Wingspan cover
Engine BuildingCard DraftingSet CollectionSolo ModeFamily

Wingspan

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

You are bird enthusiasts—researchers, bird watchers, ornithologists, and collectors—seeking to discover and attract the best birds to your network of wildlife preserves. Each bird extends a chain of powerful combinations in one of your habitats: forest, grassland, or wetland.

The winner is the player with the most points after 4 rounds.

1–5 players 40–70 min Setup ~10 min Teach ~15 min Medium Learn: Medium Master: Hard Ages 14+ 2019
Designed by Elizabeth Hargrave Published by Stonemaier Games
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Quick Reference

ON YOUR TURN — choose ONE action:

1. PLAY A BIRD — pay its food + egg cost, place in matching habitat.
2. GAIN FOOD — take food from birdfeeder, plus activate forest 'when activated' powers.
3. LAY EGGS — place eggs on bird cards, plus activate grassland powers.
4. DRAW BIRD CARDS — draw cards, plus activate wetland powers.

Each habitat gives more rewards as you play more birds in it (left-to-right).

ROUND END: score the round-end goal on the goal board.

GAME END: after Round 4. Score: birds + bonus cards + end-of-round goals + eggs + food on cards + tucked cards.

Components 10
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Bird cards

The main deck. Each card is a unique bird with VP, habitat, food cost, egg capacity, and a power.

×170
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Bonus cards

Personal end-game scoring objectives drawn at setup.

×26
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Goal tiles

End-of-round goals slotted into the goal board.

×16
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Food dice

Custom dice with five food types and a wild 'invertebrate + seed' face. Live in the birdfeeder tower.

×5
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Egg miniatures

Pastel egg pieces placed on bird cards.

×75
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Food tokens

Cardboard tokens for each of the five food types.

×100
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Player mats

One per player, with rows for forest, grassland, and wetland.

×5
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Action cubes

8 per player color; placed on the player mat to take actions.

×40
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Birdfeeder dice tower

Cardboard tower; food dice are rolled into it.

×1
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First-player token

Wooden tracker passed each round.

×1
Setup Instructions 6 steps
0 of 6 steps complete
How to Win
Most points / resources wins

The player with the most total victory points after 4 rounds wins.

Tiebreaker:

If tied, the player with the most food in their personal supply wins. Still tied? Most unused eggs. Still tied? Shared victory.

On Your Turn

Turn structure

  1. Play a bird

    Pay the food and egg costs shown on the bird card. Place it in the matching habitat row, leftmost open slot. Trigger any pink (when played) power.

  2. Gain food

    Place an action cube in the forest row. Take food dice from the birdfeeder equal to your row reward, then re-roll the tower if it's empty or has only one type.

  3. Lay eggs

    Place an action cube in the grassland row. Distribute eggs equal to your row reward across your birds (max capacity printed on each card).

  4. Draw bird cards

    Place an action cube in the wetland row. Draw bird cards equal to your row reward — from the face-up tray and/or the deck.

Available actions

Play a bird

Food + eggs (varies)

Adds a bird to your tableau — your engine grows.

Gain food

1 action cube

Take food from the birdfeeder; activate forest powers right-to-left.

Lay eggs

1 action cube

Lay 2-5 eggs depending on grassland progress; activate grassland powers.

Draw cards

1 action cube

Draw 1-3 cards from face-up tray or the deck; activate wetland powers.

Scoring 6

End-game scoring

Birds

Sum the upper-left VP value on every bird in your preserves.

VP printed on each bird card
Bonus card(s)

Reveal each bonus card and score per its instructions (e.g. 'Wingspan ≥ 65 cm: 1/2/4/7 birds = 2/5/9/14 VP').

Per card
Eggs

Each egg on any of your birds is worth 1 point.

1 VP each
Food on cards

Each food token cached on a bird (via its power) is worth 1 point.

1 VP each
Tucked cards

Each bird card tucked under another bird is worth 1 point.

1 VP each

Round / phase scoring

End-of-round goals

Look at the goal board: most/fewest in a category scores per the column shown that round.

Varies
Resources 6
Invertebrate
Worms and bugs from the birdfeeder.
Seed
Grains, including from the birdfeeder.
Fruit
Berries and similar.
Rodent
Mice and small mammals — predator food.
Fish
Caught from wetlands.
Egg
Scores at end
Laid on bird cards. Worth 1 VP at game end.
How to Play 3

Player-count notes:

At 1 player (Automa) you have 8/7/6/5 cubes per round; at 2-5 players the same.

  1. On your turn, take exactly ONE of the four actions, then play passes to the next player.

    Explanation:

    Wingspan never has multi-action turns — that's why a single round is short.

    Common Mistakes:

    Don't try to do two things at once like in heavier engine builders.

  2. A round ends when every player has used all of their action cubes for that round.

    Explanation:

    Players have fewer cubes available in later rounds (8/7/6/5 actions across rounds 1-4).

    Common Mistakes:

    Forgetting that round 4 is shorter — plan your engine timing.

  3. After every player passes, score the end-of-round goal, then start the next round.

Player-count notes:

Some birds activate every time you take an action in that habitat. Others trigger only when played.

  1. Pink (When Played) powers trigger once, immediately when the bird is placed.

    Explanation:

    Read the card carefully — pink is one-time only.

    Common Mistakes:

    Forgetting to use the pink power before passing the turn.

  2. Brown (When Activated) powers trigger every time you take the matching habitat action, in right-to-left order.

    Explanation:

    Always activate from rightmost bird leftward — order matters.

    Common Mistakes:

    Activating left-to-right and missing food→egg combos.

  3. White (Once Between Turns) powers trigger when an opponent does something specific.

    Explanation:

    Stay alert during opponents' turns — these powers are easy to miss.

    Common Mistakes:

    Letting opponents' turns slide by without checking your white powers.

  1. After round 4 is scored, total VP from: birds, bonus cards, all 4 end-of-round goals, eggs, food cached on cards, and tucked cards.

    Explanation:

    Use the scorepad — it has a column for each category.

    Common Mistakes:

    Forgetting to count cached food and tucked cards (often 5–10 hidden VP).

Variants & House Rules 3

Bird powers that target opponents (steal food, force discards) are ignored in this mode. Recommended for kids and first-timers.

Source: Stonemaier Games — official rulebook variant page.

Play against an AI driven by a small deck. Great for learning the game and engine practice.

Source: Included in the base game rulebook.

Instead of dealing 5 random cards, deal 8 to each player and draft 1 / pass / draft 1 until each has 5. Adds strategic opening.

Source: BoardGameGeek community variant.
Official Errata 1
Pink power timing on 'play another bird' effects Mar 15, 2020

When a pink power lets you play another bird, that bird's pink power also triggers, but you do NOT activate brown powers — the original action was 'play a bird', not the matching habitat action.

Official source
Tips & Strategies 6

  1. Read your bonus card BEFORE choosing which 5 starting birds to keep — it dictates 50% of your strategy.

  2. Don't ignore one habitat. Even 2-3 birds in each unlocks the better column rewards.

  3. Brown 'when activated' powers stack — placing them right-to-left in their row is a trap. Place them left-to-right so they trigger every action from then on.

  4. Eggs are flexible currency — they pay for high-VP birds, satisfy bonus cards, and score 1 VP each at end of game.

  5. Tucking and caching are quiet VP factories — a 'tuck 2' bird run 3 times is 6 hidden points.

  6. Reset the bird tray (top action) when it's full of expensive birds you can't use — fresh cards are usually better.

Common Mistakes 6

  1. Forgetting to activate brown 'when activated' powers right-to-left.

  2. Playing birds without checking if their food cost can come from cached food (some powers spend cached food).

  3. Spending all your eggs on bird costs and having nothing to score with at end of game.

  4. Ignoring the end-of-round goal until it's too late to compete for it.

  5. Re-rolling the birdfeeder when 4 of 5 dice match — you give opponents the same reset.

  6. Tucking cards under birds without realizing it removes them from the deck (they don't go back).

Glossary 7
Tuck

Slide a bird card under another bird (usually face-down) to count as +1 VP and to satisfy 'tucked' powers.

Cache

Place a food token on a bird via its power. Cached food is worth 1 VP each at game end.

Habitat

One of the three rows on your player mat: forest (food), grassland (eggs), wetland (cards).

Activate

Trigger a brown power. Always go right-to-left in the active row.

Wingspan

The literal wingspan in cm printed on each bird card — used by some bonus cards.

Predator

A bird with a 'predator' icon; some powers and bonus cards reference predator status.

Birdfeeder

The dice tower holding the 5 food dice. Re-roll when only one food type remains or it's empty.

Frequently Asked 5

No. Once you place your last cube, you're done for the round and pass for the rest of it.

Only if the play-a-bird action's pink power says so. Brown powers trigger on the corresponding habitat ACTION, not on placement.

Refill it from the deck up to 3 cards at end of turn. If the deck is empty, the tray stays partial.

No. There's no hand limit on bird cards in standard Wingspan.

Ties on bonus cards earn the higher tier for all tied players (per the rulebook FAQ).

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