What is Wyrmspan, and How Does It Play?
2024 has been a year filled with new releases of absolutely incredible board games, and Wyrmspan is certainly one of the most popular and highest-rated games of the year. It’s been so popular in-store, that we wanted to take a quick moment to highlight the game, how it plays, what we love about it, what we don’t love - and everything in between!
What Is Wyrmspan?
Wyrmspan is a card-based, “engine building” board game, released in March of 2024 by Stonemaier Games. It can be played by 1-5 players at a time, and it is labeled as suitable for players ages 14 and up! Players assume the role as a dracologists, tasked with finding, studying, and taking care of dragons - by creating suitable habitats for them.
The game is all about finding the balance between pursuing new knowledge about these dragons, while also providing them with safe habitats in which to live.
Wyrmspan is the spiritual successor to the popular game “Wingspan,” which is also published by Stonemaier games. It follows a very familiar rule set, with some mechanical and creative differences!
The Rules of Wyrmspan
Wyrmspan is a fairly complex game, with a few routes you can follow in order to achieve overall victory. Each player is given a play mat with 3 “Dragon Sanctuaries” where dragons will reside. Based on a set of public objective tiles, players take one action a turn - Exploring, Excavating, or Excavating. It’s all about balancing all three of these options en route to completing objective tiles, which earn you victory points.
How Do You Win Wyrmspan?
The ultimate goal of Wyrmspan is to end the fourth round with the most “victory points.” You earn victory points in a wide variety of ways including attracting dragon cards to your sanctuaries, completing public objectives, accumulating resources, and more!
What Type of Players Would Love Wyrmspan?
With Wyrmspan being an unofficial successor to the award-winning “Wingspan,” it plays very similarly! Fans of other engine-building games such as Cascade, Everdell, or Earth. For a board game with slightly different gameplay, but similar beautiful artwork, checkout PARKS, which is all about United States National Parks!
How Long Does Wyrmspan Take To Play?
Wyrmspan is a fairly simple game to set up, with a few different player mats, pieces, and objective tiles to make sure are in the correct spots. Once you’re fully setup, rounds generally take 60-90 minutes!
Can You Play 1 Player Wyrmspan?
Yes! Wyrmspan actually includes an “Automa Solo Mode” that allows for single players to play the game against an automated deck, who is surprisingly competitive in most games. The human player takes their turn as usual, and a “Decision Deck” filled with cards that direct the automated player to take in order to complete tasks and advance the game.
The Presentation of Wyrmspan
Other than its incredibly engaging gameplay, Wyrmspan is one of the most beautifully illustrated and presented board games available now! It has some truly impressive watercolor artwork of creatively imagine dragons, courtesy of some very talented artists.
If you’re a board gamer who really loves looking at the finer details & presentation of board games, Wyrmspan is a top tier pick.
Wyrmspan Expansions
Wyrmspan only launched in the Spring of 2024, so there are no currently released content expansions. However, there is an “Upgrade Pack” available that includes Metal Coins and Wooden Resource tokens to really help take your experience to the next level. The higher quality tokens definitely pair nicely with a game as beautifully crafted as Wyrmspan!