Co-operative Variant For Wingspan: Fan Made Expansion

You are ornithologists trying to re-introduce birds to their native habitats following a biological disaster. The health of your recovering bird populations is measured by the number of objectives you are collectively able to achieve.

Designed by Brendan back in early November 2020, “Wingspan Co-operative” is a fan-made variant for Stonemaier Games’ Wingspan. Compatible with the base game, the European Expansion, and Oceania Expansion, this light variant is a must for anyone who wants a break from the competitive game mode. 

Depending on the number of players (2-3) you’ll have to meet a number of objectives to win. These “objectives'' will resemble how well your bird populations are thriving. You won’t have to achieve every single one, but you’ll need almost all of them to win. In a game of 2 players you’ll need 12/14, and in a game of 3, 15/18 objectives. 

While this may seem like a tricky goal, remember that you won’t have to do it alone. Together with your teammates you could split the objectives- planning it so that each one goes after a couple -plan your strategy together, and aid each other. As a new rule, you’ll be able to trade any one item for another without any limitations to the number of trades you can do on your turn. This will significantly make your game easier. You’ll often end up with complimentary engines, where one player feeds their friend cards, and the other feeds food back to him. 

Some of the objectives you’ll be tasked to complete are: fill your board, score above a certain threshold, qualify for all the end-round goals, but most importantly, score at least 5 points on a number of bonus cards dealt to the middle of the table. In this variant, you must achieve these bonus cards. While in the base game bonus cards give you some points, in this variant they will determine whether you win or not.  You’ll find yourself bending over backwards, trying to go after birds with platform nests, for example. These bonus cards form close to half the objectives you must achieve, so you can't ignore them. 

If you have never played a cooperative mode for Wingspan, you’ll find it weird at first to team up with your friends and work together. But as you’ll play more games, you’ll realize this variant really is a wonderful classic. It is challenging, yet still part of a bird themed board game, so how difficult could it possibly get?

Ready to build a new shelter for our favorite birds? You can find the rulebook file and all necessary information on ThisIsFanMade here. 

Happy gaming!

For more fan made variants, visit ThisIsFanMade.