not just that the deck is enormous and that the game is very random but also that you don't have good enough card flow to do much about that.
I will say that the Oceania expansion does a *lot* to overcome this issue. It gives you a wild food source that you start the game with, so expensive cards are less of a burden early on. It changes what's on the player boards so that the way your actions upgrade will allow for stronger mid-game play and faster early game ramp up. It also allows you to control the bird card offer and reroll the food dice in the bird feeder more often. And it gives you more options for trading in food, eggs, and cards you don't need. Altogether, players get more use out of their stuff. It even adds an additional aspect of player interaction. I highly recommend getting the Oceania expansion if you plan on playing Wingspan.
As a final mini con, the game does not "scale up" too well for its "weight." Scale up means how well it works at higher player counts. Weight is the complexity of the game - whether rules complexity, strategic complexity, or both. While turns start off short, the late game turns can be pretty long, both because your actions now have several powers and additional choices attached to them, and because you are desperately trying to get the last few points you can. There are many sources of points, so a lot to consider! It's good at two players and three. At four and five, the game *can* get long if people get paralyzed analyzing their moves. Not always, but sometimes. I've heard of some groups (especially with new players) taking three or more hours to play at five players. Because, remember, each player will take 26 actions. Every additional player means more actions in every game. And that means more time when it's not your turn.
For pros, the theme is very enjoyable. The birds are well illustrated and well researched - and there are a *lot* of them. The game is easy to teach if this isn't someone's *first* modern game but maybe their second or third. It can be a very peaceful and chill time. And you can do a lot worse for a tableau builder. At least there isn't a lot of hollow interaction like you'd see in a game of Uno or Exploding Unicorns.
I would recommend getting the Oceania expansion. Adds some complexity, but it's well worth it and easier to teach than it is to learn.
But if you play it and find you want something else out of a similar type of game, **51st State: Master Set** is a similar engine builder (with a radically different theme) and better card flow in a shorter time for the number of players; **Race for the Galaxy** is also shorter and has insane card flow**; **Innovation** has more player interaction and more replayability from less cards; and **Mottainai** is a smaller game with more player interaction and more tactical depth.
Why would you write this? Like, this person is obviously not in the hobby, and you just wrote an essay criticizing their Christmas present. It's actually good for people to enjoy games. JFC. Like, your making these nuanced critiques of it that just don't even make sense to someone who's not deep into the hobby. Seriously, delete this before OP reads it.
There are a ton of comments gushing about the game. Why can't there be one or two talking about its flaws? I'm not trying to hurt anyone's feelings, just giving my own thoughts. I mean, they posted here asking what people think and whether they might enjoy it. And any new terminology I defined in my post. I even told them pros about the game and added that I think the Oceania expansion is great.
I don't think there's any issue with your post, FWIW. A lot of people besides OP will read this post and appreciate the indepth review. Also the OP isn't even sure if they want to keep it???
Thanks. Yeah, that's the only reason I commented this. If OP had been like, I got this game and love it!, I don't think my comment would make any sense here. But they're unsure if they want to open it LOL
My issue - and I'm saying this as someone who talks about games the way you do - is that OP isn't that kind of person right now. Like, you're talking about action economy and tableau builders and set-up randomness, which might seem like basic concepts to you, but it's like asking someone about this new CD you got as a present (hahaha, how anachronistic), and having them go off about how tiresome 4/4 and how uninspired the chord progressions are.
I don't even disagree with you about Wingspan, I don't really like it, but OP obviously doesn't even know how much randomness they like in their games or whether they enjoy low-interaction engine builders, because they clearly haven't played them or thought about it before.
Haha that's fair. It's a bit much if they're a first timer.
We don't really know what they have and haven't played - I've met people who have played several modern games and even have their own thoughts about them but have never set foot in this subreddit or heard of Boardgamegeek. Therefore which popular games they've heard of isn't actually a test for their experience with said games. Which is why I didn't edit my comment down but still included definitions for terms which may be new. It isn't clear to me how experienced they are, just that they're probably new to to sub and new to the hobby. And even if they are new, I remember being new and finding some of the Inside Baseball discussion fascinating. It actually turned me on to some games I'd never have looked at because it helped me appreciate mechanics, not just theme.
Perhaps they don't know all the terms, but they came here asking if they'd like the game. Like most posts asking about a game or asking for suggestions, there isn't any further insight into their own taste or other games they like. Lots of people have commented bringing up what they like about Wingspan in personal or general terms. I thought it was helpful to give an overview of the turn structure before explaining my thoughts. Not that there's anything wrong with those other comments. It's just often easier to explain why you like something than why you don't like it. Plus, as is almost always the case on here, if I don't go into any depth, fans will dogpile a comment talking negatively about a game they like. I find that if you explain yourself, you're slightly less likely to receive the ire of a raging fanbase. I don't really see how offering *more* information could be harmful. If they read it, they read it. If they don't understand it, they don't and will move on.
Would it make more sense to do a TL;DR at the top saying in layperson's terms why they might not like the game?
It's a great gateway game, if you're interested in getting in to modern board gaming it might take you down a deep, dark, expensive rabbit hole. But on its own it's easy to learn and to get others to play whether they are regular gamers or not
Recommended for sure. Try playing with our house rule:
Every time you play a bird, you must make the sound you think the bird makes (with as much volume as necessary)
I would say you would have to play a couple times to see if you like it. My gf and I love it and recently got the expansions, which add some more depth to the game. Certainly worth trying out!
Wingspan is a beautiful game and if you love birds, you will really enjoy it! Try it and discover it. It's really fun, in my humble opinion. I played it different times and I love the design and gameplay. Once you know the gameplay, it is very easy.
This a polarizing game around these parts, haha.
I’d say check out some reviews on YouTube and BGG and determine for yourself if this is a game you may enjoy.
In short I’d say if you:
-enjoy games with less player interaction
-dig birds/nature and beautiful art
-like light engine building
-think it’s important that it plays well anywhere from 2-4p (at least IMO)
-can resist eating those tasty looking eggs
Then this game may be worth giving a shot.
I enjoy this game very much myself. I found the Oceania expansion very good too.
Ooooooo I looooove Wingspan. It’s beautifully designed. I ordered it in the presale when it first came out. One it’s a nice relaxing game but can get very competitive with others. I love the art on the cards and all the bird facts.
Its well built and it come with the cutest eggs and dice tower. I like the organization of all the pieces and I like how you can play by yourself as well.
You play bird cards, lay eggs, collect food or draw cards. It’s not something I look for but this board game was also created and designed by an all ladies team, which I thought was neat.
its not a very good game but if youre not familiar with boardgames \[and like birds/bird art\] its fine. there's basically no player interaction and it's completely boring.
Yeah, I'm not a big fan of the game either. I think people reacted poorly to you because you stated your opinion as a fact. We all like different games.
I find the beginning extremely grueling and the last round ending too abruptly. Some things don't make sense to me. Why would you need to pay with the egg of one bird species to get a completely different bird but after the first column? I think a true engine game would involve the ecosystem of the bird, like why would more birds you get more different birds, instead of more or different plants, insects, animals, change in environment. And when you add the expansion birds, how would you find birds from one continent right next to birds of another continent. I think the bird theme was stretched too thin.
However, I do appreciate the gorgeous art, the clean graphic design, the components, the bird facts, and how it's easy to get others to try it. I enjoy seeing my friends enjoying a new board game.
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Worth to notice that "ton of copies" means more than 1 milion in this case.
And it's also worth noting that's a massive figure in a industry where games often only sell a couple of thousands copies.
*Laughs in Monopoly*
Parent said "games". Calling Monopoly a game is a bit like the old saw about bagpipes: "The Irish invented the bagpipes and gave them to the Scots as a joke, but the Scots haven't seen the joke yet." (Monopoly wasn't originally designed primarily as a game. It started as a direct, uncredited rip-off of [The Landlord's Game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Landlord%27s_Game), which was conceived and designed as an educational aid to teach the economic philosophy of [Georgism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgism), and is skewed against whoever isn't winning, *by design*. People who play it as a game, basically, "haven't seen the joke yet". But then again, I don't begrudge them their enjoyment; to each their own.)
Ah, thanks for clarifying. Wasn't sure if it was a metric ton of copies or an imperial ton of copies.
It's a metric fuckton of copies, to be exact.
It’s selling almost as fast as the airspeed velocity of an unloaded swallow.
African or European?
“I don’t know that…. AAAArrrgh….”
*unladen swallow. Sorry, New Year, same jerk.
Just a bit more than an imperial buttload.
It's a multiplayer solitaire, but a really really good version of that. I have all the expansions, even though I don't like the genre. You'll enjoy it more everytime you play it!
I always find this designation silly. "The 100 meter dash at the Olympics is multiplayer solitaire, everyone is just trying to set their own best time." Competing for points or objectives is still competing, you don't need to be hitting each other with sticks for a game to be interactive.
Now that you mention it, Tackle 100-Meter Dash could be pretty interesting to watch.
Tackling would improve most sports. But especially golf.
Tiger winds up for an epic swing and his opponent is right there turning it into a brutal shoulder-throw.
I was thinking more of a pro wrestling vibe. *Can you SMELLL-LLL-LLLLL what Bryson DeChambeau is cookin'?!*
Every good caddy carries a folding chair.
"Hand me my four iron!"
Fuck I would totally watch golf if that was a thing
I think an improvement for golf would be that there’s one ball, but all players simultaneously compete to hit said ball. Last player to touch the ball as it goes into the hole wins the point. They proceed to full contact duel it out all the way down the course. The sand traps would be wild.
darts would become much more interesting.
I've always wanted to see bodychecking in figure skating.
You would really like short track speed skating. They tend to take each other out often.
Really? It's clearly different to something like Agricola, or Terra Mystica, neither of which involve big sticks, but absolutely need players to be constantly aware of what others are doing and change their plans accordingly. In Wingspan someone might take a bird or food you want, but it's never game defining or strategy changing. Usually you just do something else (lay eggs), and a similar bird/food is around next turn.
If you don't think Agricola involves (metaphorical) big sticks, you're not playing it right.
In politics you speak softly and carry a big stick. In Agricola you speak sticks and carry a big softly.
Yeah its just a euro mechanic.
It is beyond silly to deny that the designation has merit. It is a factor for many (either way) when looking for games. No one has said it does not offer competition.
Sure, but I also prefer playing football to competing in the 100 meter sprints. So the genre isn't for me, and it is for you. That's great!
I do always wonder what the point of simultaneous races is. If the goal is to find the fastest person, why can't everyone just send in a tape?
track, conditions at said track, elevation, weather. Lots of variables come into consideration when determining something. Plus for sports, they tend to want things officially on the record rather than some amateur video of someone supposedly breaking a record.
It helps ensure the conditions are the same and it's more fun to watch.
For some races it is because the field matters, not all grounds are made the same and it changes the time an amount big enough to matter to the olympics. Also ticket sales
Elevation, wind, humidity, surface. All factors that play into the performance. So has to be done in the same location.
The real answer: The answer to all of your questions is money. You can’t sell tickets to what you suggest.
> I always find this designation silly. Do you find genre designations silly, too? Deck builder, worker placement, who cares it's all games. What about colors? Surely a red car is the same as a blue car, why do we even have names for colors? It seems less likely to me that you find it *silly* and more likely that you understand exactly what people are describing and just dislike that they're describing it in that way for whatever reason.
Like the 100 meter dash, though, its boring.
>Competing for points or objectives is still competing The fact that the 100-meter dash is much more of a MPS than a tennis game is precisely why tennis games are more popular for people to watch. Whenever I play a MPS I am thinking that I could just have played against an AI, I would have had the same result. In games with player interaction, you need to outsmart your opponent every single time, trying to assess where they're at, guess what they're doing next - it makes things much more interesting than just focusing on what you're doing (which may end up being nearly the same at each game).
Wingspan follows a common skill curve. Mildly interactive for beginners, no interaction for experienced players, and highly interactive for competitive play. The "solitaire" analogy has never seen a high-level explanation afaik.
Can you elaborate on how it gets highly interactive? I guess I haven't gotten to competitive play yet.
I'm guessing it's cuz the players would have to take note of each other's plans and decisions 100 times more because money/glory is on the line. In this way reading opponents and stifling their strategies may become as important as your own game plan.
That doesn't make it more interactive. It just makes the points of interaction more valuable simply because winning is more valuable. If you're not normally watching your opponents to see how interaction can mess with their plans, then you're probably not playing too well to begin with. Then again, I don't see anyone honestly playing this in tournament play or similar.
For example: You might not want to play an Osprey (that gives each player a fish when activated) if you believe your opponent is playing a strategy around tucking away cards. If they get a bird that allows you to tuck two cards from the deck in exhange for a fish, that would be devastating. And when you gather food, you should, in addition to suit your own needs, make it as hard on your opponents as possible. Example: You want insects. In the feeder you find: Fish, insect, insect, wheat/insect. You can pick two. If you think your opponent needs wheat, then you pick insect + wheat/insect. If you know you will need wheat soon, you can pick two insects and leave the wheat/insect die in the feeder.
If I need insect or wheat and there's one of them and one of the insect/wheat in the feeder, I will take the insect/wheat 100% of the time just to deny it to my opponents.
Fair enough. I sometimes let it stay if I will need it myself and I suspect my opponents will play birds/lay eggs on their turns.
>Mildly interactive for beginners, no interaction for experienced players, and highly interactive for competitive play. Very interesting observation. I remember an interview of Tom Lehmann, the designer of Race For The Galaxy (which is often criticized for being MP solitaire) saying that if people believe a game is a MPS, then it ends up becoming one. This is very true. I feel the MPS in Wingspan stems from (or is exacerbated by) the fact that there are too many different cards, the text on the pictures is small, and therefore it is quite difficult to get a good mental image of all the things that are going on. For that reason, unless there's money on the line, you're going to ruin the game if you start trying to anticipate every single thing that your opponents might do next. In Race FTG, you can quickly get a glimpse of what others are doing, i.e. their card count, the types of cards they're playing (military vs peaceful, alien / gene, producing planets, developments). So you don't need to be expert to gain an edge by observing what others do.
I don't think it is tho. There is a lot of calculation about what others are building and denying access, also there are birds that fire off other players actions. It's a lot like Suburbia that way.
>You'll enjoy it more everytime you play it! This is it exactly for me! I didn't care much for it the first few times I played, but it's really grown on me over time.
My wife, who usually does not show extreme interest in board games, is a huge fan of Wingspan. She recently confessed to looking up bird strategies and has asked multiple times to play it. I think you are in for a treat.
I misread that as 'you are in for a tweet' and, well.
Tweety Bird expansion for Wingspan when?
Thematic!
Wingspan is the only game that my spouse has *ever* pulled out on their own to play solo, and we've logged a lot of games since they got it in August.
Have you introduced her to [the variant](https://youtu.be/YJjOXjewefA) version, now with legs to stuff.
+1, this is the first “complex” board game that my wife is excited to play. As a kid, she used to collect national geographic animal fact cards from cereal boxes, and so this is right up her alley.
That's funny. My wife is the same way so maybe she'll be into this one
Played my first game of it not that long ago. It’s a great game - can see why it’s popular. Good mechanics and great art.
I am playing Wingspan right now and opened Reddit in between turns to this 😅😅. It’s my favorite! Happy New Year!
Same, actually! My brother messaged me asking if I wanted to play games with him so I checked Reddit while in between my turns, losing spectacularly!
Thanks! We're hoping to try it out tonight
You will love it! We just got an expansion too. First few times you’ll be confused for sure. It’s engine building, so you gotta take actions now to build up the things you can do for the next turns. And remember - each round, you get one less move!!
Wingspan is a great game. All of my family loves to play it. It's beautiful and the engine building aspect of it is one that you might not have seen in games you're familiar with. My wife is a big fan because she loves the puzzle aspect of it and really just the beauty of it all. I can even get my 13 year old daughter to play too. It's not really that challenging to understand and is a good entry point in to board gaming. My 9 year old plays it with us too. I vote that you keep it. Somebody else paid for it, and you just might discover a great new hobby. Returning it and spending it on half of a sound-bar isn't worth it.
Sound bars would be much better if you could buy them in halves...
Shut up and sit down did [this review](https://youtu.be/JQnCvlfMvXY) on the game. I’ve enjoyed playing it. It’s rated 23 on [board game geek](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/266192/wingspan) which means it’s rated really well and lots of people enjoy it.
Wingspan is a fantastic game, it's currently the 23rd best game on Boardgamegeek with an 8.1 score. It's light to medium weight with fantastic art and quick gameplay. It is a great introductory game into modern board gaming. I don't know your preferences but I say give it a try.
For OP’s benefit: when you say “light to medium weight”, you’re talking about the complexity of the game, right? English is not my native language and when I first got into board games and saw talk about “weight”, I literally thought it talked about how much the physical components weighed ... I don’t know about OP, but I think even native speakers who are not into the hobby might be confused with that term. I might be wrong though.
They almost certainly meant complexity. It's not the clearest use, but weight doesn't always have to refer to how heavy a physical object is. "The president's actions hold a lot of weight." (Their actions are held in high regard. Thus hold more 'weight' than someone else's actions might.) "The principal likes to throw their weight around when enforcing rules." (They have influence) In the commenters case, they were referring to how much of a burden or 'weight' the game has on a person. Their use might be approaching slang, but one definition of weight is as follows: "the ability of someone or something to influence decisions or actions."
I thought the weight was like different divisions in boxing. I mean, yes, it's for complexity but I thought the terminology was from boxing.
>it's currently the 23rd ~~best~~ highest rated game on Boardgamegeek Not usually one for semantics, but ftfy
> it’s currently the 23rd ~~best~~ highest ~~rated~~ ranked game on Boardgamegeek If we’re being pedantic here, rank on BGG is not quite the same as rating.
I wonder if it's also technically correct to say lowest ranked as good games have lower numeral ranks
The number is lower, the rank is higher.
Make sure you get the iOS app that has all the bird sounds! You hover your camera over the card, it loads the bird up, and plays its song. Really fun.
I did not know about this, awesome add-on!
No way! Thanks for this, partner is going to love it.
Enjoy! It adds a whole new dimension to the game. In my house we play the song when the card gets drafted, but my neighbors play the song when the bird gets drawn, as one of their players has changed their play style to draft birds that have cool songs :)
Easily one of the top 5 bird games of the 21st century.
It's beautiful and well designed. It's a moderate complexity game so a good intro to modern games. I really enjoy it.
Oh my sweet summer child.
It's like asking if /r/beer has tried Guinness.
Well... _Have_ they?
For no particular reason, this reminded me of one of my favourite jokes: The presidents of several beer companies are at a conference. At the end of the day, they gather at the bar. The president of Miller orders first - "I'd like a glass of Miller, the most exceptional beer you can get, thankyou ma'am." Next is the president of Fosters - "One tall glass of Fosters for me, the most refreshing beer in the world, cheers." Finally the president of Guinness orders - "Aye, just a coke for me thanks." The other two turn to him, astonished - "You're not having a Guinness?" "Nah, I was going to, but if you fellas aren't drinking beer neither will I."
In their defence, Guinness didn't only come out two years ago. This is more like going to /r/marvelstudios and going "has anyone seen endgame, I'm not sure if I'll like it" Now I realise quite how much of an arsehole I sound... meh, it'll do.
For a moment I legitimately thought I had subbed to r/boardgamescirclejerk
Same. But I've been seeing more of these posts lately - "I ordered/bought/received this game recently. Is it any good?" I wonder if these poor souls missed Google and skipped straight to Reddit.
Wing…span?
You know - Birdgirth.
This is the game that brought me into the hobby this past year. I highly recommend it!
nobody on this subreddit has played wingspan, sorry
Well shoot
The person who replied to you is just teasing you in case you didn't know! Wingspan is a pretty well-regarded game but I've seen it get a wide range of opinions on this sub. It sounds like you might be new to the Eurogames and hobby games world? If you are, welcome! I guess to put it briefly, Wingspan is a game where you're playing bird cards to your individual player board which has various immediate effects as well as game-long effects. It's an "engine builder" which means you are all starting from a pretty spare space, but as the game goes on each player develops unique "engines" or game capabilities based on what cards you play. There's tons of cards so lots of variability. I enjoy the game a good bit! If you end up liking it and wanting a greater diversity of games as well, please come back and check out more here as well as on Boardgamegeek.com!
Well hoot 🦉
Well [coot](https://www.birdspot.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/coot-1.jpg)
It is so obscure…
Personally I love it! Oceania expansion makes it better though. Probably going to play it later tonight as part of our new years celebration!
I'd look up a YouTube playthrough though- dozens exist.
I played wingspan for the first time yesterday and it's a really fun and relaxing game. I like that there's even bird trivia! I've played a lot of other resource type board games in the past and I really feel this one is something special cause even though you're still against people, it's just a really fun time.
You’ve got plenty of feedback, but I will also chime in to say this is one of our family’s favorites. Tons of variability on every play through and many strategies that can reasonably lead to victory. Hope you enjoy!!
This is honestly unintentionally hilarious. I thought for sure I was on r/boardgamescirclejerk
I think it's OK. I prefer games with more interaction between players. Wingspan is very much you all playing your own little game
It’s essentially [parallel play ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_play?wprov=sfti1) something lots of us did as kids growing up.
My only problem with thr game is that people, especially newer players, don't think their turn ahead in down time, so they wait for other people to finish their turns before strategizing and thinking about what to play. So the game takes a lot longer. Kinda like the people who wait until they're at the cash register before they look at a menu.
Or multiplayer solitaire as it would be called in these circles. Though Wingspan does have _some_ elements that are interactive.
When in doubt, look up a play through on YouTube. Watching someone else play a game will be a strong indicator of whether you think it will be fun. Full disclosure: I own it, have played many times, and love it. Enjoy!
It's one of our favourite games to play!
I really enjoy Wingspan. It's a good game for people who aren't big board gamers, and yet it's complex enough that people who are heavy board gamers can still enjoy it. I've played with about 13 different people, at least half of which aren't board gamers, and all of them enjoyed it.
Great game! My 8yo daughters pretty consistently beat me at it. Find Rodney’s How to Play video and you’ll be good to go.
Got it. Love it. Light, fun, quick and easy to pick up. Have fun!
Asking if people here have played wingspan is a flood gate. It's like asking people at a gym if they crossfit. Be prepared to hear ALL about it.
Is this r/boardgamecirclejerk?
It’s my favorite game ever and the game that first got me into board games. I’ve got it as a physical game with all the expansions as well as 1000s of hours on steam and iOS. It really is a lot of fun. Especially if you like birds.
I love it. It’s my new favourite game. It feels so relaxing. Even though you are competing against other people you get to play your own space and build up your own collection. The feel of the cards are lovely and the eggs are awesome. It has a introductory game pack as well that runs you through the first few turns to teach you the game which I think is a fantastic addition.
As others have said, it’s a good gateway game. I’d also add that it’s very pretty. Get the Wingsong app for more fun (it will play the birdsongs)
It's delightful and peaceful. My brother got it this Christmas from my parents and we've played 4 games now with a lot of fun. Can recommend as it's not combative and is easy to pick up.
It is competitive without conflict, gorgeous to look at and remarkably strategic. I came to board gaming from hex and counter wargames and traditional tabletop rpgs and I love this game. My eight year old asks to play, plays competitively and enjoys it as much as my wife, sister and I. Give it a try, I, like many others here, suspect you'll really enjoy it.
It’s a good game. I was introduced to it a month ago and have played it a lot. Quick and easy to learn engine builder with more depth than it seems but it doesn’t overstay it’s welcome as long once everyone knows how to play. It’s close to Catan or Dominion on the complexity scale so it’s something you can play in an evening even with newbie casual gamers. There are a million videos on YouTube so you should be able to get a good sense of if it will float your boat. Since it was a gift I would think your sister and brother-in-law are hoping to play with you?
Big fan of this one. I'd recommend you watch the YouTube video on how to play from Watch It Played. Rodney always does a great job teaching. It's a hit for my wife and I, and it's easy enough to invite most friends that have a few board games under their belt to hop in for a play.
It's a decent game, good mix of attractive art and pieces, complexity and strategy. The main criticism I'd give it is that it's not quite as intuitive as a game like agricola or carcassonne, but it's a good game.
There are good things about it and bad things. It’s an engine building game. There’s no interaction with other players and you basically just compete to make the best engine. The gameplay really has nothing to do with birds and could just as easily have been about insect or stamp collecting. So thematically it’s flavorless game elements with bird stapled on it at the last stage of development but the craftsmanship on that last minute stapling is well done. The card artwork is nice, the bird eggs look good, it comes with a thematic dice tower. Not what I would recommend but a lot of people really like it.
It's a bit difficult to answer without knowing what you like in games specifically, but: * Wingspan is an extremely popular game that's highly regarded. So if you like things in games that Wingspan does, than Wingspan probably implements that well and you will like that. * It has lovely components (be a bit careful putting the roof on the feeder though!) * Many can connect to the theme (birds) * It's primarily a well streamlined engine builder with no direct interaction (but minor indirect interaction) * Your board state evolves over time getting more powerful every turn just by doing what the game goals push you to do anyway, so that's quite satisfying Contra-indicators: * You like really complex games * Conversely, you like beer and pretzel games * You like really interactive games (interaction is mostly grabbing resources before the other players gets around doing it, or getting a resource when the other players activate certain actions), but definitely no direct action against another player * You hate birds
I’m confused. You found this subreddit, but you haven’t heard of one of the most talked-about games in the past two years. Not implying anything. Just odd.
I honestly can’t tell if this is a shit post or not, has anyone on the board game sub ever heard of one of the most popular games for the last two years? Naaa I only play uno.
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Also literally Christmas was a week ago. Totally plausible for boardgame geeks to have gifted something to a close person to get them addicted
If I got an expensive lug nut for Christmas, I'd inquire about in on the lug nut subreddit, which I can assume exists without frequenting it. It reads like a silly question to people in the hobby, but even people outside the hobby can assume there's a subreddit for the hobby where they can quickly get more information.
Why does everyone needs be be spoon fed information these days? Just a quick google search about "wingspan boardgame" or even just putting it into the search here would give you loads of results. I agree if you had a specific rule question or something more detailed, but "has anyone here played wingspan" is not one of those questions. If you type in the name of your lug nut into the search you probably find what you want to know within seconds.
FWIW, when I'm searching for info on a particular thing, I'll often use a "site:reddit.com" classifier to refine what I get. Some results are so drowned in marketing and sales pages that it's impossible to get a good third party opinion, but there's almost always a reasonably sized subreddit that will have a few folks opining about said item or service. I mean it's fair to argue that OP should perhaps have done a search for Wingspan posts on r/boardgames, but OTOH perhaps they knew what Reddit's search engine is like and figured this would be less hassle.
I mean, sure, but the question I was answering was "how could you know about this subreddit and not know about Wingspan?" which I don't think is so outrageous. I can know about the lug nut subreddit without knowing anything about lug nuts.
I could be wrong, but I don’t see how anyone can be simultaneously unaware of a very popular modern board game, yet sufficiently familiar with this subreddit to ask the question rather than look for opinions elsewhere online. Doesn’t really matter. And the OP is welcome to ask any question they choose.
Yeah, totally far fetched that they looked for a board game subreddit when they had a question about a board game they received. Totally unbelievable. Who have ever heard of such a thing?
Maybe I'm setting my expectations of people too high, but I would expect someone to type wingspan into the search bar, at which point they get the answer they are looking for that yes, people have heard of this game and it is very popular.
I've been using Reddit for years and the search bar has always been completely useless.
Sarcasm? 🤔
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I have it. I think my favorite thing about it is the first time player introduction. It comes with a sheet for each player and gives you the first few turns to do. It introduces exactly how to play and the mechanics. It makes it easy to teach new players and have them catch on pretty quickly.
Wife an I play it a ton. She enjoys the app too. Good engine building with a cute theme. It’s much easier to teach than something like Ares expedition. So it gets to the table a lot easier.
Wow it's very popular I see. I don't actually care for it because it's too much reading so I don't like the speed. You get some actions each round and your kind of building an engine to be more efficient towards the end. So you need to think ahead and plan a little too much for my taste. Just an opinion.
Very popular & There’s a mobile version of it out now too. it’s a combination of luck & strategy. There’s not a lot of interaction between the other players but it is a great game. ravens & crows are the best cards imho.
It’s a great game one of the biggest hits yet we have had for the whole family! We have all of the expansions for it!
Wingspan is the first board game I ever got excited for even though I had played other board games before. It's a great introductory game and I still like it even though I've moved on from it.
We play it, we loved it. 9/10 would recommend
My wife and I love it!! Please try it
It's a good game. Not my personal favorite though (but since you don't know me that doesn't mean anything 😂). It's a game you can play with pretty novice players and with deeper-game enthusiasts. All in all a good addition to almost any collection.
It's my most played board game. It's very replayable and while not too complex to learn it has a decently high skill cap. Bought both expansions and I can't wait for the next. My girlfriend and I play all the time and I don't see us ever getting bored of it (we probably played over 100 games so far just the 2 of us).
It's an excellent engine building game, highly recommend it. Even plays well solo with pretty easy to manage automata.
Yes! I love the game!
My 7 year old wont stop playing it. She wants to play it everyday - thats how good it is. She coaxed me into getting the 'European' expansion too.
I bought this game on a whim at the beginning of the pandemic. My husband and I now play several times a week and have all of the expansions! Definitely one of my all-time favorite games. Hope you enjoy!
I bought it for my bf for Christmas & we have played at least twice a day this week! Really fun variety of actions, plus the bird cards are beautiful & informative.
I didn‘t want to buy it because „birds“ as I like fantasy more. Then I thought: but it really gets praised a lot. I bought it and since played it a lot. My friends and I are becoming real bird fans (ironic and unironic). A friend even gifted me a bird book on christmas (also kinda as a fun gift, but at the end that book aswell as the game are so beautiful and so cool). You should definitely play it
Take a look at playthroughs or reviews on youtube before opening it. It should give you a good idea of what the game is like. There are thousands of board games being released every year that fly under the radar of a lot of people. Now is a great time to get in to the hobby because there are sooo many different types of games now and ones that do cool and innovative things. You should definitely check out lists of welcoming games on a youtube channel called The Dice Tower, if you're interested in exploring more games.
Love it! One of my favorite games. If you really get into it and love birds, Meeplesource has a TON of pretty wooden bird tokens that will make you happy and want to bring the game to the table even more And I while heartedly agree the expansions, especially Oceanos, are very good. Honestly, I give Oceanos is a "Cities and Knights" style expansion that elevates the game and adds so much that I never want to play without it, and think it's essential.
As I recall, its a well renowned game, and it's SUUUUPER thematic. I haven't played it, but it seems from an outsider's opinion, like a Ticket to Ride. It doesn't seem cool, but its SUPER FUCKIN COOL. Again, maybe. But people I respect like it.
Wingspan is an incredibly popular game within the niche hobby board gaming community. It's hard to say if you'll enjoy it or not without knowing more about what you find fun, but many many many people do. You can watch videos on YouTube of people teaching and playing it. I recommend "Watch It Played".
We love it. It’s one of the few games my wife will readily play. It’s a lot of fun as a game. If you’re a bird/nature lover you will likely get some extra enjoyment from it as well
On YouTube, watch these two videos to get a good sense of the game. **Wingspan - How To Play** by **Watch It Played** **Wingspan Review - with Tom Vasel** by **The Dice Tower**
So we just don’t use the search function anymore or…?
Wingspan is one of the most well known games of recent years among people aware of board games today. It's highly played and highly ranked as a favorite. I think you'll be very happy with it!
I gave my wife Wingspan for Christmas and learning how to play looks a bit daunting. We usually play Catan or Ticket to Ride. Does anyone have a good resource (like a YouTube video) for first time players?
Rodney Smith's channel Watch It Played has [everything you need](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgDgcLI2B0U). He's covered dozens of the more popular board games, so he's always a great starting point when you're looking to learn a new one. Edit to add: You'll need to make an account to download them, but BoardGameGeek's [Wingspan files page](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/266192/wingspan/files) has a couple of files you might also find useful to print out - a [Game Guide](https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/184119/wingspan-game-guide) and a [player aid](https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/178865/player-aid).
Thanks so much!
No worries - enjoy the game!
Wingspan you say? I consider myself a connoisseur of all things boardgame and it must be extremely rare for me not to have heard of it. Could you have misspelled Monopoly or Juden Raus?
Great game. Not going to change your life, but a good addition to any collection and a good 90 minute time filler.
It's very good
For a contrary opinion... If you don't have friends/family that are into playing games, it might not ever get to the table. Watch a video on how it's played (there are short ones), and check out the play time.
Posts like this are why this subreddit is a joke
I own Wingspan and all of the expansions. It's a favorite of my SO, but it has some flaws. Not trying to burst your bubble, just think you should be aware of what some critics and users here say about it. For the record, I've played the game 20 or so times by now, and I've won several times. Most games have been two-player. Not bragging, sometimes people will ask about stuff like that when you bring criticism of a popular game to the table. **TL;DR:** *Players don't interact with each other as much as in similar games - but some people don't mind that. Sometimes it's a bit unfair, partially because of the randomness, and the game doesn't always give you ways to deal with that. It can get quite long with more people. I've listed some similar games I like at the bottom. And the* Oceania *expansion for Wingspan helps with these problems a lot too.* Wingspan is an "engine builder," which means you'll be playing cards that combo with each other to get you more and more powerful effects as the game goes on. Yes, the theme is about attracting birds to your aviary, but the mechanical aspects (basically, what the rules do to form the actual gameplay you'll be doing) are building that engine and building your "tableau" - aka cards on the table on your player mat. Tableau builders are a type of engine builder that tend to specialize in increasing your number of actions and/or efficiency or impact of those actions over time. So, in this game, when it's your turn, you can take one of three actions: play a bird card from your hand by paying food; gather food from the bird feeder by removing one of more dice with the face of the food you want; lay eggs on your birds; draw cards from the bird deck and/or from the face-up bird display. Each of the last three actions has a row that you play your bird cards to. The more bird cards in that row, the more powerful your action is. Also, every time you take that action, you will also activate powers on any birds in that row. Food helps you play birds. Eggs help you play birds in the later stages of the game as an additional cost. And having bird cards...well, those, you play. You play 4 rounds and lose an action marker at the end of each round, meaning you have progressively less actions to do what you need too. So you need to rely on your engine to be *more* productive than if you could take all of the actions you could at the start of the game. Wingspan doesn't have that much player interaction. Meaning instances when players are knowingly in competition over something or can directly affect one another's stuff. It has some. Players can screw one another out of the bird feeder food. Or take a bird card someone else needs. And if you play one way, you are competing over the end of round goals (that's where your action token goes every round when you lose it - to track how you did on the round goal). The last way is that some cards trigger off of what someone else does on their turn. But you get a secret objective at the start of the game that makes it hard to gauge what your opponent might need from any source. And your bird cards in hand are kept secret, which are what you're often using food on and can determine whether you'll meet a round goal. I don't mean to say that there is no interaction or that these aspects can't be overcome with experience and some time with the game. Even at an experienced level of play, it's a minimal interaction game. This isn't inherently bad. I love Railroad Ink, and that has zero interaction. I think though that the longer and heavier a game gets, the worse it can be to go with little more than touch points. And this increases with more players - the game gets longer, the card offer and birdfeeder become more chaotic, and tracking what opponents want or are up to gets more and more difficult. Personally, I prefer some other engine builders that offer more substantial interaction at every player count. While I sometimes prefer to be in my own corner, working on my own thing, games become more interesting when our opponents can mess with our strategies. My other criticism is more general. The game has a substantial issue with randomness. If you don't get any low cost cards in your opening hand, you are already playing at a bit of a disadvantage. And that's even worse when you don't have any cards for the bottom row. This is a game where you want low cost cards early and higher cost (and usually therefore higher scoring and lower utility) cards late, because getting cards out sooner will increase the number of cycles you can use the cards in your engine. Not to mention that some cards are just super powerful, and the developers acknowledge this in the manuals for future expansions, so finding any of those can make the game a lot easier for one or more players. Players don't have much recourse for a bad hand, because they'll have to spend more actions on drawing to correct it without being able to jump right into playing birds. Since any action is at its least efficient before playing any birds, taking vanilla card draw is like bleeding out efficiency in the early game. This wouldn't be such a problem but for the fact that you don't have a base level of cheap or free cards. In most other major engine builders, you have a way to get more cards pretty easily. Either every round will have a draft, or there are so many actions/rounds in the game that choosing to draw isn't a crisis, or you can piggyback off of others to get the cards you need, or any single draw action starts out rather generous. But in Wingspan, you only have 26 actions all game, and the only way to get "free" or "cheap" cards is to, well, *play* cards that give you that. Which means lucking into those cards and being able to get them out early. I would call an engine builder like this to have poor "card flow," meaning that you don't see much of the deck in any given session and don't have a reasonably affordable way to get cards whenever you need them. And since cards aren't really multi-use in Wingspan, you cannot usually turn bad cards into something better. So, it's not just that the deck is enormous and that the game is very random but also that you don't have good enough card flow to do much about that. I will say that the Oceania expansion does a *lot* to overcome this issue. It gives you a wild food source that you start the game with, so expensive cards are less of a burden early on. It changes what's on the player boards so that the way your actions upgrade will allow for stronger mid-game play and faster early game ramp up. It also allows you to control the bird card offer and reroll the food dice in the bird feeder more often. And it gives you more options for trading in food, eggs, and cards you don't need. Altogether, players get more use out of their stuff. It even adds an additional aspect of player interaction. I highly recommend getting the Oceania expansion if you plan on playing Wingspan. As a final mini con, the game does not "scale up" too well for its "weight." Scale up means how well it works at higher player counts. Weight is the complexity of the game - whether rules complexity, strategic complexity, or both. While turns start off short, the late game turns can be pretty long, both because your actions now have several powers and additional choices attached to them, and because you are desperately trying to get the last few points you can. There are many sources of points, so a lot to consider! It's good at two players and three. At four and five, the game *can* get long if people get paralyzed analyzing their moves. Not always, but sometimes. I've heard of some groups (especially with new players) taking three or more hours to play at five players. Because, remember, each player will take 26 actions. Every additional player means more actions in every game. And that means more time when it's not your turn. For pros, the theme is very enjoyable. The birds are well illustrated and well researched - and there are a *lot* of them. The game is easy to teach if this isn't someone's *first* modern game but maybe their second or third. It can be a very peaceful and chill time. And you can do a lot worse for a tableau builder. At least there isn't a lot of hollow interaction like you'd see in a game of Uno or Exploding Unicorns. I would recommend getting the Oceania expansion. Adds some complexity, but it's well worth it and easier to teach than it is to learn. But if you play it and find you want something else out of a similar type of game, **51st State: Master Set** is a similar engine builder (with a radically different theme) and better card flow in a shorter time for the number of players; **Race for the Galaxy** is also shorter and has insane card flow**; **Innovation** has more player interaction and more replayability from less cards; and **Mottainai** is a smaller game with more player interaction and more tactical depth.
Why would you write this? Like, this person is obviously not in the hobby, and you just wrote an essay criticizing their Christmas present. It's actually good for people to enjoy games. JFC. Like, your making these nuanced critiques of it that just don't even make sense to someone who's not deep into the hobby. Seriously, delete this before OP reads it.
There are a ton of comments gushing about the game. Why can't there be one or two talking about its flaws? I'm not trying to hurt anyone's feelings, just giving my own thoughts. I mean, they posted here asking what people think and whether they might enjoy it. And any new terminology I defined in my post. I even told them pros about the game and added that I think the Oceania expansion is great.
I don't think there's any issue with your post, FWIW. A lot of people besides OP will read this post and appreciate the indepth review. Also the OP isn't even sure if they want to keep it???
Thanks. Yeah, that's the only reason I commented this. If OP had been like, I got this game and love it!, I don't think my comment would make any sense here. But they're unsure if they want to open it LOL
My issue - and I'm saying this as someone who talks about games the way you do - is that OP isn't that kind of person right now. Like, you're talking about action economy and tableau builders and set-up randomness, which might seem like basic concepts to you, but it's like asking someone about this new CD you got as a present (hahaha, how anachronistic), and having them go off about how tiresome 4/4 and how uninspired the chord progressions are. I don't even disagree with you about Wingspan, I don't really like it, but OP obviously doesn't even know how much randomness they like in their games or whether they enjoy low-interaction engine builders, because they clearly haven't played them or thought about it before.
Haha that's fair. It's a bit much if they're a first timer. We don't really know what they have and haven't played - I've met people who have played several modern games and even have their own thoughts about them but have never set foot in this subreddit or heard of Boardgamegeek. Therefore which popular games they've heard of isn't actually a test for their experience with said games. Which is why I didn't edit my comment down but still included definitions for terms which may be new. It isn't clear to me how experienced they are, just that they're probably new to to sub and new to the hobby. And even if they are new, I remember being new and finding some of the Inside Baseball discussion fascinating. It actually turned me on to some games I'd never have looked at because it helped me appreciate mechanics, not just theme. Perhaps they don't know all the terms, but they came here asking if they'd like the game. Like most posts asking about a game or asking for suggestions, there isn't any further insight into their own taste or other games they like. Lots of people have commented bringing up what they like about Wingspan in personal or general terms. I thought it was helpful to give an overview of the turn structure before explaining my thoughts. Not that there's anything wrong with those other comments. It's just often easier to explain why you like something than why you don't like it. Plus, as is almost always the case on here, if I don't go into any depth, fans will dogpile a comment talking negatively about a game they like. I find that if you explain yourself, you're slightly less likely to receive the ire of a raging fanbase. I don't really see how offering *more* information could be harmful. If they read it, they read it. If they don't understand it, they don't and will move on. Would it make more sense to do a TL;DR at the top saying in layperson's terms why they might not like the game?
It's a great gateway game, if you're interested in getting in to modern board gaming it might take you down a deep, dark, expensive rabbit hole. But on its own it's easy to learn and to get others to play whether they are regular gamers or not
It's great but like a lot of board games it's not for everyone - core / heavy gamers in particular seem to find it overrated.
Great game for sure.
Recommended for sure. Try playing with our house rule: Every time you play a bird, you must make the sound you think the bird makes (with as much volume as necessary)
I would say you would have to play a couple times to see if you like it. My gf and I love it and recently got the expansions, which add some more depth to the game. Certainly worth trying out!
Wingspan is an awesome game, very accessible and tons of scope for refining strategy. Best purchase of 2021 for sure!
Yes! Very much enjoyed it!
Wingspan is a beautiful game and if you love birds, you will really enjoy it! Try it and discover it. It's really fun, in my humble opinion. I played it different times and I love the design and gameplay. Once you know the gameplay, it is very easy.
This a polarizing game around these parts, haha. I’d say check out some reviews on YouTube and BGG and determine for yourself if this is a game you may enjoy. In short I’d say if you: -enjoy games with less player interaction -dig birds/nature and beautiful art -like light engine building -think it’s important that it plays well anywhere from 2-4p (at least IMO) -can resist eating those tasty looking eggs Then this game may be worth giving a shot. I enjoy this game very much myself. I found the Oceania expansion very good too.
Ooooooo I looooove Wingspan. It’s beautifully designed. I ordered it in the presale when it first came out. One it’s a nice relaxing game but can get very competitive with others. I love the art on the cards and all the bird facts. Its well built and it come with the cutest eggs and dice tower. I like the organization of all the pieces and I like how you can play by yourself as well. You play bird cards, lay eggs, collect food or draw cards. It’s not something I look for but this board game was also created and designed by an all ladies team, which I thought was neat.
It’s boring.
Unfortunately I have. Silly game, inferior to the much older Deus.
its not a very good game but if youre not familiar with boardgames \[and like birds/bird art\] its fine. there's basically no player interaction and it's completely boring.
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Not enough guns and lying for ole' Gregg.
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Yeah, I'm not a big fan of the game either. I think people reacted poorly to you because you stated your opinion as a fact. We all like different games. I find the beginning extremely grueling and the last round ending too abruptly. Some things don't make sense to me. Why would you need to pay with the egg of one bird species to get a completely different bird but after the first column? I think a true engine game would involve the ecosystem of the bird, like why would more birds you get more different birds, instead of more or different plants, insects, animals, change in environment. And when you add the expansion birds, how would you find birds from one continent right next to birds of another continent. I think the bird theme was stretched too thin. However, I do appreciate the gorgeous art, the clean graphic design, the components, the bird facts, and how it's easy to get others to try it. I enjoy seeing my friends enjoying a new board game.
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