Wingspan has sold over 1 million copies in just three years
Flown the coop.
Wingspan, the beginner board game about attracting birds, has successfully sold over 1 million copies in just three years.
In a tweet from the tabletop title’s creator, Elizabeth Hargrave, it was confirmed that Wingspan - which won the Kennerspiel des Jahres, one of the most prestigious prizes in the tabletop industry - has shifted over 1 million copies since its release in 2019. Wingspan has hit the 1 million mark faster than several other popular board games such as 7 Wonders and its two-player spin-off title 7 Wonders Duel.
A board game for one to five players, Wingspan sees competitors attempting to earn the most victory points possible by attracting birds to their varying habitats. Over the course of three rounds players take turns to perform actions across their boards, with each of the three habitats enabling players to do different things. Whilst the woodland habitat allows players to gather the food they need to attract birds to their board, the grasslands have players’ birds laying eggs and the wetlands leads to players drawing more bird cards.
Each round has special bonus scoring rules - sometimes around eggs, other times around specific birds - as well as there being end game scoring rules. In order to win, players need to maintain a balance between aiming for round scoring and end game scoring, with certain bird cards and egg combinations being worth more than others.
Besides designing Wingspan, Hargrave is also known for creating Mariposas - a board game about the migration patterns of endangered monarch butterflies - alongside Tussie Mussie, a tabletop title about the Victorian cultural phenomenon of exchanging flowers.
Wingspan was published by Stonemaier Games, the studio also responsible for releasing titles such as Scythe - considered to be one of the best board games of the modern era - Viticulture, a board game about managing a vineyard, and the legacy game Charterstone.
A third expansion for Wingspan, following on from the European and Oceanic expansions, is currently set to be released in Q3 2022.