Wingspan will be joined by another bird-themed board game, Birdwatcher
Like birds of a feather.
An upcoming board game called Birdwatcher is set to join the beloved Wingspan in the club of tabletop games about ornithology.
Designed to support one to five players, Birdwatcher is a board game that sees its competitors becoming rival photographers attempting to capture photos of rare birdlife. Set in a jungle that various elusive Birds of Paradise call their home, Birdwatcher is a game that sees players attempting to lure exotic birdlife out into the open so that they can capture them on film. The board game – which shares similarities with the popular title Wingspan in that both are focused on attracting birdlife – has its players taking turns to coax birds from their trees, taking photographs and publishing their findings.
On a player’s turn, they’ll have three different actions that they can perform. One of these actions is to use a bird caller to lure the various available birds from their tree. The central clearing and jungle will contain the different bird cards that are currently on offer, with players getting different amounts of points depending on how they’re able to take their photo. Players can choose to simply take a picture of the bird in its tree or can attempt to attract it out of the branches, or even run into the jungle in order to bring new birds into the clearing.
Another option that players have in Birdwatcher is to set up a zoom lens that will enable them to capture a picture of a bird card found in an opponent’s tree. Once players have photographs – as well as optional publications that can be created using an action – they can choose how they want to assemble them within their journal, which will decide how their points are scored at the end of the game. Whichever player manages to gather the most citation points by the end of the game is awarded the Global Geographic Photographer of the Year and becomes the winner.
Birdwatcher was created by Zakir Jafry, with this being the designer’s first game. As well as being a game designer, Jafry also works for an international environmental organisation. The artwork for Birdwatcher was created by Lauren Helton, a biologist and scientific illustrator for the Institute of Bird Populations.
Oni Games and Renegade Game Studios will be co-publishing Birdwatcher, with the two studios previously co-publishing titles such as The Tea Dragon Society Card Game, Scott Pilgrim’s Previous Little Card Game and Gudetama: The Tricky Egg Card Game.
Birdwatcher is yet to receive a release date, with the game set to launch at a retail price of $40 (£30).