The Wingspan Rules

Wingspan is a management game for 2 to 5 players. Players play as bird enthusiasts whose objective is to attract as many birds as possible to their aviaries. The number of bird cards laid, the number of eggs laid, the number of foodstuffs stored and the objectives achieved will earn points which will allow a winner to be chosen at the end of the game.

Materials

• 1 Birds board,
• 170 bird cards,
• 103 Food tokens of 5 different types,
• 75 eggs,
• 1 feeder,
• 5 dice,
• 1 double-sided Objective board,
• 8 double-sided Objective tiles,
• 26 bonus cards,
• 5 individual trays,
• 40 Action cubes,
• 1 First Player token,
• 11 score blocks,
• 1 rulebook,
• 1 appendix.

Set-up 

General set-up

• Place the Birds board in the centre of the table.
• Shuffle the bird cards.
• Draw 3 cards and place them face up on the Birds board.
• Place the rest face down next to the board.
• Form a reserve in the centre of the table with the Food Chits and eggs.
• Place the feeder in the centre of the table and use the opening at the back to roll the dice inside. Once rolled, the dice cannot be manipulated.
• Place the Objective board on the side you have chosen.
• The blue side if you are a beginner and the green side if you are already familiar with the game.
• Shuffle the Objective tiles and place 1 tile on each space reserved for that effect on the Objective board.
• Shuffle the Bonus cards and place the deck face down in the centre of the table.

Individual set-up

• Assign each player :

• 1 individual game board, divided into 3 parts: forest, meadow and marsh. These are the habitats of the birds.
• 8 Action cubes of the same colour, to be placed near the individual board.
• 2 Bonus cards drawn, to be lined up, face down, in front of the individual board.
• 5 Bird cards drawn, to be lined up face down in front of the individual board.
• 5 Food tokens from each category.
• Players can choose to reveal their hand or keep it secret.
• The score blocks are for your use only at the end of the game. Set them aside.
• If this is your first game, assign 1 appendix to each player to serve as a guide throughout the game.
• Each player consults their bonus cards.
• Bonus cards allow you to score extra points at the end of the game.
• Choose the bonus card you want and place it face down next to your individual board.
• Discard the second card.
• Each player consults their Bird cards.
• You must have a total of 5 Bird cards and Food tokens.
• To do this, discard some of the Bird cards. 

Example:

You discard 2 of the 5 cards drawn.

• Then discard as many Food Chits as you have Bird cards left.

Example:

You have 3 Bird cards left.

You must discard 3 Food Chips.

In total, you have 3 Bird cards and 2 Food Chips left.

• Designate a first player and give him the First Player Token.
• Play clockwise.

A bird card

How is the game played?

• A game of Wingspan consists of 4 rounds.

• Players take turns to play.
• During his turn, the player has the right to perform one of the following 4 actions:

• Play a bird from his hand,
• Gain food and activate the powers of the forest birds,
• Lay eggs and activate the powers of the grassland birds,
• Drawing cards and activating marsh bird powers.
• These actions are summarised on the individual board.

Action 1: Play a bird from your hand

• To play a bird from your hand, you must be able to:
• Pay the egg cost,
• Pay the cost of food.
• Apply the effect of its pose, if any. The effect of a card’s placement is written on it.

The cost in eggs 

• The individual board is divided into 6 columns.
• To play a bird card, choose a card from your hand and place it in the corresponding habitat from left to right.
• At the top of each column is one or two eggs. This is the cost in eggs you must pay to play a bird card from your hand.
• To pay the egg cost, put the eggs on your bird cards back into the reserve.
• At the beginning of the game, no cards and no eggs are played. The egg cost is zero.

The cost of food

• The Bird card shows the food requirements of the bird.
• To play this card, put the corresponding food tokens back into the reserve.
• Please note! This applies to the food tokens placed near your individual board.
• The cost of food can be represented by the following symbol. This indicates that any token will do.
• During this turn, you may also return 2 Food tokens of your choice to the reserve for 1 token of your choice.  

Action 2: Gain food and activate forest bird powers  

• Place 1 Action Cube on the first free space in the Forest habitat from the left.
• Follow the instructions on the square:
• Take the number of dice shown in the feeder.,  or 
• Take the corresponding Food tokens from the reserve and add them to your hand.
• : Discard a card from your hand in exchange for a die from the feeder. This action is not mandatory.
• Shift the Action Cube to the left.
• If a card is there, activate its effect if there is one. Activating a card’s effect is not mandatory.
• If a card is not there, move the cube to the left and end your turn.

The Feeder

• When the feeder is empty, roll the dice again.
• If there is only one dice left in the feeder and you are about to take food, you can re-roll the dice.
• If all the dice in the feeder have the same face and you are about to take food, roll the dice again.
• This also applies to faces of this type  

The Food Chits

• There is no limit to the number of Food Chips you can have.
• If you run out of food tokens, use substitutes.

Action 3: Lay eggs and activate grassland bird powers  

• Place 1 Action Cube on the first free space in the Meadow habitat.
• Follow the instructions shown:

• Take the number of eggs shown.
• Place the eggs on one or more Bird cards of your choice within the limit of each card.
• : You can return 1 token to the reserve in exchange for an egg. This action is not mandatory.
• Move the Action cube to the left. 
• If a card has an effect, you can activate it.
• When your Action Cube reaches the left end of the line, end your turn.

Action 4: Draw Bird Cards and Activate Swamp Bird Powers  

• Place an Action Cube on the first free space in the Marsh Habitat.
• Follow the instructions:

• Draw the number of cards shown from the Bird board. You may also draw 1 card.
• : You can return 1 egg to the reserve in exchange for an extra card.
• Activate the effect of the Marsh cards on your board from right to left. This action is not mandatory.
• When your Action Cube reaches the left end of the line, end your turn.

The Bird Cards

• There is no limit to the number of cards in your hand.
• If the deck is exhausted, shuffle the cards from the discard pile to form a new deck.
• Wait until the end of your turn to replace the cards you drew on the Bird board.

Types of nests

• There are 5 types of nests:
• platform,
• cup,
• cavity,
• ground,
• joker.
• The types of nests influence the objectives to be reached.

The individual board

• If a line is complete, you can no longer place cards on it.
• However, you can perform the action indicated at the right end of the line.

Bird powers

• The activation of the powers is optional.

The power of POSE

• This type of power is only activated when the card is placed.

The activation power

• To activate this type of power, gradually move the Action cube to the left.
• The cards are activated from right to left.

Store

• If the activation power allows you to store food on your Bird cards, these Food tokens cannot be exchanged.

Span

• If the Activation Power allows you to slide one or more cards face down under the played Bird card, take into account the wingspan of the card.
• This is the size of the bird. The wingspan of the dragged birds must always be smaller than the wingspan of the card whose power is activated.

The power once between 2 rounds

• The effect of the card only applies during the turn of one of your opponents.
• To apply its effect, tilt it to indicate that you have activated it.
• You may not put it back until the beginning of your next turn.

End of a round

• A round ends when all players have played their Action cubes.
• In this case :

• The used Action Cubes are removed from the individual game board.
• The Bird cards on the Bird board are discarded and replaced with new cards.
• Move the First Player Chit clockwise.
• Score the Objective points.

The Objective points

• Before you start, you have chosen a side of the Objective board and randomly placed Objective tiles on the board.
• Refer to the Objective tile from the round you just played to keep score.

Example:

: Total birds with an egg in this type of nest.

Green Objective board: majority objective

• This side of the board is based on a rank system.
• Count how many times you have reached the objective.
• Compare your results to determine the rank.
• Place 1 Action Cube on the square corresponding to your rank.
• A rank is worth a certain number of points.
• To score 1 point, you must have completed the objective at least once.
• If you finish last and have not scored any points, place your cube on the square with 0 points.
• If there is a tie, place the cubes of the players involved on the corresponding square.

Example:

Two players are in first place.

• Do not award the place that was supposed to go to the tied player.
• If there are 3 tied players, the next two places are not awarded.
• At the end of the game, the total of the points for these places is calculated, then divided by the number of tied players rounded down.

Example:

First place scores 5 points.

Second place scores 2 points.

There are 2 tied players.

Each tied player scores: (5 + 2) / 2, i.e. 3 points.

Blue goal board: 1 point per goal

• Count how many times you have reached the goal.
• 1 goal is worth 1 point.
• Total the points you have earned and place 1 Action Cube on the corresponding square.
• If you have not scored any points, place your cube on the 0 square.
• The points range from 0 to 5.
• Points above 5 are worth 5 points.

Bonus points

• Bonus points are added at the end of the game.
• Look at your bonus card and check that you have met the conditions.

Example:

Large bird specialist: only count birds with a wingspan of more than 65 cm to score.

End of the game

• The game ends at the end of the last round.
• Proceed to the final countdown.

Final countdown

• Use the score pad.
• Write the name or initial of each player in each column.
• The final score is determined by :
• The total points shown on each bird card on the individual board.
• The total points from the bonus cards.
• The total of the Objective points.
• 1 point per egg on the individual board.
• 1 point for each food item stored on each bird card.
• 1 point for each card that is swiped under a bird card.

Winning the game

• The player who scores the most points wins the game.
• In case of a tie, the number of unused food tokens determines the winner.