We’re sharing our thoughts on Wingspan Asia both as an expansion and as a standalone game to help you decide where you might want to start your Wingspan journey!

Since our first play over four years ago our family has loved our experience with Wingspan. Over the years, we’ve eagerly tried out each new expansion Stonemaier Game has released. It was with that same eagerness that we tried out Wingspan Asia, the third expansion for the game and the first to release as a standalone game two player game, introducing the two-player specific Duet Mode.

Wingspan Asia as an Expansion.

The best thing about any new Wingspan expansion is the introduction of new, beautifully illustrated bird cards by Ana Maria Martinez Jaramillo and Natalia Rojas. There are 90 new bird cards in total to discover and the art is just as wonderful as players have come to expect.

With these new cards, there are no new “powers” like the end-of-round / end-of-game powers introduced in the previous expansion. That said, many cards highlight new “push-your-luck” opportunities, adding luck and fun moments to each round.

Wingspan Asia: Duet Mode

Duet Mode is where Wingspan: Asia begins to separate itself form previous expansions.

In Duet Mode, there is a new shared board on which players place a token whenever they play a bird card. These tokens can gain an additional bonus to help you in the early rounds. Players will compare their tokens to earn both end-of-round goal points and end-of-game points for their largest connected token area. 

If you thought a normal two-player game of Wingspan was missing direct interaction, you can find some of that on this shared map. Yet for us, we already enjoyed Wingspan as a two-player game, so while we found Duet Mode enjoyable, it has not become our default way to play with only two players. In large part we find it a bit too distracting — taking players away from the joy of drafting and playing birds into their habitats and instead forcing them to pay attention to the Duet board. 

Now Seating 7 Players

In Flock Mode, there are official rules and components to now play up to 7 players in one game. Essentially, two players will simultaneously take turns to keep the game moving. 

I cannot imagine a situation where I would ever willingly enter into a 7 player game of Wingspan. Unsurprisingly, we have never tested Flock Mode, but in theory, it would work if you are interested in playing a massive game of Wingspan.

For us, we find the best player counts for Wingspan remains 2-4 players. (Though even a 4 player game can drag if the group isn’t committed to taking their turns quickly.)

Wingspan Asia as a standalone game

Wingspan Asia has all the components needed to play a full two-player game, including a swift start guide, which outlines new players’ moves through the first few turns of their first game. We do quite like this guide for new and especially younger players. 

The original game’s plastic token bins, card tray, and dice tower have all been replaced with more eco-friendly but ultimately less enticing alternatives. (The piece of cardboard to roll the dice on is so comical in its pointlessness.) 

If you have neither and are debating between the two, we would still recommend getting the original Wingspan. Not only are you able to find it often for a great price and less than Asia, but the overall design of the game and quality of components far exceeds what Wingspan Asia offers.

Is Wingspan Asia worth picking up?

As an expansion, Wingspan Asia is just okay. 

Unless you are interested in the Flock Mode or find the two player game greatly lacking, it would not be the first expansion we’d recommend after the base game. (That would be Oceania.)

The first two expansions add more unique card powers at a lower price point. I also don’t think there’s anything in Wingspan that will change your mind too greatly if you found the base game lacking. You might love, Duet Mode, but it probably won’t change your opinion on Wingspan if you are currently low on the game.

If you already have everything for Wingspan and love it — you’ll likely find Asia to be a welcome addition. I must confess though that in our home there is a bit of Wingspan fatigue and Asia did not respark our love for the game. It was pleasant to play, but not groundbreaking and ultimately shelvable.

You can read our thoughts on the first two expansions, Wingspan European and Wingspan Oceania, if you need help deciding which one to get first.

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  Game Info
  Title: Wingspan Asia
  Players: 1-2 Players | Expansion 6-7 Players
  Designer: Elizabeth Hargrave
  Artist: Ana Maria Martinez Jaramillo & Natalia Rojas
  Publisher: Stonemaier Games

A special thank you to our friends at Stonemaier Games for sending this copy of Wingspan Asia for review.
As always, our thoughts and opinions are our own.

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