Wingspan is a board game designed by Elizabeth Hargrave and published by Stonemaier Games in 2019. It is a medium-weight, card-driven, board game in which players compete to attract birds to their wildlife preserves. During the game's development process, Hargrave constructed personal charts of birds observed in Maryland, with statistics sourced from various biological databases; the special powers of birds were also selected to resemble real-life characteristics.
Upon its release, Wingspan received critical and commercial acclaim for its gameplay, accurate thematic elements, and artwork. The game also won numerous awards, including the prestigious 2019 Kennerspiel des Jahres. Several expansions and a digital edition have been subsequently published.
Wingspan has sold over 2.6 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 27 languages to date.
Development Wingspan was designed by Elizabeth Hargrave, a health consultant in Silver Spring, amateur birder, and former policy analyst for NORC at the University of Chicago. The game was inspired by Hargrave's visits to Lake Artemesia near her home in Maryland. Hargrave stated that she selected the theme because "there were too many games about castles and space, and not enough games about things I'm interested in". During her visits, she would create personal charts of the birds she observed there, with the size of the dataset reaching 596 rows by 100 columns. The special powers afforded by the birds in the game closely resemble the unique characteristics of the actual birds documented by Hargrave's efforts, with statistics on the diet, habitat, status, and wingspan of birds sourced from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the IUCN Red List, and National Audubon Society.
Hargrave pitched the concept for Wingspan to Stonemaier Games in 2016, a company from St. Louis which had previously published Viticulture and Scythe. The game concept for Wingspan interested Jamey Stegmaier, president of Stonemaier Games, who stated that "[there's] something about birds that instantly captures a human desire to collect, sort, and admire". Stegmaier also praised the engine building mechanism, describing that "[the] key for me wasn’t the birds, but the satisfying feeling of collecting beautiful things". The game's artwork, which included 170 cards, was hand-drawn by Ana Maria Martinez Jaramillo, Natalia Rojas, and Beth Sobel.
Gameplay
In Wingspan, players are bird enthusiasts—researchers, bird watchers, ornithologists, and collectors—seeking to discover and attract the best birds to their network of wildlife preserves. Players spend food resources to add birds, which are represented by 170 individually illustrated cards, to the forest, grassland, and wetland habitats on their player boards. Each habitat is associated with a different player action: gaining food resources to pay for birds, laying eggs on birds, or drawing cards. Over the course of four rounds, players take turns activating the habitats on their player boards or adding new birds. As birds are added to a habitat, the basic action of gaining food, laying eggs, or drawing cards associated with that habitat is improved. Additionally, some birds have special abilities that are activated when a player uses their habitat. At the end of the game, players score points for the birds on their board, objectives achieved during each round and throughout the game, eggs accumulated, food stored on cards, and cards stored under cards. The player with the most points wins.
Beginning September 2019, the latest printings of Wingspan now include 10 additional bird cards and 4 guide manuals, dubbed as the "swift-start promo pack", to help new players through the first 4 turns of the first round of the game.
Wingspan is a multiplayer game but it also offers solo mode where a single player can compete with "The Automa". It has a separate set of rules but still retains the core game mechanics. In the Oceania expansion (2020), a cooperative variant of automa, called the automarazzi, was introduced where two to four players can compete together against it through exchanging cards, eggs, and food tokens.
Reception Critical reviews Wingspan received widespread acclaim upon release. The game's action system was praised by Matt Thrower from IGN, who described it as "an excruciating balance between adding birds, feeding them and scoring points". The review also positively commented on the game's replayability as each bird card is unique. Stuart West from Nature agreed, noting the replay value of each game due to the unique powers of the bird cards and bonus cards. The strategic decisions for the game were also praised. The diverse interconnections of the bird abilities were commented on by Dan Kois from Slate, which stated that the birds were "knitted together into a web of complex, mutually beneficial relationships" as the game progresses. Similarly, Angela Chuang from Science described the engine building mechanisms as "compelling", and their resemblance to community ecology. Writing for the New Scientist, Dino Motti listed Wingspan as one of the nine best science-themed board games and described the game as containing "hundreds of beautifully illustrated bird cards with special abilities that synergise as they inhabit a range of environments".
Wingspan's accessibility was strongly praised, with Saif Al-Azzawi of the Los Angeles Times commenting on the game's accessibility, stating that it "strikes the perfect balance between strategy and ease". The Guardian, in a review of STEM-based games, noted the game's accessibility, stating that "it deserves to be a hit". The game's theme was positively received as increasing accessibility, with Kois noting its appeal with a wide variety of demographics. Stuart West and Aaron Zimmerman from Ars Technica also praised the game's accessibility.
The component quality of Wingspan and its theme were well received. Stuart West described it as "an obvious labour of love", describing the egg components as "dainty, pastel-hued" and the bird cards as "superbly drawn". Vox reviewer Brian Anderson praised the quality, describing the art as "field guide-caliber illustrations" and praised the "tactile elements" of the birdhouse. Similarly, Zimmerman praised the components and artwork as "lavishly produced". The New York Times also complimented the game's illustrations and components, including the pastel eggs, which was described as "enticing as Jordan almonds", and the birdhouse. The game's theme was described to "flow elegantly from the biology" by Nature and "committed to scientific integrity" according to Brian Anderson who also commented on the game's use of well-known bird guides and of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology database. In The New York Times, Siobhan Roberts observed the "scientific integrity" of the game.
However, not all aspects of Wingspan were positively received. Kois critiqued the balance, stating that towards the end of the game, laying eggs is the only preferable strategy. This sentiment was shared by Zimmerman, who criticised the possibly "overpowered" action of laying eggs that resulted in the game's ending to be "one-note". Furthermore, despite praising the accessibility, Zimmerman said that he preferred "a little more crunch in the decision-making", and also described the lack of player interaction.
Awards and nominations Over the years, Wingspan and its expansion games have received multiple nominations and awards. Some of its notable wins include the prestigious Kennerspiel des Jahres award presented in 2019 and the Strategy Game of the Year award given by American Tabletop Awards in 2020. It ranks among the most awarded board games of all time.
YearGameAwardCategoryResult2019Wingspan5 SeasonsBest International Strategy Gamerowspan="3" Board Game Quest AwardsBest Production Values Game of the YearCardboard Republic AwardsArchitect Laurel Deutscher Spiele PreisGame of the Yearrowspan="12" Diamond Climber Awards Game of the Year Best ArtworkGolden Geek AwardsBoard Game of the Year Best Artwork Presentation Card Game of the Year Family Game of the Year Innovative Game of the Year Solo Game of the Year Strategy Game of the YearWingspan: European ExpansionExpansion of the Year WingspanGouden LudoBest Expert Game International Gamers AwardGeneral Strategy: Multi-player rowspan="2" Lys PassionéLe Lys Expert Meeples' Choice AwardTop Award 4th Place Nederlandse SpellenprijsBest Expert Game Spiel des JahresKennerspiel des Jahresrowspan="6" Swiss Gamers AwardsTop Award The Dice Tower AwardsGame of the Year Tric Trac AwardsTric Trac d'Argent 2020Wingspan: European Expansion5 SeasonsBest International Expansion WingspanAmerican Tabletop AwardsStrategy Game of the Year Wingspan: Oceania ExpansionBoard Game Quest AwardsBest Game Expansionrowspan="2" WingspanGeeks d'OUROBest Board Game Wingspan: Oceania ExpansionGolden Geek AwardsExpansion of the Year WingspanGra RokuFamily Game of the Yearrowspan="2" GuldbrikkenAdult Game of the Year Japan Boardgame PrizeVoters' Selection 8th Place Jogoeu User's Game (J.U.G.) AwardsAdult Game of the Year 2021 Årets Spill 2021/2022 Best Family Game 2022Wingspan AsiaBoard Game Quest AwardsBest Game Expansionrowspan="3" Golden Geek Awards2-player Game of The Year Expansion of the Year2023International Gamers AwardsTwo Player Award
Listicles +Name of publisher, name of listicle, year(s) listed, and placement result Publisher Listicle Year(s) Result BBC Science Focus7 best science board games2022Placed CBR10 Board Games That Have Amazing Artwork20221st 10 Board Games That Are Already Modern Classics9th The 10 Most Peaceful Board Games10th EsquireThe 15 Best Two-Player Board Games2022Placed ForbesTop Strategy Board Games To Try 2025Placed IGNThe Best Board Games for Adults2023Placed The Best Engine-Building Board Games in 20262026Placed NPRThe Best Board Games of 20192019Placed PasteThe 10 Best Board Games of 201920191st PolygonThe 22 best board games2024Placed Reader's Digest15 Strategy Board Games You’ll Love20236th SlashFilmThe 20 Best Board Games For Adults2021Placed SlateThe best new board games2020Placed SmithsonianThe Best Board Games of 20192019Placed TheGamerBest Nature-Themed Board Games2023Placed The GuardianThe 20 best family-friendly board games2020Placed The MartletThe best nature-themed board games2023Placed The StrategistBest illustrated board game for adults20261st The TelegraphThe best board games of 202620268th VultureBest New Game20201st WargamerThe 15 best board games in 2026202611th
Note Placed indicates that the published list is not in chronological order
Success and impact Since its release, Wingspan has become one of the most successful modern board games, earning both critical acclaim and commercial success. The game has been featured in prominent newspapers like The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and The Guardian, as well as renowned scientific journals Nature and Science. It was also highlighted by Audubon and Smithsonian magazines, as well as the American Birding Association. Wingspan sold 44,000 copies worldwide over three printings in its first two months of release, with the publisher issuing a public apology for not having more copies available. In 2020, as the pandemic forced people into their homes, Wingspan blew up, outselling every other game its publisher makes combined. By September 2021, sales of Wingspan had reached 1.3 million, which is the highest number of copies sold for Stonemaier Games. As of March 2026, Wingspan, along with its expansions, has now sold over 2.6 million copies worldwide. It has been one of the popular modern board games recognized as an important growth driver in the global board games market, with $100 million in estimated total sales.