Objective of the Game

Welcome to the wonderful world of Wingspan! Get ready to discover and attract the most beautiful and beneficial birds to your wildlife preserves. Your goal is to be the player with the most victory points at the end of the game. You'll achieve this by playing bird cards, completing bonus cards, and meeting the end-of-round goals. So, spread your wings and let's build the best habitat!

Preparation (Setup)

Setting up Wingspan is a breeze, and soon you'll be attracting all sorts of feathered friends. Here's how to get your game started:

1. Each player chooses a color and takes the corresponding player mat, 8 action cubes, and 2 bonus cards.
2. Players look at their 2 bonus cards and choose 1 to keep, discarding the other face down.
3. Each player takes 5 bird cards from the deck.
4. Players choose which of their 5 bird cards to keep, and for each card kept, they must pay 1 food token. Any discarded cards are placed face down in a discard pile.
5. The birdfeeder dice tower is assembled and the 5 food dice are rolled and placed into it.
6. The bird tray is placed on the table, and 3 bird cards are dealt face up into it. The remaining bird cards form a draw pile.
7. The goal board is placed on the table, and 4 round goal tiles are randomly drawn and placed on the "Round Goals" section.
8. The nectar tokens (if playing with the Oceania Expansion) are placed near the supply of food tokens.
9. The egg tokens are placed in a general supply.

The Game Turn

A game of Wingspan is played over four rounds. In each round, players take turns performing actions until everyone has used all their action cubes for that round. Here are the actions you can take on your turn:

• Play a Bird Card: Pay the food cost shown on the bird card and place it into an available space on your player mat in the corresponding habitat (Forest, Grassland, or Wetland).
• Gain Food: Place an action cube on the leftmost available space of the Forest row on your player mat. Take food tokens from the birdfeeder equal to the number of dice shown on the space, then re-roll any dice used.
• Lay Eggs: Place an action cube on the leftmost available space of the Grassland row on your player mat. Take egg tokens from the supply and place them on your bird cards, up to the number shown on the space.
• Draw Cards: Place an action cube on the leftmost available space of the Wetland row on your player mat. Draw bird cards from the deck or the bird tray, up to the number shown on the space.

When you perform an action, you also activate the "brown powers" of any birds you have in that row, starting from the rightmost bird and moving left.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends after the fourth round. Once all players have used their action cubes for the final round, it's time for the grand finale: scoring!

Players score points from seven different categories:

1. Points on bird cards.
2. Points from bonus cards.
3. Points from end-of-round goals.
4. Points from eggs on bird cards.
5. Points from food tokens cached on bird cards.
6. Points from tucked cards under bird cards.
7. Points from nectar tokens (if playing with the Oceania Expansion).

The player with the highest total score is the ultimate bird enthusiast and wins the game!

Tips for Winning

Want to become a master ornithologist? Here are a couple of tips to help you on your way:

• Focus on End-of-Round Goals: Keep a close eye on the round goal tiles. Strategically playing birds that contribute to these goals can give you a significant point boost each round. Don't forget to check how your opponents are doing on these goals too!
• Build Your Engine: Wingspan is all about creating powerful combinations. Look for birds whose "brown powers" synergize with each other. For example, a bird that allows you to gain extra food when you play a bird in the Forest can be incredibly valuable, especially if you have other birds that convert food into points or more cards.