How to Play Wingspan: Game Setup, Rules, and More

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If you're looking for a relaxing game with beautiful art and lots of strategy, Wingspan is a fun option that you can play with up to 4 friends. Every player is a birdwatcher trying to attract unique birds to their personal board to earn big points. If you have the highest score after 4 rounds, you win! We know you’re excited to play, so keep reading for all the rules and setup you need to get started.

Part 1
Part 1 of 6:

Game Setup

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  1. There are over 150 bird cards in Wingspan, and each one is unique. Shuffle all of the cards together and set them in a stack face-down next to the blue card tray. Draw the top 3 cards of the stack and set them face-up in the tray’s slots so everyone can see them.
  2. The 5 different food tokens are Invertebrate, Seed, Fish, Fruit, and Rodent, and they each have a unique icon and color. Keep all of the food tokens in one pile and then make another pile for the eggs near the middle of the table. [1]
    • Even though the eggs have different colors, they are all worth the same amount of points.
    • The game comes with small plastic containers you can use to hold the eggs and food tokens.
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  3. If this is your first time playing, follow the instruction guide to build the birdfeeder. Once it’s built, drop the 5 wooden dice into the hole in the back of the birdfeeder so they roll out into the tray.
  4. One of the main ways players interact is by competing for goals. Choose the green side to score goals based on who has earned the majority of them. Pick the blue side to score points for each time you achieved the round’s goal. Take 4 of the goal tiles at random and put one into each slot on the goal board for each round.
    • What you need for each goal will differ from round to round, but it’s usually based on the number of birds or eggs in a specific row of your player board. Check the appendix in the game box for a thorough description of each goal tile.
  5. The bonus cards have green backs and are unique goals for each player to earn more points at the end of the game. Set them near the middle of the table so everyone can reach them. [2]
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Part 2
Part 2 of 6:

Player Setup

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  1. Instead of having a shared board in the middle, every player gets their own board to play cards on. Then, take all 8 wooden cubes of one color to use for your actions later in the game. Finally, grab 1 of each type of food token (5 total) to add to your personal supply.
    • All of the player boards are the same so it doesn’t matter which one you choose.
  2. Deal the cards from the face-down stack of bird cards to give every player their starting hand of cards. Every player can look at their hand. Since all of the cards are different birds, everyone will have a unique hand.
    • Keep your bird cards hidden from other players.
  3. You can only keep a total of 5 food tokens and bird cards. Look at the top left corner of the bird cards in your hand to see which food tokens you’ll have to spend to play that bird on your turn. Discard the food tokens you didn’t want back to the supply and set the bird cards you aren’t keeping in a face-up discard pile by the other bird cards. [3]
    • Try to save bird cards that only need 1 or 2 food tokens so you can play them early on.
    • If a bird has a circular symbol with all 5 colors in the top left corner, then you can use any food token
  4. Your bonus cards will help guide you towards what types of birds you should collect. Goals can range from filling rows on your board with cards, laying eggs, or having specific birds on your board. Keep the goal you picked secret and discard the one you don’t want. [4]
    • The appendix in the game box lists all of the bonus cards if you need any clarification.
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Part 3
Part 3 of 6:

Overview

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  1. Pick a player at random to start the game and hand them the first player token with the bird on it. At the start of your turn, you can take any of the 4 available actions. You can take the same action multiple times during a round, but you only choose 1 action each turn. We’ll break down the possible actions in the next section. [5]
  2. Find the row on your player board for the action you want to take. The picture on the open slot that’s furthest to the left tells you what you can do if you take the action. Set a cube on the slot to remind you what action you’re taking this turn.
    • As you play bird cards to your board, you’ll fill in the slots and gain access to more powerful actions.
  3. After you take the main action, you get to use the powers of birds that you already played into the matching row. Starting from the bird furthest to the right, complete the action of any power with a brown background. After you finish the action on one bird, move your cube to the next bird to the left if there is one.
    • Bird powers usually offer you ways to gain bird cards, eggs, food, or other ways to score points at the end of the game.
    • After you finish all of the bird powers, keep your cube on the left side of your board. You won’t be able to use the cube again this round.
  4. After the first player takes their turn, the person to their left takes the next turn. During the first round, you’ll get 8 turns since you have 8 cubes. After the last player in turn order takes their last action, immediately move on to end-of-round scoring. [6]
    • Pay attention to other players’ turns since you may have pink bird powers that activate in between turns.
  5. You always lose a cube during end-of-round scoring, so you’ll have 1 less turn every round. When the fourth round ends, calculate the final score to find out who won! [7]
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Part 4
Part 4 of 6:

Actions

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  1. Play a Bird is the top row of your player board. If you take this action, choose a bird card from your hand and pay the food cost in the top-left corner back to the supply. Check the square habitat icon in the top-left to see which rows you can place the bird card. Always play a bird card to the leftmost open spot in a row. [8]
    • The 3 habitats are Forest (top row), Grassland (middle row), and Wetland (bottom row). If your bird has multiple icons, you can put the bird in any row you want.
    • If you don’t have the food token you need for a bird card, you can always exchange any 2 food tokens to use as any 1 food cost on a card.
    • Check the top of the player board in the column where you played a bird card. If there are egg icons above the column, you must remove that number of eggs from birds on your player board to play a card.
    • If a bird card has a power that says “When Played:”, then activate that power immediately. That bird’s power cannot be activated again.
    • Try to focus on playing birds in 1 or 2 habitats since you won’t have enough time to fill all 3 rows. [9]
  2. The slot for the action tells you how many dice you can take out of the birdfeeder. When you take a die out of the birdfeeder, set it aside and take a matching food token from the supply. If the die shows 2 food tokens with a slash in between them, you can choose one or the other. [10]
    • If all of the dice in the birdfeeder are showing the same face (even if there’s only 1 die left), you can reroll all the dice before making your choice.
    • Some slots on your player board will let you discard a bird card from your hand to let you choose another die.
    • There’s no limit to how many food tokens you can have.
    • After finishing the action, activate the brown bird powers in the Forest from right to left.
  3. The number of egg icons in the slot shows you how many eggs you can lay. Take any of the eggs from the supply to place on bird cards you’ve already played onto your board. Look on the left side of each bird card for egg icons to see how many eggs you can place on the card. You can split the eggs between any number of birds. [11]
    • The action slot may let you return 1 food to the supply to lay an extra egg.
    • Some goals and bonus cards reward points for having eggs in a certain nest type. The nest icon is right above the egg icons on the bird card. Star icons act as a wild and can score for any goal or bonus.
    • After taking the action, activate the brown bird powers from right to left in the Grassland.
    EXPERT TIP

    Ashton Wu

    Board Game Expert
    Ashton Wu is a Board Game expert at Shelfside. After delving into the Yugioh tournament community while growing up, Ashton launched himself into the board gaming community in 2014 and went into reviewing board games as a career full-time in 2019. His YouTube channel Shelfside has over 35K subscribers and over 4 million views, assisted by written reviews on the Shelfside website and BoardGameGeek.com. He also consults with gaming companies to build high-quality gaming products. Ashton is a tournament commentator, board game playthrough director, and host of the Shelfside Podcast, where he talks about board games with his business partner, Daniel. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in addition to the Technology Management Certificate.
    Ashton Wu
    Board Game Expert

    New to Wingspan? For a guaranteed point boost, prioritize laying eggs. Eggs are a reliable way to score points in Wingspan, benefitting all birds and offering a path to victory. Once you've mastered the basics, you can explore more complex strategies. But for now, let the eggs pave your way to becoming a seasoned bird enthusiast!

  4. You can take cards equal to the number of icons shown on the action slot. You may choose from the 3 face-up birds in the tray or draw a card from the top of the deck. There’s no limit to the number of bird cards you can have in your hand.
    • When you draw a face-up card, wait until the end of your turn before refilling the empty space.
    • If you ever run out of bird cards, shuffle the discard pile into a new deck.
    • Some action slots let you pay 1 egg from a bird on your player board to draw an extra bird card.
    • After taking the action, activate the brown bird powers in the Wetlands from right to left.
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Part 5
Part 5 of 6:

End-of-Round Scoring

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  1. All of your action cubes should be on the left side of your board so they’re easy to collect. Just move them off your board so you can start the next round.
  2. Check the goal tile for the round that you just completed and count how many times you completed the goal on your board. How you place your cubes on the goal board depends on the side you’re using. [12]
    • If you’re using the green side , whoever completed the goal the most times places a cube in the first place slot, second-most in 2nd place, and so on. If there’s a tie, place both cubes on the tied slot and do not award the next place down. For example, if you and another player tie for 2nd, you’d both score second and no one would put a cube in 3rd place.
    • If you’re using the blue side , you score 1 point for every time you completed the goal, up to a maximum of 5 points. Multiple people can score the same amount.
    • Even if you didn’t complete the goal for the round, you must place a cube on the goal board in the “0” spot.
  3. Take whatever birds are left in the tray and set them in a discard pile face-up. Draw the next 3 cards of the deck to fill the slots on the tray so you have new birds for the next round.
  4. Just so the same player doesn’t start every single round, give the token to the player on your left. Then you can start the next round. [13]
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Part 6
Part 6 of 6:

Final Scoring

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  1. The points for each bird are next to the feather symbol on the left side of the card. Add all of your points together and write the total down on the score sheet. [14]
    • Birds that are easier to play usually are worth fewer points. Try to balance between high- and low-value bird cards so you have a good spread.
  2. Count the number of eggs you have on bird cards on your player board and gain 1 point for each. Some bird powers let you “cache” food tokens on top of birds or “tuck” cards underneath them. Count how many food tokens and tucked cards you have and gain 1 point for each one.
    • You do not get points for food tokens in your supply.
  3. Check the goal board and add the number of points you earned for each round to your score. Then, reveal your bonus card and check if you earned points from it. Total all of your points together, and whoever has the most wins! [15]
    • If there’s a tie, then the person who had the most food tokens in their supply wins. If you’re still tied, then you both win!
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Expert Q&A

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  • Question
    What's a great strategy for beginners?
    Ashton Wu
    Board Game Expert
    Ashton Wu is a Board Game expert at Shelfside. After delving into the Yugioh tournament community while growing up, Ashton launched himself into the board gaming community in 2014 and went into reviewing board games as a career full-time in 2019. His YouTube channel Shelfside has over 35K subscribers and over 4 million views, assisted by written reviews on the Shelfside website and BoardGameGeek.com. He also consults with gaming companies to build high-quality gaming products. Ashton is a tournament commentator, board game playthrough director, and host of the Shelfside Podcast, where he talks about board games with his business partner, Daniel. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in addition to the Technology Management Certificate.
    Ashton Wu
    Board Game Expert
    Expert Answer
    Prioritize your main objective in Wingspan and delve into the underlying statistics that provide insights into the probability of drawing or encountering the desired cards. For beginners, focusing on laying eggs is a solid strategy. This approach ensures guaranteed points that spread across all your cards, serving as a foolproof method, much like employing a strong beginner's strategy in games such as Dominion. It provides a reliable baseline for starting out. As you become more familiar with the game, you can explore more intricate strategies. While my experience with the game spans several years, laying eggs is a fundamental tip I always emphasize for players of all levels.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://rulepop.com/wingspan/#setup-details
      2. ↑ https://rulepop.com/wingspan/#setup-details
      3. ↑ https://rulepop.com/wingspan/#setup-details
      4. ↑ https://youtu.be/xMEfVxiUM54?t=324
      5. ↑ https://youtu.be/vxqktptfKE4?t=84
      6. ↑ https://rulepop.com/wingspan/#rounds
      7. ↑ https://rulepop.com/wingspan/#rounds
      8. ↑ https://youtu.be/t0WsiNFn1bQ?t=338
      9. ↑ https://catsanddice.com/wingspan-strategy-tips-guide/
      1. ↑ https://youtu.be/vxqktptfKE4?t=288
      2. ↑ https://rulepop.com/wingspan/#lay-eggs
      3. ↑ https://rulepop.com/wingspan/#round-end
      4. ↑ https://rulepop.com/wingspan/#round-end
      5. ↑ https://youtu.be/vxqktptfKE4?t=659
      6. ↑ https://youtu.be/t0WsiNFn1bQ?t=834

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