Wrymspan Review
Wingspan has become one of the top breakout hits of the modern board game era. (read our review of Wingspan and all its expansions here.) It has found fans with board gamers and bird enthusiasts alike and has penetrated into the mass market like few other games before it — especially for a game of its weight. Wyrmspan is its first spin off. A new, stand alone game using the Wingspan framework but now featuring…Dragons.
Your first question in regards to Wyrmspan may be to ask if it is simply a reskin of Wingspan with dragons. Fortunately, Wyrmspan is a stand-alone game that builds off the foundation of Wingspan but offers a lot of unique changes in a new fantastical setting. Designed by Connie Vogelmann (designer of Apiary) and published by Stonemaier Games, this 1-5-player game offers a unique blend of strategy, engine-building, and stunning artwork that will appeal to fans of Wingspan and newcomers who are just here for the dragons.
Let’s discuss the gameplay, what’s different, if it is worth owning if you already have Wingspan, and most importantly, if it is fun.
Gameplay Overview
In Wrymspan, players act as amateur dracologists, aiming to create the most impressive dragon sanctuary. To accomplish this, players must open spaces in their cave, add dragon cards to their cave by playing resources, and then explore their caves to gain benefits and additional resources.
Players each begin the round with a set number of coins that you’ll use to take your turns. Then during the round, players will have the opportunity to earn more coins or use extra to both extend and decrease the number of turns they get.
New to Wyrmspan is the dragon guild board, a separate track that players will race around to gain resources and limited special actions or bonuses. Hatchling cards represent baby dragons and earn you powerful benefits if you visit them more often.
Wyrmspan is played over four rounds. Players compete both for end-of-round goals and to score the most points on their played dragon cards, markers on the dragon guild board, eggs, objectives, and remaining resources.
What’s Different
The two major differences between Wyrmspan and Wingspan are resource collection and the added dragon guild board; both are significant improvements.
Previously, dice rolls determined available resources on your turn. It was a bit of random luck at times that never really bothered me too much previously, but I appreciated that it didn’t exist in Wrymspan. There is already enough luck in trying to get the cards you want in both games; to have one less random element is appreciated.
Dragon Guild Board
The dragon guild board is my favorite thing about the game. I love how it creates another opportunity for player engagement as your race to be first to claim a coveted bonus. There are also four different guild boards, adding variety to each game as the bonus effects are powerful enough that they should impact your strategy from game to game.
Taking Actions
Another difference is how you take your actions. You get a set number of coins each round, but you can earn more coins during the game, which allows for a more exciting flow to each round, particularly at the end of the game. In Wingspan, sometimes the last round felt uneventful since you had fewer actions at the end than at the beginning leaving you with very little wiggle room to make something happen.
Heavier, Yet Still Approachable
Wyrmspan shares the same core engine-building mechanisms that made Wingspan so popular, but the varied card effects offers a depth of strategic choices that make the game feel a bit more complex. Wyrmspan is still approachable and doesn’t require you to have played Wingspan before to get this game, but the learning curve will be reduced if you are familiar with the original.
A Great First Addition to the “Span” family.
Wyrmspan is an excellent game perfect for both fans of Wingspan and those excited by the dragon theme. We quickly determined that we prefer Wyrmspan over Wingspan. The tweaks in the gameplay and added depth of strategic decisions make Wyrmspan highly enjoyable and enticing to return to to try out new strategies. All this led to Wyrmspan being one of our family’s top games of 2024!
While we prefer Wyrmspan, it does not replace Wingspan for our family. Wyrmspan is at once both intertwined to the gameplay of Wingspan, but feels like its own thing — it isn’t a reskin. Wingspan’s strong, relatable theme of birds works with many family members who would bounce off a game about dragons so keeping both on our shelves feels right. Wyrmspan has us looking forward to the continuing expansion of this line of games from Stonemaier. (including the announced Finspan featuring fish!)
Game Info
Title: Wrymspan
Players: 1-5 Players
Designer: Connie Vogelmann
Artist: Clementine Campardou
Publisher: Stonemaier Games
A special thank you to our friends at Stonemaier Games for sending this copy of Wyrmspan for review. As always, our thoughts and opinions are our own.
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