I Never Win at Wingspan | Game Breakers | Strategy

[@ObsessiveGamer]

Useful Time Stamps: 0:01:37 - Not so useful Egg Laying strategy 0:03:21 - Cross habitat bird strategy 0:09:50 - the "28 Cards"

[@PierreBezemer]

The crows are indeed OP, if a player has a starting hand which includes one where you get 2 food of your choice by discarding 1 egg, they basically already won the game, because there is no reason to choose the tree action anymore. Basically build up to 5 birds in the grass and you are set for a high score

[@meep7779]

I got 132 points with the Killdeer

[@judsonq2441]

It is imperative that my family never watches this video.

[@derekjparker]

They must never know.

[@meep7779]

my famliy all know the power of the raven

[@feverpa]

I'm obsessed with this game, and I've been talking through this exact strategy recently on my own. This is a great breakdown. Essentially, the most precious commodity in the game is "actions." The birds that allow you to draw a card after tucking a card bugged me at first - because I often don't have many bird cards in my hand. I had a similar problem with the "pay an egg, get a food" but I just hadn't worked out to always play those birds in the "egg row." There are so many birds, with so many different characteristics, it takes a while to wrap your head around a strategy. This seems to be it. I suspect that great players will all play that same strategy and it would come down to which players gets the most advantageous bonus cards, available birds, etc.

[@aujew]

I am studying to be the best in the world at this game. I will win the first world championship, mark my bird.

[@Wingsplain]

When that day comes, I look forward to facing you in the finals.

[@Tinil0]

Update to your life goal?

[@feliciabacon9923]

😂

[@ChubbyChoncc]

@@Tinil0 He successfully... laid an egg.

[@cmpruiett]

Great video! Another card that gives you another turn but isn’t cross habit is the card that allows you to play an additional bird card immediately. Also, the cards that give you additional bonus cards are huge. While not giving you an extra turn, it usually results in 4-7 points at the end from one play.

[@federatedrev]

This is far and away my New Most Favorite Channel. This Wingspan video literally changed the quality of my game-playing life. THANK YOU!

[@musicforall1859]

What a great production in this video! Wow. Congrats!

[@andrewbezzina87]

I have to say those Ravens are OP. I just played my second game, and I managed to get one of the ravens, trading one egg for any 2 resources is just game changing, its even better then the feeder as you can get any resource you want and you don't have to worry which ones are currently available are in the feeder. I had that in conjunction with a bird that gives you a free egg. Long story short i got a 100 points which was way more then second place.

[@culdeus9559]

Just pull it from deck. Way too op in grass.

[@melodylin5058]

I got a raven and 2 free egg cards which is so OP and I didn't even break 100 points :(

[@dylanabbott9209]

I got 108 on my first play through. With the raven!

[@curtcollins6659]

The golden rule of board games: He who takes the most turns wins the game....

[@christophersteele2531]

Great video! I've played Wingspan 4 times now and I love it more each time. The last group was a bit disengaged though which was a bummer. Know your audience when bringing games to a game night. The cross habitat strategy is one I'm going to bring with me next time.. It makes so much sense after hearing it.. I was like, Duh!! Thanks!

[@charleswildig]

Brilliant. It works! First time out 94 points.

[@AppleZaider]

This video is gold!! The greatest winners in life were at one point the greatest losers! Lol thank you for sharing such a great production video as well.

[@ObsessiveGamer]

Thanks so much!!

[@FranzBazar]

This was the first video I saw on your Channel - and it was SO HELPFUL! I have the tabletop Wingspan but hadn't broken it out yet, until a few days ago I got the version on Steam. And I couldn't win! I'd only won once against the Custom AI, and never against the Automa. I watched this video, just now played against Custom AI, and Won Easily! Yahooo!!! PLEASE do MORE VIDEO's in the Game Breakers series! In the meantime, I'm off to see your Horrified Game Breaker (already saw the Splendor one - will try that strategy against my iPad version asap!)

[@FranzBazar]

P.S. And that easy win just now - I even Skipped a bunch of the brown powers at the end, just because I didn't want to use eggs for them - and still Easily won!! (something like 84 to 68).

[@ErikHuizinga]

Thanks for the excellent video! Beautifully made too. Through discovering this strategy, you now have reached the next level of Wingspan, where all players know the same strategy. How will you and your wife try to 'beat' each other from now on?

[@CitrusArchitect]

Very impressed with your production quality!

[@bgt2701]

Discovered this channel randomly, oh god this is an awesome channel !!!!

[@thomaslange2262]

I have only played the game twice. It was very obvious to me that the biggest impact was pure points on birds. Without a good base of high point birds, it really didn't matter what else you did. I would have never thought of the "free turns" combo here. Nice

[@Ss010101]

This sums up my first and only experience with this game. Very early Chihuahuan Raven and never look back. Ended up with predator, raven, +1 egg birb, mockingbirb, and card-for-egg blackbirb rounding out my egg track. Never visited the feeder and played nothing but high point value, do-nothing birbs in the food track. Hit triple digit score and walked away with the game. I think the ravens might need a nerf, honestly.

[@markerhardt7122]

Amazing video! Subscribed!

[@don_dad]

You have so e great quality videos. Great channel!

[@ObsessiveGamer]

Thanks, we have a lot of fun doing them

[@dan_iel_efs]

Other combo I found great (I watched on BGG channel) is the bird that gives you a Whit and another one next that exchanges a whit for two tucked cards from the deck.

[@sambo6266]

Tucking cards/cacheing food is underutilized. Eggs can work, but not always if your egg row doesn't get you additional points. ALSO, countering a player with cards that tuck/lay eggs when they do is sometimes just as good as playing for points on your own board.

[@dennissvitak148]

Final four actions of laying eggs work. Every time. If you have to spend two eggs to put on a bird, then it better be a big ass bird.

[@Lisa-ks4ge]

I lost 24 games and won 2. I feel your pain! Thanks for this video you guys! Mouhaha

[@jakubkoutny]

How your scores looks like with europe and oceania expansions?

[@JakeCharette]

came across your channel, great content!

[@ObsessiveGamer]

Hey, thanks!

[@soxandbears]

Another good strategy as the game moves along is take birds that you think your opponent wants even if you don't need it. You can usually tuck it and it can be worth setting an opponent back + a point for the cost of 1 draw. Also some of the birds you talk about let everyone do something and if your opponent is food poor (for example) don't activate if you have resources you need. Basically the opposite of your strategy - try to steal your opponents' turns if you can afford to

[@Karak-Fak]

New subscriber right here pal!

[@erichorner8336]

First off, there are 6 cards that are broken in the base game. Birds that make it so you don’t have to use an entire row. So the birds that say “discard an egg to gain a card or food” etc... these are broken and we actually don’t play with them. Every high score we’ve ever had (over 100pts) has been because the player had one of the 6 birds.

[@ObsessiveGamer]

Certainly nothing wrong with house-ruling any game to make it more accessible to your gaming group. We don't find those cards to be the end-all around here, there's plenty of other strategies that lead to 100+ games. It's an interesting experience to lose a game of Wingspan with 100+ points.

[@TheEindelijk]

Thank you!

[@MoLetalis]

Just build up a food accumulator first. Birds that generate a food when activated, or birds that can move to another habitat when activated. They are cheap and have low value in points, but will give you the ability to quickly save up for the higher end cards. Same goes for grasslands and water birds. If you have a bird that generates an extra egg, food or can chuck away a card for another card.. that’s at least an extra point every turn. There is a lot of luck involved, but I tend to go for at least two birds that generate extra bonus cards as well. One at the beginning, so you have two active goals to aim for instead of one. And one at the end, just to maybe get lucky. I’m not a fan of the egg strategy. I’m only laying eggs to pay for more bird cards or when I need to win tile goals. Or when at the end I just inevitably realise I have one turn too little and laying eggs will give me more points. But: if you have the right combination of birds in the grasslands, it can be a great secondary strategy. For me it’s just a column of cheap useful birds first, then save up for a column of bigger useful birds, and finally save up for the big guns that will hopefully also comply with my bonus cards

[@mirceapauca8541]

There are literal free actions: the birds with "Play another bird in X habitat". Only have to already have both bird cards and foods on hand. On strategy proper: as in many engine-building games, 3 phases arise: 1) build (play birds) to get resources: food, cards2) build (play birds) to get scoring-ability: through card tucks, food cached, eggs.3) crank the engine to the end. Eggs are not a 'strategy' itself and are not bad in general - only if focus on them reduces attention given to other components when those pay better. Eggs are a moderately important resource in phase 1 and a good part (within a limit) of phase 3 scoring.

[@exukvera]

In Wingspan. I usually win by mixing strategies. Try for the goals at first, specially for 3rd and 4th rounds which score higher and you can plan to get them in advance. Remember that by winning each goal you get points that will not go to the other players. Building a food engine early to play high score birds is also a good approach. Also if you find yourself lucky, you can go for playing those birds that earn you bonus cards. In some games they were what ensured my win.

[@WesleyBakewell]

What mic do you use? Makes your voice sound great!

[@ObsessiveGamer]

This video was probably on a single Rode VideoMic Pro. We currently use a pair of Rode NT5s.

[@jackiewignall8186]

Try using the tuck a bird cards..... they are a great way to just add fathers

[@AnathemaMysticalcel]

The same thing bothers me about every other game i I play. I never win either. I wonder what would happen if we played each other?

[@cynicshminic]

Great analysis

[@MoLetalis]

76 is the highly bird count I have ever heard of, that is ridiculous!

[@feverpa]

However, I’ve tried this strategy against the Automa a few times now and can’t win. I think I’ve beaten the Automa maybe twice out of about 20-25 games.

[@ObsessiveGamer]

Interesting, I have never played against the Automa. How many points does the Automa usually score? It's rare to see a score below 100 in our house. I'm looking forward to the release of the digital version to see how things hold up. Right now we're playing a lot of the expansion to see if there's any tactical updates we need to make.

[@feverpa]

@@ObsessiveGamer Well it depends on what difficulty level you're playing, and whether or not you use the Automubon Society card. I used to play standard difficulty (4 points per face down bird), but since my original post I now almost never lose to the Automa. I now always play hard difficulty - but without that extra card. I still win probably 8/10 games. It's interesting that you say it's rare to see scores under 100. How many players do you usually play with? More players usually leads to higher scores - because there are more opportunities for actions to trigger between rounds. I don't think I've ever scored over 100. My solo games are usually 85-90 for me and 78-85 for the Automa. I'm probably missing an element of strategy in there somewhere. I notice you mentioned playing high-point-value birds in the last round. I'm usually making sure I win the end of round goal, and filling with eggs down the stretch. I mean a 9 point bird in one of the last two slots is only a 7 point net value, and if playing it costs you the end of round goal, it's only a net 4 value. If you have to "waste" another turn to make sure you can play it - then you're losing even more value. Getting 4-5 eggs every round for the last 2-3 rounds is hard to beat in terms of value.

[@curtcollins6659]

Against automa, the most powerful cards are "everyone gets (fill in the blank)". The automa doesn't get anything, and these birds are cheap.

[@Multipotentialist]

So does the "repeat a bird power" card has to be played as early as possible? Because repeating means an action that has already been done before, meaning I'd get more options to repeat from if the card with the "repeat bird power" is placed earlier in the game? Or I can just pick one bird power to play twice when I activate the "repeat bird power" card?

[@ObsessiveGamer]

The repeated power only needs to be in the same habitat as the "repeat a bird power" card. You can just pick a bird power to play twice, as long as it's in the same habitat as this card.

[@Multipotentialist]

@@ObsessiveGamer Yes, but where is this confirmed? I didn't find anything considering this rule when learning Wingspan. Anyhow, really nice channel and looking forward for your next vids, this was an amazing vid that earned you a sub!

[@ObsessiveGamer]

@@Multipotentialist In the appendix it is rephrased slightly, but it's not explicit either way. If you focus on the word 'repeat' then yes it seems the power needs to have occurred in the same turn for it to be repeated. In the appendix, the only qualifier it indicates is that power needs to be in the same habitat, with no additional indication that the position within the habitat matters. 'Replicate' would have been a better word choice. Maybe we need to wait for the first tournaments to happen to get an official ruling.

[@Multipotentialist]

​@@ObsessiveGamer Thanks for the reply. Maybe even a better solution would be to add a game term, "boost", for example, and boost would be just clarified in the rules as to "activate/trigger one bird power in this habitat twice" or something. On the other note, though. I have a suggestion for another one of your videos maybe, similar to this one. I don't know if you enjoy any other Euro games, but Blood Rage seems to be a popular and yet a very good one. But why do I suggest this one? We've maybe played 10 games of BR with my group (of 4 people) and in 90% of those games, one of my friends was simply demolishing everyone else and scored x2 or even sometimes x3 of the last players' score, leaving the 2nd player also way behind. This was intriguing for me simply because I was changing tactics each game and nothing helped, and on the sadder note, in like 65% of those games I've finished last. Maybe sometimes 3rd. So I was in the same shoes like you were in Wingspan before you learned your tactic. :D We've basically stopped playing BR for some reason :D

[@aramanon]

77 is my best score, 74 is my worst. Still love it.

[@kingpietro1279]

allways play with the blue end of round bonussses i think it balances the game better

[@ApeWithPants]

*music plays* do do do Birds!

[@sauce773]

I never use the scoring pad I use my phone calculator just so I won't waste it

[@dennissvitak148]

I have discovered a strategy that works. If you get a chance to get a bird that gives you another bonus card, GO FOR IT. I had a game with five bonus cards, and scored 116 points.

[@kennethsnyder6849]

I just played my first Solo game and the damn Automa beat me 79 to 60. I suck at this game and it's because I don't know of any strategies or anything to aim for. The Bonus Cards don't seem to give much unless you have like 3 of them and get the high end requirements done.

[@CresentSoul]

Yum yum

[@michelea2326]

I have allll the wingspans and the nesting box. I've never won this game. Never.

[@OctavCyrus]

How do I win at Wingpan? I just *WING* it. I'll show myself out.

[@elissa7470]

Dont play it. It is a horrible game

[@carsonmcnab8814]

@@elissa7470 no

[@tyrroo]

No matter what I play, I just don't give a damn if I win or not, as long as all players had fun. Problem solved!

[@austinhill5550]

eggs, eggs, eggs.

[@omarsaggaf]

This video is a lot of work

[@DirkVomEck]

Anyone else hearing Terns instead of turns xD?

[@spects2263]

I almost won by 4 points so I'm okay with that.

[@vaspiou]

I'm a simple man, i see beat up husband, i subscribe.

[@Japorilogos]

Wherein a husband over-analyzes a boardgame and ruins the fun for his wife

[@billtree52]

If I was sitting across the table from her, I'd probably lose a lot too.

[@gordcarleigh9157]

Gross

[@samuelking6416]

This game is infuriating as a long-time board gamer. To lose by 1-5 points every game versus against people who have "no strategy" feels cheap.

[@aaronc4899]

I have played three games, and I am at a lost. All I can guess is that you have to snag the cards that give you free stuff. Cards that trade eggs into something else are the best because eggs are acquired more cheaply than the other two resources. So many of the cards are trash, and that is one reason the game is not good. If you don’t have the opportunity to get the few magic cards, there’s no point in playing.

[@elissa7470]

I agree,just played it once, i did not get it. Will not play again. Horrible