I also started teaching the setup choice as you get to keep 5 THINGS between the birds and the food. Even though it seemed totally logical to myself and my game loving family, other people have struggled enormously with the idea that you have to feed the birds you keep 🤔 it does make it way simpler to explain it as pick 5 things total to keep😀😀 And also...I sometimes have simply picked their personal goal and their starting cards/food for them. They totally understand the process after playing the first game. The only other thing that newbies seem to find confusing is remembering that the Play a Bird action means ALL you do that turn is play a bird (and the when activated action if there is one) And I also usually start with "total birds" as the first end of round goal...seems to be a simple way to get them started with a goal
It is amazing to me how Stonemaier continually knocks it out of the park with their games. Such incredible quality in every facet, components quality, gameplay, and FUN! Such an amazing, tight, thematic experience that always leaves you wanting more.
Thanks Jamey. I taught it for the first time last night, and pretty much did what you suggested here. One thing people didn't catch immediately was taking the action as shown in the slot on the board. I started by describing the four actions, but maybe needed to be clearer about how each action can get better with each bird you place in a habitat. Many thanks for this awesome game!
Not a gamer; my hubbie is....but I love this game! The cards are beautiful, it's easy to learn and who doesn't love those eggs!! How adorable! Plus, it has great game play, is fast to play, and is well balanced once you learn how to make combos and play to your hand. We can't wait for an expansion! Happy gaming! 😊
After half a dozen teaches over the weekend, I wanted to share the most common mistakes I saw players make in their first game. Keep an eye out for these: 1) If teaching using the "pay food to keep starting hand" explanation, some players misunderstand this is only during setup and not each time they draw cards. 2) Drawing bird cards instead of bonus cards as specified in some WHEN PLAYED abilities. 3) Forgetting to pay the egg cost for the second (or third) bird while using the WHEN PLAYED ability 4) Trying to pay bird costs using cached food 5) Confusing bird powers having a "may cache" ability with a "must cache" ability. Keep an eye out for the differences in wording. Also, I'm seeing a pattern among new players where the last 3 turns all end up being Lay Egg actions. While it might be the best way to add to your score if you aren't setup with any large-point birds ready to play, but then they end up with an anti-climactic taste which isn't good for their *first* game. Any ideas on how to best alleviate this feeling?
I didn't mind the ending with laying a bunch of eggs. Proved to be a winning end game strategy as I won by 2. Didn't find it anti climactic at all. I thoroughly enjoyed my plays of this game. I wouldn't overthink that. Apart from that, I find your 5 points to be exactly what I ran into also. Good points.
Both taught and played this game at BGG.Spring. Absolutely loved it! Can't wait to get a copy when they are back in stock. It had me thinking of Photosynthesis at times, probably because of aesthetics, but also some similarities in gameplay elements. I really enjoy that game as well. Nice work to all involved in creating Wingspan. Truly a beautiful game!
Very helpful. Thank you! ❤ I wish there was a proposed teach like this for every game. I'm preparing to teach Wingspan to my non gamer family 😊 I was writing my hopes you'd do one for the fantastic Undergrove I played last night until I realized it wasn't a Stonemaier. 😅 Oops. I guess great nature games can't all be yours 😂
I'm excited to play Undergrove too! I only do these for our games, though there is a channel called "Teach the teach" that sometimes makes these types of videos for a wide variety of games.
I found that it’s pretty easy to teach how to play a turn and how to play a bird but it’s really hard to explain what their goal is. You have to be like “well you can gain points from eggs or you can gain points from birds or you can gain points from the round goal” so that’s the part I have struggled with even with those swift start guides.
That's a good point about points! For learning the game, I would suggest narrowing the choices: Tell players to focus on their bonus cards and the end-of-round goals.
Well, now it's the perfect time to release a ton of wingspan like concept board games with all short of animals etc... I will totally buy every version. Let's say "paws" for wild animals. "Fish tails" for all shorts of fish speeches board game or even plants. And the list goes on... The most intrigued thing would be to be able to mix various versions for a game with all possible animals and a super wide list of combos...
First of all I am very excited for this game. I have a couple of questions: One from my understanding when you are doing a predator that rolls dice you only get to cache one even if you roll multiple righ? Why was the reason for that decision? To balance it better compare to the other predator? Or just because you felt that getting multiple would be too strong? Second from what I've seen people seem to think that getting eggs in the last round is better than doing other things, Is it them just not having enough experience yet to value other strategies more? Or do you see it as something you may have too balance in the future? Love your games and content on the channel
Yes, you only cache 1 from a successful predator roll (I think it says so on the card--you don't need to remember this). It balances the luck factor, and it makes thematic sense that the bird is swooping down on one animal, not grabbing several. If you build an effective engine in the grasslands, it's good to lay eggs in the last round (unless you have birds with high VP to play). The same goes for any other habitat--if you build a good engine, use it. :)
@@jameystegmaier the initial thing of splitting between birds and food and explaining all the actions before beginning meant my players were asking what the merits were to each thing and trying to keep track of end of round goals and bonus cards
@@murrayprovan4835 You actually don't need to explain all the actions before you start playing. The only thing players need to know for their first decision (which food/birds to keep) is that they should keep any pairing of birds and food that allows them to play a bird early. At the very most, a player could also factor their bonus card into their decision, but definitely not end-of-round goals. I would highly recommend not mentioning end-of-round goals until a few turns into a teaching game.
No game store should have any copies of the game yet, as the release date isn't until March 8. Here's a more detailed explanation about how demand forecasting works in the board game world: stonemaiergames.com/an-open-letter-to-distributors-and-retailers-from-stonemaier-games/
This is a camera we use a lot at my work. It's a little pricey, but plug-and-play and very decent quality, www.logitech.com/en-us/product/c922-pro-stream-webcam?crid=34 @@jameystegmaier
@@jameystegmaier preorder from the website its close??... Do you have international delivery?? Or sell through amazon (normal y i get my games that way) PD i love your games..... Scythe its wonderfull... This saturday i will be opening my expansión "rise of fenris"
@@felipejesuscetinamendez6629 Thanks! I hope you enjoy Fenris. :) The preorders for Wingspan are closed, but more copies will be available through retailers (including Amazon) in March. We ship worldwide from St. Louis for orders placed through our website.
"Keep 5 total things" is such a good way to think about it.
I also started teaching the setup choice as you get to keep 5 THINGS between the birds and the food. Even though it seemed totally logical to myself and my game loving family, other people have struggled enormously with the idea that you have to feed the birds you keep 🤔 it does make it way simpler to explain it as pick 5 things total to keep😀😀
And also...I sometimes have simply picked their personal goal and their starting cards/food for them. They totally understand the process after playing the first game.
The only other thing that newbies seem to find confusing is remembering that the Play a Bird action means ALL you do that turn is play a bird (and the when activated action if there is one)
And I also usually start with "total birds" as the first end of round goal...seems to be a simple way to get them started with a goal
I like all of this, Erin. Thanks for teaching Wingspan!
It is amazing to me how Stonemaier continually knocks it out of the park with their games. Such incredible quality in every facet, components quality, gameplay, and FUN! Such an amazing, tight, thematic experience that always leaves you wanting more.
Thanks Jamey. I taught it for the first time last night, and pretty much did what you suggested here.
One thing people didn't catch immediately was taking the action as shown in the slot on the board. I started by describing the four actions, but maybe needed to be clearer about how each action can get better with each bird you place in a habitat.
Many thanks for this awesome game!
Not a gamer; my hubbie is....but I love this game! The cards are beautiful, it's easy to learn and who doesn't love those eggs!! How adorable! Plus, it has great game play, is fast to play, and is well balanced once you learn how to make combos and play to your hand. We can't wait for an expansion! Happy gaming! 😊
Wingspan in under 5 minutes. This game is so accessible and a joy to play. Great job Jamey :-)
After half a dozen teaches over the weekend, I wanted to share the most common mistakes I saw players make in their first game. Keep an eye out for these:
1) If teaching using the "pay food to keep starting hand" explanation, some players misunderstand this is only during setup and not each time they draw cards.
2)
Drawing bird cards instead of bonus cards as specified in some WHEN PLAYED abilities.
3) Forgetting to pay the egg cost for the second (or third) bird while using the WHEN PLAYED ability
4) Trying to pay bird costs using cached food
5) Confusing bird powers having a "may cache" ability with a "must cache" ability. Keep an eye out for the differences in wording.
Also, I'm seeing a pattern among new players where the last 3 turns all end up being Lay Egg actions. While it might be the best way to add to your score if you aren't setup with any large-point birds ready to play, but then they end up with an anti-climactic taste which isn't good for their *first* game. Any ideas on how to best alleviate this feeling?
I didn't mind the ending with laying a bunch of eggs. Proved to be a winning end game strategy as I won by 2. Didn't find it anti climactic at all. I thoroughly enjoyed my plays of this game. I wouldn't overthink that.
Apart from that, I find your 5 points to be exactly what I ran into also. Good points.
Both taught and played this game at BGG.Spring. Absolutely loved it!
Can't wait to get a copy when they are back in stock.
It had me thinking of Photosynthesis at times, probably because of aesthetics, but also some similarities in gameplay elements. I really enjoy that game as well.
Nice work to all involved in creating Wingspan. Truly a beautiful game!
Thank you for teaching it! :)
Very helpful. Thank you! ❤ I wish there was a proposed teach like this for every game. I'm preparing to teach Wingspan to my non gamer family 😊
I was writing my hopes you'd do one for the fantastic Undergrove I played last night until I realized it wasn't a Stonemaier. 😅 Oops. I guess great nature games can't all be yours 😂
I'm excited to play Undergrove too! I only do these for our games, though there is a channel called "Teach the teach" that sometimes makes these types of videos for a wide variety of games.
I found that it’s pretty easy to teach how to play a turn and how to play a bird but it’s really hard to explain what their goal is. You have to be like “well you can gain points from eggs or you can gain points from birds or you can gain points from the round goal” so that’s the part I have struggled with even with those swift start guides.
That's a good point about points! For learning the game, I would suggest narrowing the choices: Tell players to focus on their bonus cards and the end-of-round goals.
I got the game from my girlfriend for chrismas. Looking forward to playing it with her. Its such a beautiful game.
Thanks Jamey! Just arrived the game today, i'm gonna use your advises!
I just played the game for the first time last night. (I wish I saw this video!) I was really impressed by the game. Good job.
great job Jamie, will use this technique with my wife (finally got myself a copy ❤)
Awesome! I hope it works out. :)
Well, now it's the perfect time to release a ton of wingspan like concept board games with all short of animals etc... I will totally buy every version. Let's say "paws" for wild animals. "Fish tails" for all shorts of fish speeches board game or even plants. And the list goes on... The most intrigued thing would be to be able to mix various versions for a game with all possible animals and a super wide list of combos...
First of all I am very excited for this game.
I have a couple of questions:
One from my understanding when you are doing a predator that rolls dice you only get to cache one even if you roll multiple righ? Why was the reason for that decision? To balance it better compare to the other predator? Or just because you felt that getting multiple would be too strong?
Second from what I've seen people seem to think that getting eggs in the last round is better than doing other things, Is it them just not having enough experience yet to value other strategies more? Or do you see it as something you may have too balance in the future?
Love your games and content on the channel
Yes, you only cache 1 from a successful predator roll (I think it says so on the card--you don't need to remember this). It balances the luck factor, and it makes thematic sense that the bird is swooping down on one animal, not grabbing several.
If you build an effective engine in the grasslands, it's good to lay eggs in the last round (unless you have birds with high VP to play). The same goes for any other habitat--if you build a good engine, use it. :)
@@jameystegmaier makes sense, thanks
Tried teaching for the first time today to two people who can be quite tough for teaching games. Didn't go so well wish I'd seen this vid first 😓
What did you find to be a challenge for them?
@@jameystegmaier the initial thing of splitting between birds and food and explaining all the actions before beginning meant my players were asking what the merits were to each thing and trying to keep track of end of round goals and bonus cards
@@murrayprovan4835 You actually don't need to explain all the actions before you start playing. The only thing players need to know for their first decision (which food/birds to keep) is that they should keep any pairing of birds and food that allows them to play a bird early. At the very most, a player could also factor their bonus card into their decision, but definitely not end-of-round goals. I would highly recommend not mentioning end-of-round goals until a few turns into a teaching game.
Thanks!
Why does my local game store have so few copies of the game?
No game store should have any copies of the game yet, as the release date isn't until March 8. Here's a more detailed explanation about how demand forecasting works in the board game world: stonemaiergames.com/an-open-letter-to-distributors-and-retailers-from-stonemaier-games/
Great video. Super helpful. But I kinda want to buy you a better webcam/camera… ;-)
If you have a better webcam suggestion, I'm open to getting it! I'm a PC.
This is a camera we use a lot at my work. It's a little pricey, but plug-and-play and very decent quality,
www.logitech.com/en-us/product/c922-pro-stream-webcam?crid=34
@@jameystegmaier
Its out for sale???... Im living in mexico
The retail release date is March 8 (people who already have it are those who preordered from us earlier this month).
@@jameystegmaier preorder from the website its close??... Do you have international delivery?? Or sell through amazon (normal y i get my games that way)
PD i love your games..... Scythe its wonderfull... This saturday i will be opening my expansión "rise of fenris"
@@felipejesuscetinamendez6629 Thanks! I hope you enjoy Fenris. :) The preorders for Wingspan are closed, but more copies will be available through retailers (including Amazon) in March. We ship worldwide from St. Louis for orders placed through our website.
How do I get a copy!? 😊
We're currently sold out, but you can sign up for a back-in-stock notification here: stonemaiergames.com/games/wingspan/