Here's an interesting game I bought during a sale. BACKGROUND:
I don't recall where I first saw this game (it's likely one of the Nintendo indie presentations), but I certainly remember being interested in its card-based gameplay, its subject matter, and the fact that it was a video game adaptation of a tabletop game. I kind of forgot about the game at some point until I saw it on sale some time ago, at which point I bought it. PLOT: Although the tutorial is framed as the player working at a wildlife reserve to attract birds of many kinds, there really isn't much of a story beyond that. The birds that are featured here are absolutely real, though, so this can be an educational experience for some. PRESENTATION: Both the backgrounds and the art of the cards are beautiful, with everything having a realistic look and a distinct watercolor style. Coupled with the lovely music, the whole game captures quite the serene nature vibe. This game goes the extra mile by featuring the calls of every bird featured on the card, as well as narration sharing actual trivia about each bird. I wouldn't call Wingspan ornithology made easy, but you'll absolutely learn a thing or two about birds just by playing cards. GAMEPLAY: The goal of Wingspan is to have the most points out of every player. The main way to earn points is to have a lot of birds (which are cards that you play) on your board, though there are plenty of other ways to earn points. Alternate ways to earn points include storing resources on played birds, accomplishing the end-of-round goals of each round, and fulfilling bonus card requirements. You can keep tabs on some of the points you have throughout the game and look at the opponent's board at any point, so don't worry about keeping score too much. Wingspan's board is split into three zones corresponding to bird habitats: the forest, the grassland, the wetland. Just like in real life, birds live in a specific habitat, so you can only play them on their indicated habitat. In addition to this, habitats are where you perform specific player actions: the forest is where you gain food (a resource used to play birds), the grassland is where you can lay eggs (an additional resource that is stored in open egg slots of played birds), and the wetland is where you draw cards. In addition to the action of playing a bird, only one of the aforementioned actions can be taken per turn. A significant part of the strategy in this game is weighing which action is the most impactful one you can take in a turn, and that choice is influenced not only by your progress relative to your opponents but also by your progress in terms of achieving the end-of-round goal. You can only play a certain number of birds per habitat (with the egg cost escalating as you go), but the more birds making their home in a specific habitat, the more improved your player action in that given habitat will be. For example, you can only draw one food if the forest habitat has no birds in it, but as you play more, that number will increase. You'll even gain the ability to swap one resource for another thanks to this mechanic. I found the implementation of habitats super fun to play around overall, as I had to also think about how to play birds in order to maximize my benefit from each habitat. Every bird has stats like their nest type, their wingspan, their habitat, and their diet, all of which are taken into account in various ways (like as the basis for tracking objectives or used for various abilities). In addition, every bird has a card effect that takes effect based on certain conditions (e.g. performing a habitat action, when played, when opponents perform an action). There are literally hundreds of these effects, so I won't get too in-depth, but you'll have to take those into account as well when shooting for objectives. Each game goes for four rounds, each with a decreasing number of turns and random end-of-round objectives. These can range from highest number of birds in a single habitat, to something more specific like most birds with eggs who live in a specified nest type. It's generally a good idea to aim for these objectives just to ensure that your opponents don't get the points, but you must also take care to not neglect your other methods to earn points. I've definitely lost a few games against the CPU because I was beelining for these end-of-round goals. You can play the game locally with up to four players, play against the CPU, or play against others online. There's also an interesting online mode where you try your best against a fixed AI opponent, and there's a leaderboard element to it where the player who manages to earn the most points against it is named the player of the week. If the close to 200 bird cards aren't enough for you, the game has two expansions that add birds from Europe and Oceania respectively (for reference, the birds in the base game are from North America). The game lets you try these cards out for free in their respective expansion tutorials before you consider buying the DLC, and they add all sorts of new mechanics to an already deep game. VERDICT: I enjoyed messing around with Wingspan's card-based systems, which had you weighing where to play birds to maximize habitat actions, choosing when to take said actions so you can get the most points, and doing your best to make the most out of each bird's special effect. I also found quite the appreciation the game's subject matter; it's a delight to see a diverse variety of birds and learn something about them, and if I didn't live in the suburbs, I'd be even more inclined to go birdwatching. Perhaps my only gripe is that the game feels rather impersonal in a competitive sense since there's next to no player interaction, but that's not really a big deal since there's fun to be had just by seeing how many birds you can play (at least, it's fun for me). I'd wager that playing the actual board game with real people in a room is more fun than the video game version, but I think this is a game worth getting if you want a chill strategy game you can fire up for a few rounds. Wingspan is available on the following platforms: - end -
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
Archives
July 2024
Derryck
|