Is Wyrmspan the same game as Wingspan, just with dragons instead of birds? (watch video or read below)
Like its predecessor, Wyrmspan is a game about collecting unique winged animals on a player mat and gaining points from eggs, cached resources, tucked cards, and goal tiles. While Wingspan served as the inspiration, Wyrmspan is a more complex game featuring the following differences:
- You must excavate a cave space before enticing (playing) a dragon to that space by playing a cave card (which has a “when played” benefit); you begin the game with 3 excavated spaces
- Hatchlings (baby dragons) are a type of card found in the dragon deck. They all have an egg cost (you’re hatching them from an egg), an ongoing power whenever you feed them, and a strong one-time ability when they’re fully grown
- Four different guilds (1 per game) offering different in-game and end-game benefits as you progress
- Dragon cards have personality tags referenced by various powers and end-round goals. Every dragon card is designed from scratch; they are not designed as copies of Wingspan cards.
- Actions are performed by spending coins and often eggs (not action cubes), both of which you can save for future rounds. There are even some ways to gain extra coins while you play (in Wingspan, you can never gain extra actions).
- Explore your caves from left to right to activate abilities (not right to left); reaching the end of a cave–when fully excavated and occupied–offers scoring benefits
- There are two nest icons on your cave mat even before you play a dragon (so you can lay eggs on your first turn if you wish)
- Start the game with your choice of 4 cards (from 3 dragons and 3 caves) and a choice of any 3 resources
- Discard down to 9 cards, 9 coins, and 9 resource tokens at the end of each of your turns (a restriction that gives players the creative freedom to actually carry over actions to the next round)
- Gain 6 coins and 1 egg at the beginning of each round (four total rounds)
- No dice (you’re either always gaining a specific resource or your choice of the 4 resources). The food dice are often a nice element of variability and player interaction in Wingspan, but we found it just a little too frustrating in Wyrmspan if all resources weren’t consistently available.
- No bonus cards (These types of bonuses are present in Wyrmspan, just built into various dragon cards instead of a separate deck of cards. This allows you to maintain focus on the player mat instead of having a separate set of cards to keep track of. Plus, by combining these bonuses into dragon cards, playing one means that you’re improving your engine, which bonus cards don’t do. This combined approach also means one fewer decision points to make before the game begins, instead giving players the opportunity to make such important decisions during the game instead.)
- No pink powers (“Once Between Turns”). I like how players can gain things when it’s not their turn in Wingspan, but we’ve noticed that it leads to a lot of questions and confusions among players. Instead, we included “if activated,” “when played,” “end of round,” and “end of game” powers in Wyrmspan.
- A 2-for-1 resource exchange can be used at any time (not just when playing a card)
- Card abilities are optional (unless they benefit other players). If I have a dragon that gives everyone something, that dragon automatically activates. When it would activate, each player, including the owner of the dragon, can choose whether or not to use that dragon’s ability, and that choice is independent. This contrasts with Wingspan, where I (as the owner of the card) could decide that the card doesn’t activate for anyone at the table.
- The end-round goal scoring is friendly. For example, if two people tie for first, they both gain full VP for first place. The next player takes second place.
- Dragon facts are found in a field-guide style book, not on the cards themselves. We found that by separating this text from the cards, we made the dragon cards more vision-friendly (plus, the 32-page full-color book is a fun addition).
Are the dragon cards in Wyrmspan compatible with Wingspan?
No, these are different games with costs and resources that do not overlap.
What types of player interaction, tension, and reasons to pay attention to other players are there in Wyrmspan?
In terms of player interaction, we pursued a similar vibe to Wingspan in that there are reasons to pay attention to other players, but you’re never attacking or intentionally hurting other players. Imagine a world where dragons of all shapes and sizes are just as common as birds—hopefully our first thought wouldn’t be to use them as vehicles of war.
There are still areas of tension in Wyrmspan, though. The special guild benefits are limited, and they scale by player count (one side of the guild tile is for 2-3 player; the other for 4-5 players). The end-of-round goals are always relative to other players (though ties are friendly). There’s also the tension of claiming available cave and dragon cards before an opponent. And Wyrmspan includes my favorite type of interaction—positive player interaction—via a number of dragon and cave cards that benefit all players.
Will my favorite fictional dragon appear in Wyrmspan?
We love that you love dragons, and I hope you share them with us! But no, Wyrmspan is its own world, so while Clementine and Connie were inspired by dragons from cultures, mythologies, and lore from our world, famous fictional dragons from other intellectual properties don’t appear in Wyrmspan.
Why is Stonemaier Games releasing Wyrmspan instead of working on the next Wingspan expansion?
They’re entirely independent of each other–different designers, different processes. Nothing about Wyrmspan conflicted with her design process for the next Wingspan expansion, nor did anything about Wyrmspan alter anything about the release schedule for Wingspan expansions. Plus, the previous expansion, Wingspan Asia, just released 1 year ago–it really hasn’t been that long. We typically release expansions every other year for Wingspan, and Elizabeth needs time to work on other projects (like Undergrove).
Wyrmspan does not invalidate or replace Wingspan (or any Wingspan products). They are not the same game.
Will Wyrmspan get a digital release?
We hope to work with Wingspan Digital developer Monster Couch in the future to create a digital version of Wyrmspan.
Will the rubber playmats fit in the box?
In terms of general size, yes, the optional add-on rubber playmats will fit in the Wyrmspan box. But exactly how many you get (you need 1 per player and it’s a 5-player game, but if you primarily play at 1 or 2 players you may only get 1 or 2 playmats), how you store them (rolled or folded), and whether or not you remove the original cardboard mats impacts how well they fit in the box and how much lid lift there will be.
What storage solutions are provided in Wyrmspan?
We included 2 containers with lids in Wyrmspan (along with plastic bags for cards) instead of an insert–the containers hold components that would otherwise roll around on the table or be cumbersome to setup/cleanup. As for why there isn’t a card tray, we’ve left the game flexible for those who have different preferences in terms of how they sleeve or store their cards. Also, without a tray, there’s flexible space in the box for expansions if we choose to make them someday.
We understand that people are accustomed to Wingspan including a card tray, but Wingspan’s card tray has actually been the source of many different types of customer frustrations over the years (it was too much plastic for some, but for others it was too cheap-looking when we spent more to change it from plastic to sugarcane pulp; it’s designed to hold sleeved cards but it doesn’t actually satisfy everyone who sleeves cards).
It would seem that it’s a lose-lose situation: Some people are disappointed if we include a card tray or if we don’t include a card tray, so we went with the option that added less plastic to the world, especially since there will surely be independent third-party solutions for those who want them. Conversely, the large bags we include in Wyrmspan are versatile for sleevers and non-sleevers, and it’s just as fast to set up the game (either way, you need to shuffle the cards). Also, included in the Wyrmspan is a card mat (for dragon and cave cards); this removes the need for the card tray lid found in Wingspan.
There are many, many games that use bags to store cards (instead of a card tray), including Earth, Lost Ruins of Arnak, Dune Imperium, and Ark Nova. Perhaps the reason this has become such a talking point is because of the precedent we set with Wingspan’s card tray. We’ll learn from this and make adjustments accordingly for future products so we can better serve our customers.
Why aren’t Wyrmspan boxes individually numbered like some other first-printing games from Stonemaier?
With such a large first printing, I (Jamey) thought that the size of the numbers greatly diminished the meaning of having a numbered first copy (e.g., would having number 85,891 out of 100,000 actually feel special?). We plan to still individually number other new games in the future at smaller print run sizes, and perhaps if we have another huge first printing someday we’ll at least put “first printing” on the box to celebrate those who were here with us to get the product off the ground.
Why should I preorder from Stonemaier Games instead of waiting a few months for the retail release?
In addition to our launch discount, we offer delivery much earlier than the retail release date (shipped from fulfillment centers in the US, Canada, Europe, or Australia) and a guarantee that you’ll get an authentic first-run copy in a timely manner, along with the choice of adding deluxe components (rubber playmats, metal coins, and wooden resources). We also support anyone who wants to order the game from their retailer of choice (retailers will offer the game for pick up or shipping on the retail release day).
When Wingspan came out it was hard to get. I had to wait months for my preorder because of lack of copies. Are you planning on making more copies this time up front?
The first run of Wingspan was 10,000 copies, which is a lot for a game, especially one about birds (not traditionally a bestselling theme among hobby gamers). It sold far faster than we thought, and we raced to catch up, investing in 300,000 total copies during the release year. It sounds like you preordered from a retailer, not from Stonemaier Games, because we only sell products we actually have in stock. I appreciate you supporting your preferred retailer, but please know that retailers do accept orders for games they have not yet secured from distributors–please make sure your retailer only accepts your money for a game if they already know for sure they will have it for you in a timely manner (which is what the GTS Fortress program and our direct-retailer program are set up to do).
The first run of Wyrmspan, as noted in this article, is 100,000 English units. This is our biggest first-run investment in a game before asking for anyone to pay a cent. :) We look forward to selling the game on January 31, followed by shipping in February.
Do dragons really drink milk?
Here’s what designer Connie says about this: “My thought was that if dragons are warm blooded (a lot of lore depicts them that way), then perhaps many of the other evolutionary constraints on mammals applied to dragons, which could include some kind of extra sustenance when young. Plus, nature is weird – echidnas and platypuses are mammals that lay eggs, and many reptiles (including garter snakes) give birth to live young. It seemed like “milk” was a good way to indicate with a short-hand that the resource is relevant only for the baby dragons, not for the adults. In my mind, dragons are a bit of all of them – they have evolved to fill a bunch of different ecological niches, so some are more like birds, some are more like reptiles, and some are more like mammals.”
What does Wingspan designer Elizabeth Hargrave think about Wyrmspan?
Here’s Elizabeth in her own words:
“I signed off on the idea of Wyrmspan at its conception. I helped guide it to its final form. I had meaningful conversations with Connie about what makes Wingspan feel like Wingspan, and how to make this game feel different without losing that core.
Games are for fun. People like dragons. We thought there might be a nice overlap between people who like dragons and people who like games more complex than Wingspan. Connie is an amazing designer whose personal sweet spot as both a gamer and a designer is heavier than mine, AND she’s much more into dragons than I am. So great, let her make a thing she loves for a target audience that Wingspan wasn’t serving.
Meanwhile, the people who feel like Wingspan *was* perfectly targeted to them can keep playing Wingspan to their heart’s content.
I have my favorite version of Azul that will always be the one that I’d choose to play if it were up to me, but I keep base Azul to I break out to play with new gamers. And everyone is happier because they the different Azuls exist in the world to allow for that fine tuning of the match between gamer and game. Fingers crossed the same kind of dynamic will emerge here: people will find the game that feels like their best match and more gamers will be happy.”
Is Wyrmspan a cash grab?
Wingspan brought joy to a lot of people, and many of those people have requested for years that we make a version of the game with different creatures. We could have just reskinned the game (same exact mechanisms and cards but with dragon art/names), but we didn’t. We put a lot of time, effort, resources, and love into Wyrmspan (especially the designer, Connie Vogelmann, who spent a year working on the design of the core mechanisms, hundreds of dragon and cave cards, and the dragon guild).
Yes, this is a product that we are hoping to provide to people in exchange for money. That’s the same for any product or service that anyone has ever made (for which you, as the consumer, have the power to not buy it if it isn’t something you want). Is it a cash grab when an author writes a sequel to a beloved book? When a car company makes a new model of a car people like? When an artist paints something in the same style as a popular painting? Was Gaia Project a cash grab from the makers of Terra Mystica, Frosthaven from the popularity of Gloomhaven, or Pandemic Legacy from Pandemic? But the goal for Wyrmspan (and those games) isn’t to grab anyone’s cash: It’s to spark their imagination, inspire their creativity, and make them smile when their hatchling grows up or they find a way to play a cave for free.
If I tuck a card under a dragon due to an effect other than exploring the cave (i.e. via the last activation of the golden grotto after exploring the whole cave) do I still get that cards if activated effect? (like the one shown on Shrieking Amphiptere)
Definitely, if you do what a hatchling wants you to do at any time, you gain the corresponding benefit. :)
I’ve seen dragons that say lay eggs on orthogonally adjacent dragons, or dragons that ask for egg payment from orthogonally adjacent dragons (such as the primeval wyrm). Does adjacency include the dragon itself, or does it exclude the dragon itself?
Adjacency does not include the dragon itself. Thanks for playing Wyrmspan!
When activating the equatorial cavalier wyvern ability, could you pay 4 cavs for 6 VP? The ability doesn’t appear capped like others, but also doesn’t read as if it can be done more than once.
That card has an end-of-game ability that states, “Pay 1 cave card to gain 1 VP or pay 2 cave cards to gain 3 VP.” At most you can gain 3 VP from this card–you can’t gain benefits multiple tiles (e.g., if a card says to “Gain 1 milk,” you can’t gain 10 milk instead). Thanks for playing Wyrmspan!
Thanks for the quick reply Jamey! We are absolutely loving Wyrmspan with the second game under our belt last night. You guys have done an incredible job! Thanks for making Wyrmspan!
I just played a few games solo and I am wondering when is Automa going to finish and pass? I assume, according to the rules, that when the whole deck is empty and I turn over the last card if the card does not have the pass mark then I do the action, and if it has the pass mark then I automatically do the pass directly? Did i missed something?
It sounds like you have it exactly correct! Have fun!
What happens when 2+ players are tied for 2nd or 3rd place when scoring the objectives at the end of the round?
If two players are tied for 2nd place, they both gain the points for 2nd place.
Thank you!
Hello. Buy and played wyrmspan. Nice game. 1 question. May play a card for free. Bud is also the egg cost for free? (3 and 4the place)
Yes, the egg cost is free. Thanks for playing!
Hi Jamey!
I finally gave the game to my Fiancé for her birthday over Easter, so we’ve finally had a chance to play it! We both love it, and despite it being a Wingspan game, it feels completely different! Played it 3 times this weekend…
I purchased the luxury resources and the rubber player mats too. The resources are awesome, but the player mats don’t fit inside the box. They are about 4mm too tall in either orientation. What can be done about this?
Thanks!
I’m glad you’re having fun with Wyrmspan! My experience with the mats is that they fit in the box if you place them at the top, not under the other components (where the box is a bit tighter). If you want them to fit in the bottom of the box, I’ve heard of people using a paper cutter to trim off just a little bit from the top or bottom.
On a hatchling such as the frugivorous grazer if another card tells me to cache on any dragon and I cache 2 milk do i get 2 crystals, one for each milk cached? Also when exploring across these dragons can I choose to cache more than one from my supply to get to the adult ability sooner?
Thanks for your questions!
1. Yes, it’s gain 1 per 1 cached.
2. No, the “if activated” ability is just to cache 1, so you can only cache 1 per visit.
Can I continue my round if I have no coins if I am able to increase my resources and cards?
Every type of action costs at least 1 coin, so if you don’t have a coin, you can’t take an action and you must pass.
My question has to do with the automa. I just had an automa card activate its “if brown space” ability, which would have it take the dragon card and cave card in the 1 spot. However both 1 spots are empty. How does this resolve?
Hi Brandon. If I am understanding your question correctly, that shouldn’t happen. Both card types should refill after your turn, so there should be no empty spots.
Have fun,
David
Thanks for your help. For some reason I was only refilling the pools at the end of each round, not the end of each turn.
Hi! I recieved my Wyrmspan game yesterday and ofcourse we played immediately. Love it! I have a question on the end of cave bonus when exploring. It says to cache resource(s) onto / tuck card(s) under any dragon(s). Does that mean any dragon, or any dragon with a cache / tuck ability? Thanks in advance for answering / directing me towards the answer.
Thanks for playing Wyrmspan on the same day you received it! Those abilities do mean any dragon. If that dragon is a hatchling (all of which have a “whenever you cache/tuck” ability), you get that cards bonus for caching/tucking.
Thanks for the clarification! Have a great day :)
On page 5 (Excavate) of the rulebook, box 2, it is stated “Eggs may be paid from any dragon(s) in your cave…”
Does this mean that, for example, if I am trying to excavate in the Crimson Cavern, I cannot pay with eggs from Golden Grotto or Amethyst Abyss? Or can eggs come from anywhere on the player mat?
Eggs can come from anywhere on your player mat.
My question regards the end round score track card “Dragons with the when played symbol or the end round symbol on your player mat.” Do you score for both symbols or score the most of one one symbol?
Thanks for playing Wyrmspan! You count each dragon once (even if it has both icons), but you do include every dragon that has at least one of those icons.
I tried to find an answer but couldn’t so..
The cave card that says you can swap 2 cards regardless of cave type. Is that… option 1; a dragon from amethyst cave swaps directly with a dragon from crimson cave.
Or option 2; a dragon from amethyst cave moves to golden grotto, a dragon from crimson cave moves to golden grotto.
Thank you very much for making the game. I’m on 4th time playing so far 😁
Thanks for playing! You’ll choose any 2 dragon cards on your mat, and swap them (dragon A goes to the position of dragon B, dragon B goes to the position of dragon A).
Hello! Just played the game for the first time with my boyfriend, we had a great time! Quick question, I had the dragon “Playful Hornwyrm” in my cave and we weren’t sure if the end of game ability could be used more than once. I tired to exchange 6 resources for 9 victory points. Bit we didn’t know if you were allowed to use that ability more than once to convert. Can I use the conversion rate more than once?
Thanks for playing Wyrmspan! You can only use the conversion once. It’s just like if a card tells you to gain 1 gold–you can’t can’t 9 gold instead. :)
Thank you!
I apologize if I am asking a question that may have been answered already (I could not find if it was), but I wanted get clarification on “a 2-for-1 resource exchange can be used at any time.” Can I exchange 3 meat and 3 jewels for 3 milk; or is it limited to just a single 2-for-1 transaction?
There’s no limit to how often or how many times you can use the 2:1 conversion for resources (milk, gems, meat, and gold).
Thanks for the clarification!
Hello, when a player passes due to lack of coins. And the player then gets a coin due to another players dragon ability etc, can they then start playing again in that round or do they have to wait until the next round? If so, what if it is the last round? Is it then just an extra point?
Once you’ve passed out of a round, you can’t get back in (including the last round, after which each coin is worth 1 VP).
Do you discard down to 9 resources, etc even after the 4th round before scoring
Example: I have 20 resources at the end of game and 4=1pt. I would get all 5 pts or only 2 (20-11 =9)?
You discard down to 9 in your supply at the end of every single turn you take in the game (which rarely happens, but it is possible). Turns, not rounds. So even on your last turn, if you have more than 9, discard down to 9. :)
If you somehow could explore a 4th time, are you allowed to, and is there a cost?
Good question, but no–as noted on page 10 of the rules, three explores per row per round is the max.
Hello, I have doubts about the game:
1) What does playing for free mean? Are eggs and coins not paid? In the case of playing a dragon for free, do I pay for the resources it asks for?
2) When can I use the effect of the last space cave? Only when I play a cave card? When is it explored?
3) Can dragons and cave cards that are already in play be replaced?
Thank you
P.S. Wyrmspan is an excellent game!
Thanks for your Wyrmspan questions!
1. There are cards that say things like, “You may play a cave for free.” The language is intentional–it isn’t saying “You may take an excavatate action for free”; rather, it’s just referring to the act of placing a cave on your mat. The only cost associated with that are the egg costs on two of the columns. Same answer for playing dragons for free–it isn’t an entice action, so it’s just referring to the cost printed on the dragon itself. In other words, you do not pay any costs at all to put the dragon or cave card on your player mat.
2. It’s a “when covered” ability, so it’s used once (to gain at most 1 coin) when you cover it with a cave card.
3. No, once they’re played, they remain in place unless an ability specifically says otherwise (there are a few cards with “swap” abilities).
Thank you very much for your valuable help Jamey.
Hi Jamey, regarding point #1: The board says +1 or +2 eggs “to excavate”, not “to play”, implying the egg costs are additional excavation costs. As cave cards do not have costs printed on them, any costs associated have to do with the action of excavating, not playing.
Also, the cards say “immediately play a cave card”, not “immediately excavate and play a cave card for free”. Is this not ambiguous language?
That’s a good point about the language, and I can see why that’s confusing. The overall point is the when you gain a benefit that lets you play a cave card for free, it means free (there is no coin or egg cost).
What card specifically are you referring to and what is your understanding of how it works?
It looks like this exact same question was posted in the Wyrmspan Facebook group, where it was already answered by the time I answered here. Please avoid this type of redundancy by only posting questions on one forum. Thank you.
I´m Sorry for that.
Hi, loving Wyrmspan. Quick question on the end of round score card ‘Dragons that have a printed cost of 0 to 2 resources / coins / eggs’.
Is this intended to be Dragons with a total combined 0 to 2 cost across the 3 types of cost? Or cards with either 0 to 2 of each seperate category. And if the latter, can you pick which cost type to best benefit you?
ie if the cost is 1 egg 3 milk. Can I just select eggs which meet the criteria?
Thanks.
Thanks Chris! This is for a total combined 0 to 2 cost across all icons in its cost.
Three quick questions
On cards that you cache or tuck resources.
First, can you tuck an unlimited number of resources at once? Or just one at a time?
Second, when you get a resource for tucking/caching, do you get the reward at a 1:1 ratio, or is it 1 resource back no matter the number cached? For example, if I cache 3 meat and get back milk, do I get back 3 milk or 1?
Lastly, for cards that reward on the 3rd cached/tucked resource, do you get the reward on the 3rd ONLY, or every 3rd, so at 3, 6, 9, 12, etc?
Thank you!
Thanks for your questions!
1. It depends on the ability. If the ability says to cache 1 resource, you can only cache 1 resource at that time.
2. You get 1 benefit for each resource/card that is cached/tucked.
3. Only at the moment you cache/tuck the third resource/card (representing that the hatchling has grown up).
We love this game! It’s beautiful and fun! One question I didn’t find in the rules or FAQ, are we allowed to spend cached resources to play dragon cards etc?
Thanks for playing! You can only spend resources from your supply (cached resources aren’t in your supply).
Thank you for your quick response!
On the equatorial dragon is the ability at the end of the game or during
The flag icon means “end of game.”
We don’t understand the iconography on the last excavation space. 1x:3(-/-/-)->coin. Super confused.
Thanks for your question! This is explained on page 5 of the rulebook: When you cover that space with a cave card, at that moment you can choose to pay 3 total items (resources, dragons, and cave cards) in any combination one time to gain 1 coin.
Hi! My brother and I played a game yesterday and a question arose about discarding down to nine resource tokens at the end of your turn. Since the rules say you can exchange two resources for any one resource (i.e. two golds for one milk) at any time, could you ‘exchange’ your way down to nine? For example, if you had ten resources could you return, say, two golds to the supply and get a milk in return so you finished your turn with nine resources? Or would that technically be discarding down to eight and hence not permitted? Thanks!
Thanks for playing Wyrmspan! You most certainly could discard your way down to 9. Keep in mind that this only matters for resources in your supply (i.e., those available to spend); cached resources don’t apply to the limit (nor can they be spent 2:1).
Hi there! When gaining eggs from cards or the guild do they have to be placed in the storage it you have open space? Or can they placed anywhere on the board, i.e: dragons?
You must have a nest (storage space) for every egg–whenever you gain an egg, place it on a nest icon. There are 2 nest icons (1 egg per nest) on the player mat and more nest icons on dragon cards.
I have a question on coins. If you obtain an extra coin via a card say. If you use it in that round do you get that coin back for the next round and start with 7 coins instead of 6?
Thanks for your question! The only end-of-round income you gain is 6 coins and 1 egg (gaining coins during the round does not increase your income).
Thank you for your quick response. It was a bit confusing that you could keep up to nine coins. We played a 5 player game last night and it was fantastic. Really enjoyed the guild rondell. We are a huge fan of Wingspan but after two games of Wyrmspan we might like this game better. Thanks for making this wonderful game. :0)
That’s great! Just to clarify, at the end of each of your turns (don’t wait until the end of the round), you must discard down to 9 coins. So, for example, if have 6 coins at the beginning of the game and you immediately pass for the round, at the end of the round you gain 6 more coins, and if you use 1 of them at the beginning of your first turn in round two, at the end of that turn you must discard down to 9 coins.
OH! That is good to know. Thank you.
For the Ophidian Recluse’s end game ability, can you pay the cost multiple times in order to gain multiple benefits? For example, if you have 4 dragon cards, 4 cave cards and 4 resources at the end of the game, Could you use that to gain 20 points?
Nope, just once! It’s just like if an ability gives you 1 resource (you can’t gain 10 resources instead).
Can the ability of the Hawkish Firevern be used to tuck a Tendering Mothdragon and gain no resources? I just want to tuck a card to gain a point; I understand I would gain no resources from the ability of the Hawkish Firevern when ticking a card that costs only a coin.
That’s correct!
In the rules, I’m confused on the multiplier tokens. What do they do, only mentioned once at the front of the rules.
Thanks for your question! You can use them if you run out of resource tokens (instead of using 5 milk, using 1 milk token and one x5 multiplier token).
I saw that a couple months ago, on Jan 4, you mentioned that you hope that the Wingspan digital developer Monster Couch picks up Wyrmspan. Is there any new news re. a possible digital release of the game? The friends I boardgame with are scattered all over the world. A digital version (other than the workshop one for tabletop sim) would be perfect, and I would be one of the first in line to buy that version.
If we have news about that topic in the future, we’ll be sure to share it in our digital game newsletter: https://stonemaiergames.com/digital-games/ In the meantime, Wyrmspan will appear on Tabletopia (not Tabletop Simulator).
With the power that allows you to tuck a card from your hand, and gain a food of the cost printed on the tucked dragon, if the tucked dragon also has a Silver coin, do you gain one of those as well?
Thanks for your question! Here’s what we say in the FAQ:
What exactly do I gain when using this ability: “Tuck a dragon card from your hand here to gain [any resource] of the cost printed on the tucked dragon.”?
For these dragons, you gain any 1 resource (meat, milk, gem, or gold) in the cost of the tucked dragon card. You do not gain all resources in that cost, as there is only 1 “any resource” icon in the ability description. Coins are not a resource (they’re not one of the colors of the “any resource” icon), so you can’t gain coins or eggs from this ability.
Is playing a dragon always the same as enticing? If an excavate card says immediately play a dragon does it cost a coin?
Entice is an action you can perform on your turn for the cost of 1 coin, and it results in you playing a dragon (for the cost on the dragon card). So if a cave card or other ability says to play a dragon, the only cost you pay is the cost printed on the dragon.
For what it’s worth, regarding the numbering, I was disappointed not to get a numbered box. While I understand your reasoning, for me it was never about “what number” out of “what number”, it was about having that first printing stamp and any number. It’s why I’ve always ordered direct from you right at launch rather than wait for it in retail (or even wait to receive it as a birthday/or Christmas gift). It made the game stand out from other me and was an enjoyable part of building my “Stonemaier collection”.
I do hope you will consider putting numbers on all games in the future, regardless of initial print run size. Or, as you said, at least a first printing stamp.
Thanks for your input! With such a large first printing, I thought that the size of the numbers greatly diminished the meaning of having a numbered first copy (e.g., would having number 85,891 out of 100,000 actually feel special?). We plan to still individually number other new games in the future at smaller print run sizes, and perhaps if we have another huge first printing someday we’ll at least put “first printing” on the box to celebrate those who were here with us to get the product off the ground.
Me and my group are infatuated with the game, such an amazing experience!
Question about exploring: once you’ve explored a cave for a third time, can you continue exploring that cave while paying the 1 Coin + 2 Egg cost? We were unsure if you could only explore a cave three times a round, or if the cost just ceased to increase after the third activation.
I’m glad you’re having fun with Wyrmspan! The maximum number of times you can explore the same cave in a round is 3. For your reference, this is noted in step 1 near the top of page 10 (Explore): “If you enter a 3rd time that round (this is the max, and it’s rare), the cost is 1 coin and 2 eggs.”
I don’t understand why milk is part of Wyrmspan. Do these dragons drink milk, along devouring meat and hording gold and gems?
They do! Here’s this question and answer, found in the FAQ right above where you commented. :)
Do dragons really drink milk?
Here’s what designer Connie says about this: “My thought was that if dragons are warm blooded (a lot of lore depicts them that way), then perhaps many of the other evolutionary constraints on mammals applied to dragons, which could include some kind of extra sustenance when young. Plus, nature is weird – echidnas and platypuses are mammals that lay eggs, and many reptiles (including garter snakes) give birth to live young. It seemed like “milk” was a good way to indicate with a short-hand that the resource is relevant only for the baby dragons, not for the adults. In my mind, dragons are a bit of all of them – they have evolved to fill a bunch of different ecological niches, so some are more like birds, some are more like reptiles, and some are more like mammals.”
Not sure if this is listed in the rules or this forum as I didn’t find it with my searching, but are you able to excavate over an already excavated space? We were playing the other day and my entire cave was excavated, but I wanted to take an excavate action to gain a benefit listed on the card.
Thanks for asking! You can only excavate a space that has not been excavated.
Thank you for the quick response. That was our 2nd time playing through and I am looking forward to playing it many many more times ahead! Your games are absolutely amazing!
Hi, I got the pre-order and am loving it so far.The artwork and gameplay are so cool! I started an Automa game and I have a quick question for the decision cards.
In the rulebook it says, “if the decision deck is empty, she passes.” However, it also says for the pass icon, “if the decision deck is now empty and the pass icon is at the top of the card, she passes.” Does Automa always play either 6 or 7 turns? Either the last card in the deck has a pass icon and she skips the 7th turn, or it doesn’t and she plays that turn and skips the 8th as the decision deck is now empty. Am I missing something in the rules or was this intentional?
Hi Liam. I think you have got it correct. Automa always plays 6 or 7 turns. Have fun!
I interpreted out this way as well.
Love the game! in the plains guild, when it says to pay an egg, can you take that egg from a dragon or do they have to come from your storage?
Whenever you pay an egg, the egg can come from any of your nests (on dragons or at the lower left of your player mat).
Question
Equatorial cavalier wyvern has an end of game ability that you can pay a cave to get 1 VP or 2 caves to get 3 VP
Can you activate that only once or as many times as you have resources?
Thanks for your question! It’s just like any other benefit or bonus in the game–you gain it once unless specifically noted otherwise.
On my 2nd playthrough I could not get any eggs. I kept having to skip at the end of rounds because I had no options. I feel like there needs to be a 1:1 exchange for a coin to egg/card/ food. It’s a pretty crappy trade off in value but if you can’t even play it may be worth it.
Eric: It’s actually impossible to not get any eggs, as you start the game with 1 egg, and you get 1 egg at the beginning of each of the other rounds. So even if there are no dragon cards or cave cards with eggs, you still get that egg income. Also, there are eggs on the dragon guild.
We played our first game and really enjoyed it! We haven’t played Wingspan ever so this might be something we just missed. When it says “Again a Dragon card” are you supposed to draw from the face down pile or from the display options?
*gain a dragon
Thanks for playing Wyrmspan! Whenever you see the instructions to “draw a dragon card” or “draw a cave card,” unless specifically noted otherwise, you get to choose from the face-up cards or the random top card of the deck. The card display refills at end of turn.
Played for the first time tonight and really enjoyed it!
The common grass lindworm has an end of game bonus of one point per cached milk. Is this in addition to the 1 point for normal cached resources?
One of our players had the Common Grass Lindworm played and completed the full Crystal Cavern fairly early to mid game. By exploring Crystal Cavern, he was able to collect two milk and using the Cavern final column, cached those two milk on the Common Grass Lindworm.
Between the Cavern and exploring the Abyss a few times, he ended the game with 15 cached milk on the one card, leading to the milk being worth 30 points!
Thanks,
Greg
That’s a lot of milk! And yes, that is correct about the Common Grass Lindworm.
Thanks for the clarification! Looking forward to playing more.
Played the other night with a group of friends, but the question came up about caching resources. Can you only cache a resource when it is an activated ability (i.e. a Hatchling), or are you allowed to cache resources as you gain them (i.e. exploring Crimson Cavern)?
Thanks for your question! Hatchlings have the wording of, “Any time you cache…here”. It does indeed mean “any time”, not just when activating the hatchling. If you need to look this up later, it’s highlighted on page 9 of the rules (highlight 2 there): “Note that you gain this benefit regardless of whether the cache or tuck ability came from walking your adventurer onto that card or from another ability.”
We just played Wyrmspan for the first time. Very enjoyable and challenging.
The Aloof Gryphdragon “gains 1 [end of game point] for each shy dragon in an orthogonally adjacent space”. Does that mean orthogonally adjacent to that specific dragon or to any other shy dragon? Thanks!
Thanks for playing! It’s referring to dragons that are adjacent to the Aloof Gryphdragon.
But what does “orthogonally” mean in this context? Does it mean diagonally adjacent, since the card edges make right angles with the gryphdragon card? But I assume you would have just written “diagonally” in that case. But if it means left/right/above/below, I have a hard time understanding how those are orthogonal, since they’re in a line with the gryphdragon card and not perpendicular to it, at least not in any way I can see.
Orthogonal and diagonal are different words. :) Orthogonal means directly to the left, right, up, or down.
Thanks for clarifying! I guess my feedback is that if you’re going to use jargon in rules for games they should at least be glossed in the instructions (unless it is and we missed it). We spent a long time in our first game trying to figure out what the word could possibly mean in that context.
I agree!
Hi Jamey, played “Shrieking Amphitheatre” which allows you to get the resources of the card you tuck under. I tucked a card with a silver coin, and collected a silver coin, but because the resource icon was used, was I technically not supposed to collect a silver coin?
Thanks Nina! Just to clarify, that’s not exactly what the Shrieking Amphiptere says–you can see an example of it on this FAQ page if you expand the orange “rules questions” section. This dragon says to gain 1 of any resource on the cost printed on the tucked dragon (not all resources). The “any resource” icon includes 4 specific colors–red, purple, white, and yellow–to match the 4 types of resources it applies to (meat, gem, milk, and gold); coins are not resources.
In what order should an individual activate the power of the last column to exchange three resources or cards for a coin: cavern card and its abilities first or exchange of the three resources?
You choose the order. :)
Thanks for answering all these questions, Jamey! I’ve been enjoying the game. Appreciate all the hard work of you and your team to create and produce it.
Do the eggs stored on the board (the two on the left side) score +1 each at the end of the game?
Absolutely! All eggs on your nests (whether they’re printed on the player mat or on your dragon cards) are worth 1 VP at the end of the game.
If a cavern card allows an individual to tuck two cards, does that individual receive two resources when tucking them under a hatchling that has the ability to gain a resource after tucking a card or just one resource?
You gain a resource for each tuck (for that specific type of card), so if you tuck 2 cards, you’ll gain 2 resources.
For the Guild of Seafarers when it says “Pay one dragon card, then play one dragon card from your hand for free,” what does “free” mean? Do you still have to pay resources?
Free means free–no cost at all. :)
Hi, four of us played my copy of wyrmspan for the first time last night and really enjoyed it. We did have a discussion around the ‘3rd tuck/cache’ reward I wonder if you could clarify please? Exampled we had was Joe tucked a total of 9 cards behind a dragon that gave him a coin on each 3rd tuck so gained 3 coins. Is this the intention?
Thanks for asking about the hatchlings! This only happens once per hatchling, not every 3rd time.
The Gliding Taiga Drake has a round end power that says “up to 2x, Tuck (dragon cards) from your hand here. each time you do, gain (any one food). If i tuck 2 cards from the golden grotto full columns power under this dragon can i gain the benefit?
Great question! This ability only triggers at the end of the round, and only from itself (not other abilities).
Puck’s Horned Drake has a round end power: If you have at least 3 dragons in this cave, lay (egg) on each dragon in this cave.
If a player has two regular dragons and a hatchling in that cave, do they play get to lay an egg on the two dragons assuming they have an egg slot for each but not for the hatchling because hatchlings have no egg slots?
Correct, egg capacity always applies when laying eggs.
Cave card number 54 states “immediately play a card with a discount of one egg or one food.” Must the card already be in your hand or can it be one from the display? Thanks, great game.
Unless an ability specifically says otherwise, you can only play cards from your hand.
Could we get a pdf of the Wyrmspan Dragon Facts field guide?
Thanks for asking, but we’re looking for people to experience the Dragon Facts book in its printed presentation, included in every copy of Wyrmspan.
Card 144… at game end.. can you ONLY do 1 resource or 3 resource for 1/3 points respectively … OR… if you happen to have 6 resources could you calculate 6 points?
I don’t have that card in front of me (feel free to share the exact text to facilitate an accurate answer), but if I recall, it gives you the choice to make one of two conversions. You choose one of them and make the conversion exactly once. The game will tell you whenever you can convert something more than once.
Hi! If a deck is exhausted during play it’s the discard pile shuffled to replenish it?
That’s correct!
I have been trying to locate card sleeves for Wyrmspan. The sleeves fir the dragon cards were easy, however the sleeves for the cave cards are proving more difficult fir ne in the U.K.
Can I suggest that you choose a more standard card size in future or offer the option to buy the sleeves from your store?
57x87mm is a standard card size, and the caves needed to be square with one of those dimensions. We’ll offer sleeves if any of our games ever require lots of shuffling, but that isn’t the case in Wyrmspan–at most you’ll shuffle once per game, and the ivorycore linen-embossed cards are built to last.
Hi, I have a question on if you can “stack/repeat” cave card benefits one after another in a single turn?
For Example:
When you play a cave card and the ability on it says ‘Pay XX, then gain a cave card from the display and immediately play it for free’.
Can you play the benefit of that gained card when played immediately?
And if so. If the card gained is another ‘pay xx to gain a cave…’ can it be used if you have the resources?
Definitely, whenever you place a cave card, you gain it’s “when played” benefit (which, as you mention, sometimes has a conditional cost).
Thank you Jamey for the quick reply and I really appreciate the clarification.
My partner and I played Wyrmspan for the 1st time today and really enjoyed it! It like Wingspan and Apiary will be replayed often :)
So in the rulebook where it says “The spaces in the 4th column of your player mat allow you to spend 3 items (resources, dragons and cave cards) in any combination to gain 1 coin.” When can I use that ability, is it only when I excavate that space, or am I able to use those spaces more often?
It’s a one-time, one-use ability at the moment you cover it with a cave card.
We got Wyrmspan today and had a great first play! One part that wasn’t clear from what I read: if a card allows you to play another card for free, do you need to play it in the cave you played the original card? I would think it’s implied based on how the game is played in general, but wanted to check. Thanks! We love this game!
Thanks for playing already! You’re not limited to the same cave (unless a card specifically says otherwise). :)
Great – thanks for the clarification!
Can you add the Automa to a two player game as a third “player” to refresh the tray more frequently or does the Automa “unbalance” the game with two RL players? Thx.
Hi Len. We did not design or test Automa to be used as a third player. The biggest concern I would have is how fiercely she competes in the Dragon Guild. It could be frustrating for the players how quickly she grabs those benefits.
Have fun,
David
What is the timing on non-voluntary “passing”? Does it happen upon playing your last coin in the round? Or upon cycling back to you again after you played your last coin?
In our first game there was a bit of mental overhead to figure out who has passed and who hasn’t. In the final round one person had passes but then another triggered an extra coin to all players, but the person who had already passed was presumably not able to use theirs. (At least they got 1VP for it).
On your turn, you either take an action or pass for the round. People usually take turns until they have no remaining coins, but not always. Once you take a “pass” turn, you’re done for the round.
Ok, cook, so here’s my idea to track who has passed and who has not:
When you are active, your little explorer meeple is standing up. When you pass, you lay him down flat. Simple, clear, easy.
Just to be clear on the FAQ entry above, Free = Free? So “play a cave card for free” means I can play it in the last two columns and avoid paying the 1 egg or 2 egg additional cost?
Egg-zactly!
Is card 151 when you tuck a card do you get 1 resource or all of the resources on the tucked card?
There’s 1 “any resource” icon, so you gain 1 resource. You’ll see this answer with a visual if you expand the “Rules Questions” bar on this FAQ page.
Am I understanding correctly that the final explore action in the Amethyst Abyss lets you discard 2 caves to get 4 total eggs? We were questioning it because the other cave final actions only allow you to gain 2 victory points. My thought was maybe that is because tucking and food on cards are unlimited while eggs can only go in so many spaces.
Thanks for your question! Here’s the answer from the FAQ:
Why is the conversion rate in the Amethyst Abyss different than the benefits at the end of the other caves?
Here’s designer Connie with the answer: “The purple tunnel is overall weaker. Players in theory want 12 dragon cards over the course of the game (plus tucks) and somewhere around 27 or 28 food (plus caches) but only ever 9 cave cards (there are a few abilities that discard them, but not as many as tucks/caches). In playtesting, players built out purple much less than the other 2 tunnels, so made two adjustments – one was heavily slanting the hatchlings toward purple, the other was making the end of tunnel bonus stronger. The other piece of it too is that egg capacity overall is pretty limited, so you can’t really abuse the end of tunnel ability that much. So even if you did nothing but build out purple, it won’t get you very far, since you’d activate it 2 or 3 times then hit your egg capacity.”
Ahh, apologies for overlooking the FAQ.
The explanation makes sense to me, appreciate the response. It’s a really fun game!
Northern Cavalier Wyvern
At the end of the game..
Pay 1 dragon card to gain 1 point, or pay 2 dragon cards to gain 3 points.
When I says ‘pay’ to I remove the cards from my hand to the face up pile? So, I would need to balance this action with the end 1 point for a combination of cards/resources etc?
Thanks
Right, it’s basically and end-of-game conversion rate that’s much better than the default.
When placing a cave card on the last space, it says 1x 3 resources/dragon/cave to get a coin. Can it be any combination of those 3 or is it specifically 3 of 1 of those. And if that is the case could you do 3 of each to get 3 total coins?
Thanks in advance
It’s any combination, and it says “1x”–you can only do it once per slot.
Awesome, thanks for the fast response. We played it correctly then. Game was super fun!
On the Guild of Highlands board, the 2nd option allows a player to pay a cave card then play a dragon card from their hand on top of any dragon on their player mat for free. Does “on top of any dragon” allow the player to ignore the dragon’s preferred habitat?
Unless a card says otherwise, dragons can only go in their preferred habitats–you can’t ignore that. :)
Thanks! Really enjoy this game.
When a card such as Cave Card #60 allows you to play a Cave Card for free, does that include allowing a player to forego payment of egg costs for excavating spaces in columns 3 and 4, or is it just a free excavate action that still requires paying any applicable egg costs based on the column the card is being played in?
It completely removes the cost to placing the cave card (including the egg cost in columns 3 and 4).
The end of round goal for dragons and cave cards in X location, excludes tucked dragons? I assume this was an intentional omission?
It was. Tucked dragons aren’t dragons anymore–they’re essentially just counters.
Is there a limit to the number of cards tucked behind any given card?
Over the course of the game? No limit.
For “if activated” abilities, in the rule it states “If you activate an “if activated” ability that gives an opponent a benefit, the other players must be allowed to collect that benefit , even if you decline to do so.”
Does this mean that the active player can choose NOT to activate an “if activated” ability that provides a benefit to other players, and thus the other players are not allowed to collect the benefit?
In the rules questions section above, it makes it seem like the dragon “if activated” abilities are not optional?
If a player has an ability that helps other players, they must activate it.
Just wanted to clarify when discarding down to 9 coins that is to include both used and unused coins from the round, correct?
You discard down to 9 coins from your supply (not spent coins) at the end of each of your turns (a rare but possible situation).
Is there anywhere the goal tokens are explained? We weren’t certain how to interpret ‘number of dragons with a 0-2 cost resources/coins/eggs’. Does that mean if the total of all three is 0-2 (seems unlikely since so many cards have a cost of 1,2, or 3 items) or something else? Thx. Great game.
Thanks for your question! For that goal, you’re looking at the number of icons in the cost of each dragon. If there are 0, 1, or 2 icons in a dragon’s cost, the dragon counts for this category as 1 dragon. So if I have 7 dragons on my cave mat and 4 of them have 0, 1, or 2 icons in their cost, I have 4 dragons for this goal tile.
Why would I have any coins left over at the end of the game to score? Wouldn’t they all be used by the end taking turns?
Typically, yes. But sometimes you may not be able to perform an action at the end of the game, and we didn’t want players to feel punished for leftover coins.
On card 67, Ancient One the activation is to Pay Egg from anywhere in this cave to gain 2 different benefits: (with symbols for dragon cards, guild marker, cave cards, food). Does this mean the two benefits you choose must be different from each other, so you can’t get 2 foods, or 2 guild movements, for example?
That’s correct. It isn’t saying that you can gain 2 different dragon cards; it’s saying that the types of benefits you choose must be different (e.g., 1 dragon card and 1 food).
What are the multiplier tokens used for?
In case you run out of resource tokens.
Thanks Jamey, you are always so quick to respond!
Cave card 52 Immediately play dragon card with a discount of 1 egg or resource. Do you also pay the entice fee
No, just the cost printed on the dragon: You’re just putting the dragon into play, not taking the Entice action.
And do you have to play a dragon into the same cavern the excavation happened, or can you play the dragon into any space the dragon you want to play may go?
Any excavated space is eligible.
Will you be selling Wyrmspan on Amazon? Or only your website and physical retailers for the first printing? Thanks!
Indeed, Wyrmspan will be on Amazon starting on the retail release date (March 29).
I’m sorry but it is not clear to me : is the launch only about the English version of the game ? The other language will come later ?
Yes, we only sell the English-language versions of our products. Other languages come from their respective publishers (our localization partners) when they’re ready.
Ordered with expansion pack 5 minutes after Australian release! Call me a (60 yr old) fan boy but super excited to get my hands on this. Jamey, thanks in advance of what I anticipate being many happy hours.
And looks like the first hour of release on the Australian store has seen a fantastic take up. Congratulations.
I’m planning on buying Expeditions and Charterstone w/ Wyrmspan on release.
Will adding these other products slow down the delivery speed of my order? As it will be bigger than say an order containing only Wyrmspan
Thanks Lee! I appreciate your interest in those games. Adding other products won’t slow down the shipment (and it’s more cost effective). However, we anticipate a lot of orders tomorrow, and it will likely take all of February and some of March for our fulfillment centers to ship them. Champion orders will ship first, followed by non-Champion orders.
May seem like a silly question, but will this fit in the Nesting box with wingspan and all expansions? Or are the dimensions different. Thanks!
It’s not a silly question, but they are different games, so the Nesting Box is just for the Wingspan game.
Are we going to be able to buy more than one copy on release day? I have a couple friends that want me to order them a copy also so we can share the shipping cost.
Yes, you can buy up to 3 copies in one order.
Wich langages will be available ?
Here’s the information we have about localization partners on the main Wyrmspan page:
“Localization Partners: There are 11 localization partners for this game, including Grok Games (Portuguese – Brazil), Surfin’ Meeple (Chinese), Mindok (Czech), Matagot (French), Feuerland (German), Ghenos (Italian), 999 Games (Dutch), Divercentro (Portuguese), Troy Games (Turkish), and Maldito (Spanish). These partners will announce their participation and other details at their discretion.”
This looks very neat. I’m sure there were a lot of discussions about the name for the game, but since “Wyrmspan” is basically a nonsense word, it makes it seem like either the game is a Wingspan reskin (which it isn’t) or it’s a blatant attempt to capitalize on the popularity of Wingspan and could lead consumers to make some incorrect assumptions about the games’ similarity, resulting in dissatisfaction.
Sales and subsequent reviews/feedback will tell in the end whether it was a good decision. I probably would have gone a different direction, but I don’t run a popular game company :)
If either of those things were our goals, we would have named it “Wingspan: Dragons”. Instead, we chose a word that would evoke “familiar but different”: Wyrmspan.
And of course we’re trying to appeal to Wingspan fans: Many of them have asked for Wingspan for other animals for years now. A blatant attempt to capitalize on those requests would have been to swap out Wingspan’s art and bird names for different art and a different species. Instead, Connie took the time, effort, and creativity to create something new (yet not so completely different than Wingspan that it a completely different name would be the right fit).
I look forward to FishSpawn.
Unfortunuately looks like some localizations will be esentially called “Wingspan Dragons” Like the Polish Localization “Na Skrzydłach Smoków” when wingspan is “Na Skrzydłach” would much prefer it was a nonsense word like “Na Smoczydłach”
In the “End of turn” section, should it state that the dragon and cavern cards are refilled?
I think it was mentioned earlier in the rules, but probably should be specified there as well.
It is true that you don’t refill dragon and cave cards until the end of your turn, but that assumes you gained dragon and cave cards during your turn. It’s noted on page 11 under “Card Refill”.
Big fan. I am a big fan, and plan on getting it at launch. I am also a huge fan of Disc Golf. What make/model will the custom disc be?
It’s an Innova disc (Destroyer) made from their GStar plastic.
Thank you very much.
I really appreciate this call out in the Rules & FAQ: “Card abilities are optional. If an ability gives an opponent a benefit, they may gain it even if you decline to do so.” Having people on BGA decline to activate abilities so as to prevent giving other players a benefit in Wingspan always struck me as pretty antithetical to the spirit of the game so I’m happy to see this change for Wyrmspan. When playing in person I haven’t seen that kind of deny/punish behavior but it is rampant on BGA so I’ve stopped playing with strangers there. I love dragons and definitely have favorite dragons from cherished books like Temeraire so I foresee some DIY-cards in my future.
I’m glad you like that too! There’s lots of positive player interaction in Wyrmspan, and this is part of the spirit of such interaction.
Is there going to be a Steam release like Wingspan? The only reason I bought Wingspan (and its expansions) at all is because it was online and I could play it with my friends.
We’re hoping that Wingspan Digital developer Monster Couch also adapts Wyrmspan for Steam and other platforms.
Will there be more interaction between players than in Wingspan or is it similar in that players mostly “do their thing”?
Here’s what we say in the FAQ:
What types of player interaction, tension, and reasons to pay attention to other players are there in Wyrmspan?
In terms of player interaction, we pursued a similar vibe to Wingspan in that there are reasons to pay attention to other players, but you’re never attacking or intentionally hurting other players. Imagine a world where dragons of all shapes and sizes are just as common as birds—hopefully our first thought wouldn’t be to use them as vehicles of war.
There are still areas of tension in Wyrmspan, though. The special guild benefits are limited, and they scale by player count (one side of the guild tile is for 2-3 player; the other for 4-5 players). The end-of-round goals are always relative to other players (though ties are friendly). There’s also the tension of claiming available cave and dragon cards before an opponent. And Wyrmspan includes my favorite type of interaction—positive player interaction—via a number of dragon and cave cards that benefit all players.
You mention in the FAQ that “The special guild benefits are limited, and they scale by player count (one side of the guild tile is for 2-3 player; the other for 4-5 players).”
Does this mean that the guilds aren’t used in solo play or is the 2-3 side used and the Automa is actually considered the 2nd player (similar to Apiary where you use the 2p hibernation areas for solo play)?
Automa is considered the second player.
That’s what I figured thanks.
Towards the top of the page it says “Like its predecessor, Wyrmspan is a game about collected unique winged animals on a player mat.”
Is that a typo and “collected” should instead be “collecting”?
“collecting” is correct
I have absolutely loved the Swift-Start Pack for Wingspan; being able to introduce the game to new players easily, quickly and in a manner I think helps a lot of non-regular boardgame players a lot, is amazing. Are there any plans for something similar in Wyrmspan?
There aren’t just plans–they’re in the game! :) The quick-start system in this game is different than Wingspan, but each player has 2 quick-start cards to guide them through their first turns.
Big hype for this. Is there gonna be simultaneous turns like with Wingspan’s flock mode?
I also enjoy simultaneous turns, though like in Flock mode, each player in Wyrmspan is taking turns one at a time due to the various forms of player interaction (dragon guild, two card rows, and positive player interaction powers). Flock mode only ever has 2 simultaneous players (in separate groups), not all players.
With egg laying locked behind the third dragon in a cave, is it possible (though unlikely) for a player to soft lock themselves out of ever getting any eggs by playing dragons without any egg laying abilities in the first 2 spots of each cave and spending your initial egg on revisiting a cave in the same round?
Good eye! But no, as players get income of 6 coins and 1 egg at the beginning of each round. There are lots of other ways to get eggs too (cave cards, dragon abilities, and the dragon guild).
Super excited for your new game!
Do you ship worldwide? (Would love to pre-order to israel)
We ship to most locations around the world from 4 regional fulfillment centers.
This looks absolutely amazing. Planning on getting it the first moment it becomes available. Question, though… since I’ve been watching the trailer on repeat (just a little excited), I noticed during the portion that shows play, when the meeple activates the Pacifistic Web-Toed Serpent, they lay eggs on the other two dragons in the row (the Serpent says ‘column’). So… have I been playing Wingspan’s columns and rows wrong all of these years? XD
You’ve been playing correctly; it’s just an editing mistake in the video.
I noticed in the rulebook, on page 13, you listed “Guild of Highland” twice. Is that a typo?
The artwork is stunning. Looking forward to seeing more!
Thanks Hannah! It’s not a typo; there are several abilities for that guild that benefited from a more detailed explanation in the rules.
I am VIBRATING, this is so amazing! Dragons are my 100% aesthetic and an insta-purchase theme. I already love Wingspan, this would just make it even better.
I can’t wait to see what changes y’all make for theme, like changing the food sources or making the eggs shinier. Maybe different biomes (like mountains, ocean, sky?).
When will champions be able to pre-order?
Everyone will be able to order Wyrmspan on January 31, with shipping happening throughout February.
Will any premium components launch alongside or shortly after? that we will be able to get our hands on?
Yes, at launch.
How about player interaction level comparing the two games?
It’s a similar type of player interaction; I have a design diary post about this coming soon.
This is INCREDIBLE! Reviews drop on my birthday so that has instantly made my day better. I cannot wait to get my hands on this!
Happy birthday, Matt!
The differences between this and Wingspan are moving this towards the instant day 1 buy. I can’t wait until content comes out and the solo rulebook.
There’s a typo on this page (I believe) –
No dice (you’re either always gaining a specific resource or your choice of the 4 resources). The food dice are often a nice element of variability and player interaction in Wyrmspan, but we found it just a little too frustrating in Wyrmspan if all resources weren’t consistently available.
First Wyrmspan should be Wingspan, no?
Thank you!