Wyrmspan Gameplay: 3 Quick Turns

[@stevegibbsonline]

Thanks for posting this! It was very helpful to actually see gameplay examples. Very excited to add this one to my Stonemaier collection. Jan 31 can't come soon enough.

[@coldnuit]

This looks fantastic! I don't remember the last time I put a game on my wishlist in the "must have" category this quickly, haha!

[@StuartBettiss]

Love these early look videos on how the game plays. I like the look of the 3 different actions and can see that stringing combinations together will be a lot of fun in this game.

[@jameystegmaier]

Thanks Stuart!

[@happymaskedguy1943]

The work and imagination that you guys put into crafting these games is just incredible. I hope it’s as much fun for you to create as it is for us to play!

[@jameystegmaier]

They are! :)

[@ellaampongan]

The illustrations in this game are fantastic.

[@jameystegmaier]

Thanks Ella! I love Clementine's art.

[@razzmattazz]

Wingspan is my all-time favorite game but I’m excited to try out this too!

[@cyclonejd8189]

Thank you for this! My wife and I just got this copy today.

[@jameystegmaier]

Thank you for ordering Wyrmspan from us! I hope you enjoy it. :)

[@cyclonejd8189]

@@jameystegmaier we definitely did!

[@SuddenlyUpsidedown]

Dragons and Stonemaier games, two of my favorite things. Can't wait.

[@chestersleezer8821]

Jamey you did it again now I do not have Wingspan and never played it but this one looks something I need to have. Great short video on the game and I think that this one will do quite well.

[@jameystegmaier]

I hope you enjoy it! :)

[@chestersleezer8821]

@@jameystegmaier Thanks Jamey, I have been a fan of your games since Scythe.

[@jkledis]

I want! I will order as soon as possible! So excited!

[@shantelalbert7151]

This looks fantastic, take my money! 💕 Thanks for sharing Jamey!

[@Talliesyn]

all jokes aside, I kinda like this reskin. I like how you focused on the gameplay on the cards, instead of fluff. I wish it had more deluxe components like everdell and I just noticed you will offer that, awesome

[@jameystegmaier]

I understand what you're saying, though Wyrmspan isn't a reskin of Wingspan (a reskin is just taking the exact same cards and putting different art/names on them). Every element of Wyrmspan was designed from scratch, using the foundation of Wingspan as inspiration.

[@parrotmode]

This looks so great! I love how distinct the gameplay is from Wingspan. Great stuff.

[@b.2194]

At first I was “no, not for me…” because Wingspan is my all time favourite. But now, that I ´ve seen the gameplay, it looks very interesting to me and I think the two games can coexist 😉 I ´m in, but I ´ll wait till it ´s launched in german👍🏻❤

[@hatchlingsgames]

Tweeted a while ago about making Wingspan on the theme of dragons and their eggs and lo and behold that’s what you’ve done! Can’t wait to play this.

[@dave3805]

Do you think they'd make a Ferret or Platypus theme !?

[@BenBoersma]

Gameplay looks great! Love the board art, not sure about the dragon art or graphic design of the cards. Thanks for the preview!

[@crimsonraen]

Oooooohhhh, I'm so excited to play this! :D

[@abifroedgejohn]

This looks fantastic! Wingspan is my all time favorite board game, so I love to see it's mechanics be evolved into Wyrmspan! Can't wait to order my copy!

[@phoenixfire8978]

Very interesting and I am looking forward to this game becoming available. Bonus: my cat seemed very interested in the cat (?) noises going on in the background

[@jameystegmaier]

Walter was very talkative while I filmed this yesterday! :)

[@phoenixfire8978]

@@jameystegmaier Walter’s commentary was very interesting to Bro’dee the Burmese.

[@the_verTigO]

@@jameystegmaier No joke, I paused the video multiple times to look after my cats until I realized it wasn't them making these noises. :D

[@Wingsplain]

Thanks for showing us this gameplay!

[@HologramSam]

I like Wingspan a lot but the things I really don't enjoy about it, are the dice and bonus cards. A bit too much of luck element to my taste. As I read through the Wyrmspan rulebook, I was very pleased to notice that there are no dice nor bonus cards in this game. Lovely! The Dragon Guild board seems to be really interesting mechanic and I like the race between players who gets to have their cubes on the best spots first. Also I noticed that there seems to be wyrms which reveal a card from deck upon activation and check whether the picked up wyrm card meets certain criteria or not (similar to checking wingspan size). If it doesn't you would still get something out of it, like meat in the case Hostile Northern Fire Dragon. I like that there is two different prize options instead of prize and no prize, like in Wingspan. Are these types of wyrms common in the game with this prize / better prize system? And lastly, I really enjoy the contrast in the resource names: gold, crystal, meat & milk :D

[@jameystegmaier]

Thanks for your note! That's a keen observation about any "hunting" dragons, and there are a few dragons like that in the game.

[@ianwilz8306]

This looks amazing. I love the actions and turns you can take each turn.

[@matthewmelissamakak2615]

This is so exciting!! Really dig Wingspan, but omg do I love dragons!! 😅 I love that we can see the blueprint of Wingspan being used but this being it's own game with new, exciting twists!

[@jameystegmaier]

Thanks Matthew!

[@benjaminbaker4810]

Wingspan with dragons, and importantly NO dice! Sign me up. I'm also looking forward to the promo realm.

[@jcgdesigns16]

This looks great! I do have and enjoy the base Wingspan game, and by comparison, the Dragon Guild element shown in this walkthrough really stands out to me (maybe there is something similar in a Wingspan expansion that I haven't played). I really dig a game with an alternate means for resources/victory points and this looped mechanism is very similar to a mechanism I've incorporated into a game I've just finished designing. Thank you for the preview!

[@jameystegmaier]

Awesome! I look forward to seeing your spin on this mechanism.

[@enginucar1135]

Count me in. Looks very nice. 👍

[@martintomov7576]

Anybody want to attempt to explain the egg cost to excavate further columns, thematic-wise? :D You need to dig deeper and dragon eggs are good sustenance? :D

[@jameystegmaier]

Exactly!

[@Oviedo_Games]

So VERY excited for this! The art looks so good!

[@eyecontactleadsto]

The cat meowing in the background 😅❤

[@jameystegmaier]

Yeah, Walter had a lot to say about my discussion about dragons. :)

[@shewatt]

Looks like an awesome game! I’ll definitely be getting it at my FLGS (Level Up Games) when it comes out. Thanks for the example turns! I’ll also be excited for the giant dragon box that comes out in 2-4 years 😅

[@jameystegmaier]

Perfect! We don't have a future mapped out for Wyrmspan, and quite a bit can fit in the box, but for now I think it's great you're getting the game from your retailer (retail release in late March).

[@itsGabrielaCristina]

I like the look of this!

[@davidmedina3063]

This looks amazing!!!!

[@svenbudde7530]

That looks very exciting Jamey! - The Dragon Guild board is quite slippery, why isn't it double-layered? - Will there be luxury resources? Real crystals, real coins, real milk bottles? I don't like cheap cardboard markers. The graphics take a bit of getting used to for me, but dragons are cool.

[@jameystegmaier]

That's a clever idea about a dual-layered dragon guild! In the video I'm picking up the board, which isn't representative of the actual game, when it just stays on the table. As noted on our website: "Natural rubber playmats and metal coin/wooden resource upgrade packs will be available on our webstore on launch day (January 31) as optional add-ons, along with a promo realm for Rolling Realms and a custom disc golf disc."

[@Michaelrsted]

Looks actually really fun. Does amp up some of the gripes I had with wingspan. Will there be a solo mode? Also maybe there should be a cut out in the middle of the guild space or what’s it’s called where you move around. Just so the paper won’t be sliding around. I know you won’t be moving it a lot. But still could be nice.

[@jameystegmaier]

Definitely, there is a full Automa solo mode in Wyrmspan. And I like the idea of the dual-layered dragon guild! That isn't how we made it, but it's a good note for the future.

[@Michaelrsted]

Awesome. Doesn’t even have to be dual layer. Just a punch out 😉 Save the card board or use the space for more tokens. Awesome job.

[@jameystegmaier]

@@Michaelrsted That's a great point!

[@phairlyoddparent3972]

I’m really looking forward to this game!

[@SJAC2]

This looks great! Thanks

[@bethanyc197]

Very excited!!! And most certainly getting the mats. Still deciding on the coin/resource upgrade. Any chance you could tell us the price for the natural rubber mat and coin/resource upgrade? And also does it come in orders of just one mat per order or does it come with 5 mats per order? I figured they’d be single mats in case you had a solo gamer who wasn’t going to use all 5 or maybe someone with typically 2-3 players that way they aren’t going to be paying for something they won’t need.

[@jameystegmaier]

You can order the playmats one at a time to fit your most common player count. I look forward to revealing the final pricing on January 31; overall, we targeted a price for Wyrmspan that's similar to Wingspan, a price for the rubber playmats that's close to Wingspan's mats, and a price for the coins/resources that's close to other similar products on our webstore.

[@Zym1l]

I'm intrigued by the theme. I was not really into wingspan (because I'm not really into birds), though my other friends in my group have logged over 1000 games in 2 years. You have sent some replacement tokens to us. Thank you for that. I'm a little worried some of the extra stuff might complicate the game. Would you say the complexity of this game is higher than wingspan? If so by how much?

[@jameystegmaier]

Yes, it's a more complex game than Wingspan by a touch--more combos, more layers of decisions. I put Wingspan at a 3/5 in terms of complexity, with Wyrmspan at 3.5/5. I wouldn't call it more complicated; just a little more complex.

[@Stealer_Of_Joy]

Are there plans to color code the powers to make them easily interpreted? This isn't criticism, I just had a little trouble distinguishing powers in the video.

[@Mauricio_Castaño]

I agree, even in wingspan is easy to forget the end of round powers.

[@jameystegmaier]

Colors are used for a few different aspects of the game, but all of the powers are intentionally just black icons so they stand out as powers. The icons are when played, if activated, end of round, and end of game. You're looking at the final version of the game in the video--we've already printed it.

[@Virondata]

still not convinced on this one :) maybe when a full playthrough comes online

[@jameystegmaier]

Definitely! Please make sure it's the right choice for you. There will be reviews and full playthroughs starting on January 22; in the meantime, I'll have more videos, and the full rulebook is already available.

[@aquaforge8744]

when will be the next wingspan expansion? excited for wingspan africa and antarctica❤

[@jameystegmaier]

Here's the information we've released about the next expansion so far: stonemaiergames.com/e-newsletter/

[@woundsdrone]

This is so good. Jan 31st can’t come soon enough

[@peacefuldragon742]

Is there gonna be a deluxe option or deluxe add-ons for those who like to bling out their games, like metal coins and other higher grade pieces? After all, dragons need bling! Cheers, ☕️

[@jameystegmaier]

There's just one version of Wyrmspan, but when we launch it on January 31, people will have the option to add other special components we've already produced for the game: rubber playmats and upgrade packs containing metal coins and wooden resources. You can find this and more information here: stonemaiergames.com/games/wyrmspan/

[@peacefuldragon742]

@@jameystegmaier Wyrmspan keeps sounding better! Cheers, ☕️

[@kaixaarc]

the dragon cards can only be placed on top of the cave cards?

[@jameystegmaier]

Dragon cards can only be placed on top of excavated caves. There are 3 excavated caves at the beginning of the game, and for all other spaces you'll need to first use the Excavate action (which results in placing a cave card).

[@tomgray5317]

How did I miss this one!! Would of be cool to have the board duel layered so the cave cud slot in and the dragon sits on top. Going to find this now 😁

[@tiberiocamargo]

how and when do you get the 'food' tokens?

[@jameystegmaier]

The top cave shows the "any resource" icon, and you can also get resources from the dragon guild, cave cards, and dragon cards.

[@tiberiocamargo]

Oh I see now, since the wyrms gonna hide the block sign, you'll keep walking and getting bonuses each step, thanks!

[@JBStockton-f8k]

Love it!

[@Spacecat069]

Better than wingspan. No bird but dragons, no dice ! I want to buy this game !

[@flottdog]

This looks cool. But I'm out of room on my shelves! I think time to do another purge.

[@leesweeney8879]

Hope I can get it in Portugal.

[@jameystegmaier]

You can. We have a Europe webstore, shipping from within Europe.

[@zacharymartin1477]

So your resources (food, crystals, etc) come from the cards themselves?

[@jameystegmaier]

The resources come from the topmost cave, the dragon guild, cave cards, and some dragon cards.

[@zacharymartin1477]

Thanks...can't wait to play it!@@jameystegmaier

[@aerickw]

Do the dragons ever get fed meat?

[@jameystegmaier]

Meat is one of the 4 resources in the game.

[@F0XD1E]

Kitty wants to play too!

[@gustavobelotta3487]

You only paid your coin cost on the board once when you Explored. You Enticed and then you Excavated. Should the Excavate action also have cost an egg, going down the line of how many times you used that row?

[@jameystegmaier]

No, only the Explore action has the escalating cost.

[@KNic0lson]

It's not April 1st is it?

[@jameystegmaier]

Nope. This is real. And for us, even if we announce a product on April 1, it's still real. We're here to serve our customers, not prank or deceive them.

[@KNic0lson]

@@jameystegmaier that is so exciting! I hope the format becomes as popular a reskinning as Munchkin or Fluxx - I look forward to having tropical fish (please lakes and river fish - there are too many ocean fish games); oh! And maybe an RSPB Wingspan with UK/European birds? And I guess a safari one would be difficult with mammals but maybe they could be like litte fur balls?

[@jameystegmaier]

@@KNic0lson We'll see. :) Wyrmspan took a ton of time and effort, as it isn't just a reskin--Connie designed every aspect of it from the ground up, using only the foundation of Wingspan as inspiration.

[@KNic0lson]

@@jameystegmaier Oh! Very cool - I am even more excited to see it! Thank you and Connie for putting so much love into your work

[@LizGamerGirl]

I so cannot wait to get this! Because I am a little high maintenance... any chance you know if meeple source is planning on having upgrade tokens for order?

[@WendyGa]

You will be able to order an add on pack alongside the game containing wooden resources and metal coins. Is that what you are after?

[@jameystegmaier]

We're offering our own upgrade pack as WendyGa mentions. On January 31, you can add the upgrade pack to your order (it includes wooden resources and metal coins) and/or rubber playmats.

[@LizGamerGirl]

@@jameystegmaier yessss!!!! Even better! Thank you!

[@tomdanvers]

This looks absolutely amazing! Still find the 'milk' resource a really thematically strange choice for dragons? Animals that come out of eggs don't often consume milk. Just find it a little jarring!

[@jameystegmaier]

Milk, potion, juice--you can call it anything you'd like. It's a liquid. :) For a while we had a different resource in its place ("dragonnip", like "catnip"), but it didn't stick with playtesters.

[@tomdanvers]

@@jameystegmaier that makes total sense! Thanks for clarifying! Can't wait to play this...

[@Lanthanaas]

I hope the dragons are going to be more colorful in the final version. I like the art, but the grayscale takes it from interesting to boring, visually. Uncoupling the actions from the environments feels a bit cleaner than Wingspan, mechanically, and I like how it feels thematic rather than contrived.

[@Jumbocrableg]

This is the final version. Comes out Jan 31st. Personally I really enjoy the style.

[@jameystegmaier]

This is the final version, and it's not grayscale.

[@jameystegmaier]

@@elliesbian Please read this to have at least a little bit of empathy for the time, talent, and love the artist put into the 250+ beautiful illustrations in Wyrmspan that bring the game to life: blule.fr/blogs/blablabla/watercolour-wings-reimagining-dragons-for-wyrmspan

[@Lanthanaas]

@@jameystegmaier So far as I've seen, nobody is saying the art is bad. Quite the opposite. We all really like the art style. We are just expressing that we prefer the bright colors we have in Wingspan to the more monotone colors in Wyrmspan. Art is always going to be subjective to the viewer. Our family is drawn to games with great art. That subjective definition to us typically means vibrant color. That is not a criticism of the artist's effort or artistic voice. It is merely a difference of opinion.

[@jameystegmaier]

@@Lanthanaas I think there's some confusion here, because the colors in Wyrmspan aren't monotone. For some reason my phone camera did not pick up the colors of the dragons well. If you look at the photos on our website, you can see how vibrant and colorful the cards are. (And some people are indeed saying the art is bad--trust me, I see every comment.)

[@shaifalay]

Unlike Wingspan, there are no dice in this game. How do you gain resources and coins?

[@jameystegmaier]

You gain resources by exploring the top cave, advancing on the dragon guild, playing cave cards, and playing dragon cards. Coins (action tokens) are much more rare: Some cave and dragon cards have them, some guilds have them, and the last excavation space of each cave has a way to get one.

[@shaifalay]

@@jameystegmaier Got it. Seems like the luck element is reduced here without the dice. Nice.

[@poeticcube5714]

Whose official idea was this and for how long has this been in the works? So creative as always. I double-checked it was January when I saw this because it felt like an April fools joke. The name "Wyrmspan" didnt resonate at first, but with the answer to @ShineOnYouCD's question, its growing on me and sounding more natural

[@ianwilz8306]

Check out the design diary he posted today on their page. It gives a lot of detail about how the idea of this came to be.

[@sarahschreffler5407]

Yes If it was APril 1 I would not have believed it at all.

[@jameystegmaier]

Today's design diary post is about that exact topic! :) It's been about 2 years now. stonemaiergames.com/games/wyrmspan/design-diary/

[@zweischneid793]

So nice young dragons get a bit of milk to wash down those adventurers at feeding time.

[@jameystegmaier]

These are friendly dragons--fortunately they aren't eating the people (just as birds in our world don't eat people).

[@ShineOnYouCD]

What is the nature of the prefix "wyrm"?

[@Naeddyr]

Old timey English for "dragon". The same word as "worm", which used to mean "snake *or* worm (or dragon)", but it used to have as one of its spellings "wyrm" which was later used when people wanted to say 'dragon' but didn't want to spell it the same way "worm" was spelled in more recent English, to distinguish the meaning.

[@HexStarDragon]

Connie and Clementine did research into the dragon lore of various cultures and used that as the basis for creating dragons in the game. "Wyrm" is one type, "Drake" is another. There are dragons with 0, 2, and 4 legs, and some dragons don't have wings. Some look akin to the South American Quetzalcoatl, whereas others look more like sea serpents!

[@AndrewWatson401]

@@HexStarDragon sounds like they were very thorough. Pity they didn't get to interview any dragons.

[@Muhd_Akmal]

SOLD

[@mename7670]

I never got into wingspan bc of the theme I have the mobile version and like the game but never bought the board game This one I may get

[@bestatstartrek2179]

I remember suggesting this theme many times in your lives and comments. Pretty cool to see it actually happen. Btw any chance at getting a free copy to give it the thumbs up

[@jameystegmaier]

We invite you to join the world of Wyrmspan by buying a copy on January 31. :)

[@bestatstartrek2179]

@@jameystegmaier nice comeback will do😀

[@MarissaMcConnell]

Walter is mad it's not Cat themed.

[@jameystegmaier]

Walter has a lot of strong opinions about a lot of things. :)

[@MarissaMcConnell]

@@jameystegmaier Good kitty.

[@FightingForTheResistance]

Would have been great if it was part of the "How To Train A Dragon" universe... missed opportunity?

[@jameystegmaier]

That's one way to look at it, as I do love How to Train Your Dragon. Another way is that when we aren't limited by an IP, we have the freedom to create and explore new worlds, and that's what we had a lot of fun doing with Wyrmspan.

[@Fractus]

Milk???

[@jameystegmaier]

Milk indeed. Here's Connie's notes about that resource in the FAQ: “My thought was that if dragons are warm blooded (a lot of lore depicts them that way), then perhaps many of the other evolutionary constraints on mammals applied to dragons, which could include some kind of extra sustenance when young. Plus, nature is weird - echidnas and platypuses are mammals that lay eggs, and many reptiles (including garter snakes) give birth to live young. It seemed like “milk” was a good way to indicate with a short-hand that the resource is relevant only for the baby dragons, not for the adults. In my mind, dragons are a bit of all of them - they have evolved to fill a bunch of different ecological niches, so some are more like birds, some are more like reptiles, and some are more like mammals.”

[@CalaoGames]

Wow the gameplay feels very "deep" compared to Wingspan. Headache incoming ! ;)

[@c4lvitron]

My wife told me I can't get this until i get rid of a different game. Do I A) buy it anyway? B) buy it anyway?

[@happymaskedguy1943]

I’m sure it’ll be good, but I can’t help but feel a little apprehensive about the move away from the real world of birds, which acts both as educational and ecological as well as fun, in exchange for fictional animals that don’t teach anything. Hmmm.

[@jameystegmaier]

I think we can learn a lot from fiction.

[@happymaskedguy1943]

We can, but I wouldn’t say there was a huge amount to learn here, except perhaps the fictional biology of the game’s dragons. I dunno. I can see pluses and negatives. I also found the natural world aspect made the game very relaxing to play, so maybe a fantastical theme will create its own unique atmosphere. I commend you guys on all the hard work btw. And I really enjoy Wingspan, as do all my family. Best of luck!