FAQ

Wingspan Expansion News as of February 1st, 2023

Wingspan Asia Expansion is available now! Wingspan Asia by Stonemaier Games      

Digital Wingspan European Expansion / Oceania Expansion

On October 25th, 2022, Monster Couch released the teaser announcement for digital Oceania Expansion.  

Wingspan as an Intellectual Property (IP)

Jamey Stegmaier recently wrote in The 5 Year Plan for Stonemaier Games : “We’ll probably lean more into what works without redundancy. I think the Azul series of games has done a great job of this–each game is unique but also familiar. I’d love to revisit the 1920+ world of Scythe someday with Jakub Rozalski, and Wingspan would be fun to explore in new ways as well with Elizabeth Hargrave.” This suggests that he is open to working with Elizabeth Hargrave to someday make a new and different game using the Wingspan IP.

The first printing run of the Wingspan Nesting box (which includes a copy of Wingspan Asia) has sold out world wide!

On November 2nd, 2022, the first print run of the Wingspan Nesting Box (which includes a copy of Wingspan Asia) was made available for pre-order and sold out in less than 24 hours! Congratulations to Stonemaier Games and Elizabeth Hargrave!

From the Stonemaier Games blog: “IMPORTANT: If the first printing of the Nesting Box is sold out in your region, please enter your email on the order page for a back-in-stock notification (early 2023). The reprint will be prepackaged and will not have Wingspan Asia inside the box, so it will be less expensive.”

The Nesting Box on Stonemaier Games Blog

The Great Nesting Box Debate

 

 

Stonemaier Game’s Blog concerning the Nesting Box

Dusty of the YouTube Channel, “The Mill”, gave us a detailed look at the Wingspan Nesting Box which was on display at GenCon 2022. In this video, we see the artwork and subsequent confirmation of the birds Junglefowl (Asia), Keel Billed Toucan (Latin America), North African Ostrich (Africa), and Emperor Penguin (Antarctica). We also see a card divider labeled, “Promos,” heavily implying that we will see promo packs in the future. Promo packs are something that Jamey Stegmaier has already discussed as a possibility.

When does a bird count as double for end of round bonuses in Wingspan?

Currently, there are only three birds that can count as double for end of round goals. Cetti’s Warbler, Graylag Goose, and Eurasian Green Woodpecker. Their teal power gives them this ability at the end of each round.

• Page 10 of the European Expansion Appendix talks about these birds.

• If these cards are in your hand at the end of the round, they do not count as double. To gain the effects of a power, the card must have already been played on the board.
• These birds only count double for round goals that specifically count birds.
• If a round goal is looking for birds it will have this symbol:
• Joe Aubrey of Stonemaier Games has ruled that these birds do count for the round goals “Beaks Point Right” and “Beaks Point Left”.

Here is the list of Round Goals in which these birds count as double:

• Birds in Forest
• Birds in Grasslands
• Birds in Wetlands
• Cup Nest Birds With Eggs (Cetti’s Warbler only, since it has a cup nest)
• Cavity Nest Birds With Eggs (Eurasian Green Woodpecker only, since it has a cavity nest)
• Ground Nest Birds With Eggs (Greylag Goose only, since it has a ground nest)
• Platform Nest Birds With Eggs (None; Currently, there aren’t any “double birds” with a platform nest)
• Total Birds
• Beak Pointing Left
• Beak Pointing Right
• Birds Worth 3 or Less Points (None; Currently, there aren’t any “double birds” that are worth 3 or less points)
• Birds Worth More Than 4 Points (Greylag Goose only, since it is the only “double bird” worth more than 4 points)
• Birds in One Row
• Birds With Tucked Cards
• Birds With No Eggs

Images of round goals taken from Rule Pop. Red “X’s” added by Wingsplain. X’s indicate that birds do not count as double:

 

 

Birds Played Sideways in Wingspan

Birds that are played sideways do not count as double for end of round goals. They are literally a single bird that fills up two slots on the board. They say nothing about counting as double.

• Page 10 of the European Expansion Appendix talks about these birds.

Photographer Bonus Card

The Photographer Bonus Card from the Wingspan Core Set states that the following colors qualify:

• Ash
• Black
• Blue
• Bronze
• Brown
• Cerulean
• Chestnut
• Ferruginous
• Gold
• Gray
• Green
• Indigo
• Lazuli
• Purple
• Red
• Rose
• Roseate
• Ruby
• Ruddy
• Rufous
• Snowy
• Violet
• White
• Yellow

European Expansion Appendix

Page 2 of the European Expansion Appendix states that the following colors qualify for the Photographer Bonus Card:

• Coal
• Grey
• Honey ****Note that Page 4 of the Oceania Expansion rule book has errata’ed honey not to qualify.****

Oceania Expansion Rule Book

Page 4 of the Oceania Expansion rule book states that the following colors qualify for the Photographer Bonus Card:

• Crimson
• Orange
• Pink
• Rufous
• Silver
• Sulphur
• Tawny

****Page 4 states that: “The European Expansion rulebook erroneously includes honey as a term for the Photographer bonus card. Honey does not count as a color word.”

Asia Expansion Rule Book

Page 2 of the Asia Expansion Appendix states that the following words qualify for the Photographer bonus card:

• Ash
• Azure
• Bay
• Black
• Blue
• Bronze
• Brown
• Cerulean
• Chestnut
• Coal
• Crimson
• Emerald
• Ferruginous
• Fire
• Gold
• Gray
• Green
• Indigo
• Lazuli
• Olive
• Orange
• Pink
• Plumbeous
• Purple
• Red
• Rose
• Ruby
• Ruddy
• Rufous
• Silver
• Snow
• Sulphur
• Tawny
• Teal
• Verditer
• Violet
• White
• Yellow

****Coppersmith Barbet does not qualify.

****Different versions of these words all count. Examples include Rose/Rosy/Roseate, Snow/Snowy.

***As a general rule, lewd “adult humor” words do not qualify, as they are not actually body parts possessed by the birds***

The Anatomist Bonus Card

The wording on the Anatomist Bonus Card states that the following body parts qualify:

• Beak
• Belly
• Bill
• Breast
• Cap
• Chin
• Collar
• Crest
• Crown
• Eye
• Face
• Head
• Neck
• Rump
• Shoulder
• Tail
• Throat
• Wings

European Expansion Appendix

Page 2 of the European Expansion Appendix states that the following body parts qualify for the Anatomist Bonus Card:

• Back
• Leg
• Toe

Oceania Expansion Rule Book

Page 4 of the Oceania Expansion Rule Book states that the following body parts qualify for the Anatomist Bonus Card:

• Back
• Ear
• Foot
• Head
• Mouth
• Wattle

Asia Expansion Rule Book

Page two of the Asia Expansion appendix states that the following body parts qualify for the Anatomist Bonus Card:

• Back
• Beak
• Belly
• Bill
• Breast
• Brow
• Cap
• Chin
• Collar
• Crest
• Crown
• Ear
• Eye
• Face
• Foot
• Head
• Leg
• Mouth
• Nape
• Neck
• Rump
• Shoulder
• Tail
• Throat
• Toe
• Vent
• Wattle
• Wing

Is the Next Wingspan Expansion Africa?

It is currently unknown what the next Wingspan Expansion will be. There is some community speculation that it will be Latin America.

Pre-Wingspan Asia News (Wingspan Asia became available in November 2022)

No, but there was some community speculation that Wingspan Expansion 3 could have been the African Expansion. On June 29th 2022, Jamey Stegmaier revealed in the July 2022 newsletter and his Facebook Live stream that the next Wingspan Expansion is Asia. 

On April 1st, 2022, Jamey Stegmaier published a blog post on the Stonemaier Games Blog titled, Silly but Real: April Fools 2022 for Stonemaier Games. Included in the blog post is the related YouTube video, “My Top 10 Favorite Pets in Game Boxes”.

At 11:16 of the video, we see Jamey’s Cat, Walter, standing in the lid for the upcoming Wingspan Nesting Box. We can see an ostrich on the lid and some people speculate that this is a hint from Jamey that Africa will be the focus of the next Wingspan Expansion. There are currently two living species of Ostrich and they both live in Africa.

The cards with the shaded corners are from the Wingspan Swift Start Pack. Page 3 of the current version of the core set rulebook covers these cards (see image below).

The earliest copies of the game released between January and August of 2019 didn’t include the Wingspan Swift Start Pack. However, copies of the game sold after that do include these cards and an updated rule book.

You can confirm what version you have by looking at the serial number on the back of the box. Early versions of Wingspan will have the serial number STM900 and do not include this pack. Newer versions which include the Wingspan Swift Start Pack, will have the serial number STM910.

If your copy of the game did not include the Wingspan Swift Start Pack and you would like to have it, you can purchase it directly from Stonemaier Games through their website: Stonemaier Games Wingspan Swift Start Pack

As a stand alone game, Wingspan Asia includes a new version of the Swift Start Guides that have red corners.

 

Wingspan Core Set

Scissor Tailed Flycatcher is the bird on the front of the Wingspan core set box.

Wingspan European Expansion

Snowy Owl is the bird on the front of the Wingspan European Expansion box.

Wingspan Oceania Expansion

Laughing Kookaburra is the bird on the front of the Wingspan Oceania Expansion box.

Wingspan Asia Expansion

Indian Peafowl is the bird on the front of the Wingspan Oceania Expansion box.

How many Wingspan expansions are there?

There are currently three Wingspan Expansions. According to Stonemaier Games, they intend to produce an expansion for each continent.

Wingspan Expansion 1 is the European Expansion.

Wingspan Expansion 2 is the Oceania Expansion.

Wingspan Expansion 3 Is the Asia Expansion.

Wingspan Expansion 4 has not had any type of information released about it.

 

There are many different types of cards sleeves that work for Wingspan cards. Wingspan cards are 57x87mm, so they need a sleeve that accommodates these dimensions. Your choice will ultimately boil down to personal preference.

We use Fantasy Flight “Greens” (FFSo3) Standard American Board Game Sleeves to sleeve our Wingspan Cards. They are 57x89mm. The extra length of these sleeves is a little annoying and can be a slight nuisance when placing your cards on the player mat, but they are very durable and feel great in my hands. These sleeves are currently out of print and are becoming more difficult to track down.

Other people have reported that they like Mayday Chimera “Orange” sleeves which are 57.5 x 89mm, although there are some reports of slight size inconsistencies sleeve to sleeve.

In November of 2021, Elizabeth Hargrave, the creator of Wingspan, tweeted that the game had sold over 1 million copies.

On April 7th, 2022, Stonemaier Games posted their annual stakeholder report which states that Wingspan has sold 1,410,539 units.

Check out the many articles on Wingsplain.com!

For a quick read, click here for our quick and easy 19 Guidelines for Winning

For a longer, more indepth read, Click here for our Comprehensive Strategy Guide

A wild food symbol does not count for Rodentologist, Viticulturalist, Fishery Manager, Food Web Expert, or Bird Feeder. The bird’s food cost must have the appropriate food symbol to count. See the text at the bottom of these bonus cards.

 

 

 

 

If a bird has a wild food symbol, it does count for Omnivore Specialist.

• Page 10 of the core rulebook covers pink powers.
• Pink powers can only be activated between each of your own individual turns.
  • Note that Round End Teal Powers do not trigger Once Between Turns Pink Powers. This is covered on Page 4 of the Wingspan European Expansion rulebook.
  • For more on Pink Powers, see our rankings here: Ranking Wingspan’s 22 Pink Powered Birds

When a predator succeeds at its power, it means that it successfully cached food, tucked a card, or otherwise worked despite a potential chance at failure. Many predator powers do not succeed 100% of the time.

One example would be Great Horned Owl, which looks at the top card of the deck and tucks that card if it has a wingspan less than 100 cm. This power succeeds about 89% of the time. Since the Owl has the predator tag (“skull and crossbones” symbol), if it tucks a card from its power, that counts as a success.

Another example would be Willet, which rolls all dice outside the birdfeeder and caches a fish if one is rolled. If Willet caches a fish, that counts as success. At four dice, this power is successful about 50% of the time. Since Willet has the predator tag (“skull and crossbones” symbol), if it caches food from its power, that counts as a success.

A less obvious predator power success would be using Montagu’s Harrier’s ability to be played on top of another bird without paying food to do it. Since it has the predator tag (“skull and crossbones” symbol), using this power counts as a success. This power technically succeeds 100% of the time when you use it.

Another less obvious power success would be using Northern Goshawk’s ability to tuck up to two cards instead of using rats to pay for its food cost. If an opponent substitutes even a single tuck for a rat while playing the Goshawk, that counts as a success since it has the predator tag (“skull and crossbones” symbol).

What does the skull symbol mean in Wingspan?

The skull symbol, or “skull and crossbones” symbol, means that a particular bird counts as a “Predator.” Page 10 of the Core Set rule book covers this.

The Wingspan Oceania Expansion rule book covers the rules for Nectar on pages 2 and 3.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The official explanation for this Wingspan end-of-round goal is on page 3 of the Core Appendix.

 

If you have:

• 1 egg in your Wetland row AND
• 1 egg in your Grasslands row AND
• 1 egg in your Forest row…

You have 1 set of eggs that counts for this goal.

Column positions are not relevant when determining these sets of eggs; see image below.

 

EXAMPLE IMAGE:

• Blue Eggs = 1 Set
• Purple Eggs = 1 Set

There are TWO total sets in this image.

 

Check out our articles on The Power of Tucking Cards in Wingspan and Expanding the Power of Tucking Cards

Zero Dice in the Birdfeeder

Any time there are zero dice in the birdfeeder. This reroll occurs immediately as soon as the birdfeeder is empty.

Dice Showing the Same Face

Any time the dice all show the same face and you are about to select a food die from the birdfeeder for any reason.

This is true even if there is only a single die in the birdfeeder.

Split food die faces (Seed/Invertebrate, Nectar/Seed, Nectar/Fruit) count as a unique face.

“Any reason” includes:

• Bird powers that let you take dice from the birdfeeder.
• Taking a food die from the birdfeeder as a part of the Gain Food Action.

Official Wingspan Rule Book

Page 7 of the core rule book covers rerolling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oceania Expansion: Spending Food to Reset the Birdfeeder

Certain spaces on the Oceania play mat allow you to spend one food to reset the birdfeeder. The actions on these spaces need to be followed in order, as defined on page 3 of the OE rule book.

Here is the order of events and what your options are:

a. Decide to take the Gain Food Action and place your action cube on the appropriate space.

b. If you’re using the Oceania Expansion mats and you’re placing your cube on the 2nd or 4th space, you have the option of spending one food to reroll the birdfeeder.

 

 

 

c. You are now going to select a food die. At this point, if all of the dice show the same face, you may reroll the birdfeeder (yes, for the 2nd time; this is a special action that is allowed once per action cube placement). This is covered on page 7 of the core rules. Select your 1st food die, remove it from the birdfeeder, and claim the appropriate food token from the general supply.

d. Continue selecting food dice as allowed by the space you activated.

e. For each die selection, if you haven’t done so already, you may reroll the birdfeeder any time the dice all show the same face.

 

 

 

Yes.

Star nests are wild and count as all nest types.

• Page 8 of the Core Rulebook and Page 8 of the Appendix cover nest types and how Star Nests interact with them.
• Page 5 of the Appendix covers Nest/Egg related bonuses and how star nests interact with them.

Yes.

The word “may” offers you a choice. You do not have to cache the food if you do not want to.