Wingspan Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
  • Global Components
  • Player Setup
• Swift-Start Guides and Cards
• Overview
  • Turn Structure
  • DESIGNER’S NOTE
• Round Structure
• Designer’s Note
• Game End and Scoring
• THE FOUR ACTIONS
  • OPTION 1. Play a Bird From Your Hand
    • When you choose to play a bird, do the following
• Designer’s Note
• OPTION 2. Gain Food and Activate Forest Bird Powers
  • When you choose to gain food, do the following
  • Managing the birdfeeder
  • Managing food tokens
• OPTION 3. Lay Eggs and Activate Grassland Bird Powers
• When you choose to lay eggs, do the following
  • Managing egg tokens
  • Types of nests
  • Designer’s Note
• OPTION 4. Draw Bird Cards and Activate Wetland Bird Powers
  • When you choose to draw cards, do the following:
  • Managing the bird deck
  • Designer’s Note
• BIRD POWERS
  • Powers on bird cards fall into 3 categories
• END OF THE ROUND
  • Scoring End-of-Round Goals
  • Green: Majority of the targeted item
  • Blue: One point per targeted item
• BONUS CARDS

Components

• 1 rulebook
• 1 appendix
• 1 goa
• 1 goal board
• 1 bird tray
• 5 player mats
• 1 birdfeeder dice tower
• 1 scorepad
• 170 bird cards
• 26 bonus cards
• 75 egg miniatures
• 5 custom wooden dice
• 40 wooden action cubes
• 103 food tokens
• 8 goal tiles
• 1 first player token
• 10 Swift-Start bird cards
• 4 Swift-Start player guides

Setup

Global Components

1. Bird cards. Shuffle the bird cards into a deck. Place it next to the bird tray, then populate the tray with 3 face-up bird cards.
2. Supply. Place all food and egg tokens in the supply. These are tokens accessible to all players.
3. Birdfeeder. Toss the food dice into the birdfeeder dice tower.
4. Goal board. Choose which type of goals you will play with, and place the goal board on the table with that side facing up:
   • Green: For a game with more direct competition for goals, choose the side that has 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place for each goal. This is the default.
   • Blue: For a game with less direct competition between players, choose the side that awards 1 point for each targeted item. This is good for new players.
5. Goal tiles. Shuffle the goal tiles without looking at them (they’re double-sided). Place 1 goal tile (random side up) on each of the four blank spaces on the goal board. Return extra goal tiles to the box.
6. Bonus cards. Shuffle the bonus cards into a deck and place it on the table.

Player Setup

A. Each player receives:

• 1 player mat
• 8 action cubes of one color
• 2 random bonus cards
• 5 random bird cards
• 5 food tokens (1 of each type)

You may keep your hand of cards private or public throughout the game.

B. Keep up to 5 bird cards and discard the others. For each bird card you keep, you must discard 1 food token. You will probably want to keep food tokens shown in the upper left of the bird cards you selected. For example, you might keep 2 bird cards and 3 food, or you might keep 4 bird cards and 1 food.

C. Choose 1 bonus card to keep, and discard the other. You may look at your bonus cards while selecting which birds to keep (and vice versa).

D. Randomly select the first player and give them the first-player token.

Swift-Start Guides and Cards

The easiest way to learn Wingspan is by following the Swift-Start guides. Distribute 1 guide per player clockwise around the table, starting with the guide labeled “Player 1.” Proceed with all setup steps in this rulebook as normal, except for selecting birds and food tokens. Instead, the guides will instruct which cards and food each player starts with. This Swift-Start learning process uses the 10 Swift-Start cards marked with gray corners.

These player guides explain the 4 main actions to all players by walking them through their first few actions. There is no need for the 5th player to have a guide. The 5th player may proceed with all setup steps as normal and follow the examples of the other players. You may also use these guides with fewer than 4 players.

After learning the game, shuffle the 10 Swift-Start cards into the main deck. They’re marked on the corners in case you’d like to pull them out to teach new players using this system.

After following the Swift-Start guides to completion, take a look at the Quick-Reference Guide on page 2 of the Appendix. This will quickly help you reference the basic rules of the game.

Overview

Wingspan is played over 4 rounds. During each round, players take turns — proceeding clockwise — until each player has used all of their available action cubes.

Turn Structure

On your turn, you will take 1 of 4 actions, as shown on the left side of your player mat:

• Play a bird from your hand
• Gain food and activate forest bird powers
• Lay eggs and activate grassland bird powers
• Draw bird cards and activate wetland bird powers

DESIGNER’S NOTE

Your first few turns will be very simple as you work to attract some birds to your wildlife preserves. You may even select the same action multiple times, which is absolutely allowed!

To place a bird from your hand onto a habitat, place an action cube on the Play a Bird spot above where you will play the bird. Pay the bird’s food and egg cost, then place the bird on your mat, only triggering that bird’s white “when played” power (if any).

The Gain Food, Lay Eggs, and Draw Bird Cards actions follow the same 3-step process (numbers noted on player mat image, below):

1. Choose a habitat on your player mat and place an action cube on the leftmost exposed slot in that row. Gain the benefit of that slot.
2. Move your action cube from right to left, activating any birds with a brown “WHEN ACTIVATED” power in that row. Each power is optional.
3. When the action cube reaches the far left, leave it there. Your turn is over.

Round Structure

When all players have placed all of their action cubes, the round is over. Follow these steps in order:

1. Remove all action cubes from your player mat.
2. Score the end-of-round goal for the round you just completed.
3. Discard all face-up bird cards on the bird tray and restock the bird tray with cards from the deck.
4. Rotate the first player token clockwise to the next player.

Designer’s Note

Players have fewer actions as the game progresses, but the bird powers create powerful combinations as birds accumulate in each row of the player mats.

Use 1 of your action cubes to mark your score on the end-of-round goal. As a result, you will have 1 fewer action cube to use each round:

• Round 1: 8 turns per player
• Round 2: 7 turns per player
• Round 3: 6 turns per player
• Round 4: 5 turns per player

Game End and Scoring

The game ends at the conclusion of Round 4. Use the scorepad to add together the following:

• Points for each face-up bird card on your player mat (printed on the cards)
• Points for each bonus card (printed on the cards)
• Points for end-of-round goals (shown on goal board)
• 1 point for each:
  • egg on a bird card
  • food token cached on a bird card
  • card tucked under a bird card

The player who has the most points wins. In the case of a tie, the player with the most unused food tokens wins. If players are still tied, they share the victory.

THE FOUR ACTIONS

OPTION 1. Play a Bird From Your Hand

Before choosing to play a bird from your hand, consider its habitat, food requirements, and egg cost. Each bird has habitat and food requirements, shown in the upper left-hand corner of the card. Additionally, there may be an egg cost shown at the top of the column in which you’re playing the bird (there is no egg cost for the first column). If you cannot afford to pay the full cost, you cannot play the bird.

When you choose to play a bird, do the following

1. Select a bird card in hand to play and place an action cube at the top of the column in which you will play the bird. Pay the corresponding egg cost (if any) by discarding eggs from any birds on your player mat. To play a bird in column 2 or 3, you must discard 1 egg to the egg supply. In columns 4 or 5, you must discard 2 eggs.
2. Pay the bird’s food cost. Discard food tokens to the supply (these tokens must be from next to your player mat, not food tokens cached on bird cards, a concept that will be explained later). The 5 types of food are:
   • invertebrate
   • seed
   • fish
   • fruit
   • rodent
3. Place the bird card on the leftmost exposed slot in its corresponding habitat and move your action cube to the left side of the PLAY A BIRD row. The three habitats are:
   • forest
   • grassland
   • wetland If multiple habitat symbols are shown on the bird card, you can choose which habitat (row) to place it in. Your player mat limits you to a maximum of 5 birds in each habitat.
4. If the bird has a power that reads, “WHEN PLAYED,” you may use that power. Other powers (in brown and pink) are not used when the bird is played. Playing a bird is the only action that does not activate a row of birds.

Designer’s Note

These food types are very generalized. For example, the symbol for invertebrates is a caterpillar, but some invertebrate-eaters specialize in flying or swimming insects instead (or shellfish).

OPTION 2. Gain Food and Activate Forest Bird Powers

Food is primarily used to play bird cards. Your options for which food to gain are shown on the dice in the birdfeeder, which will repeatedly get depleted and refilled throughout the game.

When you choose to gain food, do the following

1. Place an action cube in the leftmost exposed slot in the “gain food” row on your player mat and gain the amount of food shown from dice you select from the birdfeeder.

For each food that you gain (1 food per die icon):

• Remove a die from the birdfeeder and put it on the table.
• Gain a food token matching the icon on the die and place it next to your player mat. Your food tokens are public information.

You always gain 1 food token per die. With the die face that shows worm/wheat, gain 1 token of either type (not 2 tokens).

2. If the slot where you placed your action cube shows a card-to-food bonus conversion, you may discard at most 1 bird card from your hand to gain an additional food. This is optional. When you gain this extra food, you must choose among the dice that are remaining in the birdfeeder.

3. Activate any brown powers on your forest birds, from right to left. All powers are optional. End your turn by placing your action cube on the left side of the “gain food” row.

Managing the birdfeeder

The birdfeeder has a tray to hold the 5 food dice. The dice removed from the birdfeeder when a player gained food will remain outside the tray until the birdfeeder is refilled.

If the birdfeeder tray is ever empty, throw all 5 dice back in. If the dice in the tray all show the same face (including if there is only 1 die) and you are about to gain food from the birdfeeder for any reason, you may first throw all 5 dice back into the birdfeeder. (worm/wheat counts as its own unique face.)

Managing food tokens

There is no limit on how many food tokens you can have by your mat or on your birds (some bird cards allow you to cache food tokens on them until the end of the game), nor is there a limit on food tokens in the supply. In the unlikely event that any type of food token is unavailable in the supply, use a temporary substitute.

OPTION 3. Lay Eggs and Activate Grassland Bird Powers

Eggs are part of the cost of playing bird cards in columns 2 – 5. Also, each egg on the bird cards on your player mat is worth 1 point at the end of the game.

When you choose to lay eggs, do the following

1. Place an action cube in the leftmost exposed slot in the “lay eggs” row on your player mat and lay that number of eggs.

To lay an egg, gain an egg token from the supply (color doesn’t matter) and place it on a bird card that has space for it, according to its egg limit. The egg will stay there for the rest of the game, unless discarded.

You can lay eggs on any combination of birds (including all on 1 bird), but each bird has an egg limit. A bird’s egg limit is shown by the egg icons. A bird card can never hold more than this number of eggs.

It is possible that you will have more capacity to lay eggs (based on your player mat) than you have spaces on your birds. Any excess beyond your egg limit is lost.

2. If the slot where you placed your action cube shows a food-to- egg bonus conversion, you may pay at most 1 food token to lay an additional egg. This is optional.

3. Activate any brown powers on your grassland birds, from right to left. All powers are optional. End your turn by placing your action cube on the left side of the “lay eggs” row.

Managing egg tokens

There is no limit to the egg supply. In the unlikely event that no eggs remain in the supply, use a temporary substitute.

Types of nests

Each bird has a nest icon beneath its score. These nest icons can be important for end-of-round goals and bonus cards. The 4 types of nests are:

• platform
• bowl
• cavity
• ground

Star nests are wild. (These birds build unusual nests that don’t fit into the four standard types.) These can be powerful, because they can match any other nest type for goals, bonus cards, and bird powers.

Designer’s Note

Egg limits in Wingspan are all proportionate to the number of eggs birds actually lay ... but scaled down for the game. Birds with a maximum of 6 eggs may actually lay 15 or more eggs in a year.

OPTION 4. Draw Bird Cards and Activate Wetland Bird Powers

The cards available for you to draw are the 3 face-up cards on the bird tray and the top card of the bird deck.

When you choose to draw cards, do the following:

1. Place an action cube in the leftmost exposed slot in the “draw cards” row on your player mat, and draw the number of cards shown there from either the face-up cards on the bird tray or the bird deck. There is no hand limit.
2. If the slot where you placed your action cube shows an egg-to-card bonus conversion, you may discard at most 1 egg from a bird on your mat to draw an additional card. This is optional. Remove 1 egg from one of your bird cards and return it to the egg supply.
3. Activate any brown powers on your wetland birds, from right to left. All powers are optional. End your turn by placing your action cube on the left side of the “draw cards” row.

Managing the bird deck

As you draw face-up cards, they are not immediately refilled. Instead, wait until the end of your turn before refilling empty spaces on the bird tray. If the face-down deck is ever emptied during the game, reshuffle all discarded bird cards to form a new deck.

At the end of each round, discard any remaining face-up cards and replenish them with 3 new bird cards. The discard pile is kept face-up.

Designer’s Note

Wingspan includes 180 of the 914 species of birds found in North America. The map at the bottom of each bird card shows in which continents it lives.

BIRD POWERS

Powers on bird cards fall into 3 categories

WHEN ACTIVATED (brown): These powers may be activated from right to left whenever you use the corresponding habitat.

Cache: This refers to putting a food token on a bird (the bird is saving the food for later). You cannot spend that food token; instead, it’s worth 1 VP at end of game. If you run out of food tokens, you can cache cards instead (use discarded cards).

Wingspan: The wingspan of each bird is used for comparison for some bird abilities.

Skull icon This indicates that the bird is a predator.

Bird card This indicates that the bird’s power involves tucking other bird cards under it to represent the creation of a flock. Each of these tucked cards are worth 1 VP at end of game.

ONCE BETWEEN TURNS (pink): These powers may be triggered on opponents’ turns. You can only use a pink power once between each of your own turns (if an opponent triggers it). We recommend telling other players what the power is, and what activates it. Players should help each other notice when a bird with a pink power should be activated.

WHEN PLAYED (white): These powers may be activated only when a bird is played (never again after you play the bird).

The Appendix contains descriptions of all bird powers.

Bird powers are always optional. For example, if you do not want to spend a card by tucking it under a flocking bird, you do not have to do so.

END OF THE ROUND

When players have placed all their available action cubes (1 cube per turn), the round is over. At round end:

1. Remove all action cubes from your player mat.
2. Score the end-of-round goal for the round you just completed.
3. Discard all face-up bird cards on the bird tray and replenish them.
4. Rotate the first player token clockwise to the next player.

Scoring End-of-Round Goals

The end-of-round goals are based on how many birds or eggs you have in a given habitat or nest type. To indicate the points you score from that goal, each player must place an action cube on the goal board (even if you score 0 points). The board has 2 sides, each using a different scoring method. Green is the default, but blue is good for new players.

Green: Majority of the targeted item

This method uses the side of the goal board that has spaces for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.

At the end of the round, count your quantity of the targeted item. Players compare their results and place their action cubes based on their rank order.

If players tie, place both cubes on the tied place, and do not award the next place. At game end, you will add the points for that place and the next place(s), then divide by the number of players who tied and round down (4th place scores 0 points).

For example, when using the goal that scores 5, 2, or 1 points, if two players tie for 1st place, each gets 3 points (5 + 2 divided by 2 players, rounded down). Do not award 2nd place to another player.

You must have at least 1 of the targeted items to score points for a goal. For example, you must have at least 1 grassland bird to score points for the “most birds in the grassland habitat” goal.

If you finish in 4th or 5th place, you must still place an action cube on the goal board in the space marked 0.

Blue: One point per targeted item

This method uses the side of the goal board that has spaces labeled 5-4-3-2-1-0 next to the space for each goal.

At the end of the round, count your quantity of the targeted item. Score 1 point per item, with a maximum of 5 points. Use an action cube to mark your score on the goal. If you do not have any of that item, you must still place an action cube on the goal board in the space marked 0.

BONUS CARDS

As described in Setup, each player starts the game with 1 bonus card (selected from 2 random cards). There are also several birds in the deck that allow you to gain additional bonus cards.

At end of game, score the bonus cards you have in your hand. See the Appendix for more information about scoring each type of bonus card.