Hi All,
I am taking a quick break from my regular Games Workshop content to discuss another game that I love. I am a huge fan of the board game Wingspan and so was thrilled to get a copy of the newest expansion: Asia for Christmas. This might seem like an odd place to start with my reviews, as it is the latest of three expansions for the game. However, this game has a standalone version that the others lack. In fact Asia offers players three different opportunities:
- Standalone two player version
- Tools to expand the base game to seven players
- A host of new bird cards to add to the base game.
We will dive into each of these sections separately starting with….
Standalone AKA Duet Mode
Duet mode offers a new experience to players who want a faster game, or something that shakes up the monotony. This game mode can be played using just the materials in the expansion, or you can combine the bird cards with the ones from the base game and expansions. The only limitation is the new secondary goal system has tiles that only work with the options in Asia. The biggest change to this game type is the addition of the Duet board. Every time players place a bird on their board they can put a token on the duet board in a space that aligns with some facet of that bird (what it eats, wingspan size, etc.) As you can see from the image, the spaces are divided up based on the major habitats and you can only place a token that aligns with where the bird was placed (ergo if I place a bird in the Wetlands row I have to place my token on a spot in the wetlands Duet board). At the end of each round, you compare how many of your tokens align with the round end goal with the winner getting all points. These goals are random, but they don’t work well with the base game tiles. The board is double-sided with a standard scoring system if you would rather use it instead.
6-7 Player Expansion AKA Flock Mode
This is an intriguing option as it allows you to play with a significant number of people. One flaw of Wingspan is that it does take a while to play especially if you are a newer player. To solve this issue the Flock game mode has two active players at all times. To avoid active players stepping on each other’s toes they have separated the players into two different groups with each having its own feeder and bird tray. The game is also more friendly for ties in secondary scoring, as all players compete for points. It does make birds with “Pink “Between Rounds” powers much more enticing as they can be triggered by the whole table! Another considerate touch of the makers of the game is that the two new boards are double sided allowing you to use the Nectar rules or not as you please.
New Bird Cards
Wingspan is very accommodating of its players and, if you like the old game and just want the new birds, that is perfectly doable. The new birds are quite powerful and add a new series of “Push Your Luck” mechanics allowing you to take risks but also potentially lose some points. For those of you tracking power creep, yes the new birds are very good (I have lost two games in Duet mode due to my opponent getting the f*****g Mandarin Duck in their opening hand) The predators birds have been massively revamped and are much more enticing as an opinion now. They also added more food-caching options which is nice. An intriguing note is that they seem to be backing off the Nectar mechanics which I like. I think those rules were a little too powerful.
Final Thoughts
Although I have been drubbed in my first two play-throughs of this expansion I think it is one of the best since the European release. Duet mode is really fun and my wife and I enjoy playing it a lot. I can’t think of a time when we will have 6 people playing but the option resolves one big shortcoming of the base game. The new bird cards are awesome and will balance suitably when combined with all other birds. I am excited to see what they have in store for the other continents coming up. For people unsure of if they want to play the full game it is a great introduction and works well with any past expansions. For players with the base game it’s a great addition to an already superb game. Stonemaier has stated the final game will have over 400 birds included so we still have a few more games to look forward to!
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