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Hello everyone, and welcome to our breakdown for how to setup and play Wyrmspan. This game is in the same universe as the Wingspan game, and has several similarities to it. As such, there are just enough things in the game that makes it unique, and not a complete "Wingspan clone".
The game is played over 4 rounds, and each round does have an objective to aim for for end game scoring. Players take turns doing one of three actions and then completing that action in full. They can Excavate Caves, Entice dragons to come stay at their sanctuary, or adventure through their cave system and getting rewards. Whomever has the most points at the end wins!
I know, sounds similar right? The biggest differences in the game are as follows:
1. You no longer use cubes for BOTH end round and turn counters. Each player gets 6 coins each turn, and it costs 1 coin to perform any action. As such, there are multiple ways of getting more coins, leaving players ending their rounds at various times.
2. When "activating" your dragons, you move from left to right, instead of right to left.
3. How the eggs work in this game is different. They are only used to lay down hatchlings, and to excavate the third and fourth sections of each cave system.
4. You need a cave on the board for your dragon to go into.
5. Ties for end round goals and no longer split, but are friendly and each player whom ties get the full points.
6. There are hard caps for most things in this game, such as card limits, resource limits, and a max number of times you can "run an engine".
Now if you've never played Wingspan, it's understandable that you would not know the differences in the games. As such, here is a quick breakdown of each action and various rules for the game quick.
There are three actions to choose from. Excavate will allow you to lay down a cave, which will allow a dragon to be able to be played on top of it. Each cave card you place down gives a one time benefit and varies from getting another coin, to discarding 2 other cave cards to be able to play another one down for free.
The next action is Entice. This is where you play your dragons into your cave systems. The cost of the dragon is on the top left of each card and must be paid in order to lay the dragon down. There is a lot on each dragon card, so I won't go into the details to much. Just know the cost is on the top left, it's size and personality are on there(primarily for scoring), the egg capacity if any, the point value of the dragon, and what the dragon will do. There are 4 different symbols on the dragons for what they do. The card symbol is a one time benefit when the card is played. The clock symbol is a round end power and will activate between rounds. The flag is end game bonus scoring. And the little adventure dude is activated each time you explore.
Speaking of, that is our last action: Explore! With explore, you place a coin on the cave you wish to explore, and then move your adventurer from left to right, activating each symbol until you hit the stop sign. On the board, there are benefits that can be activated each time you explore, and it goes from top to bottom: Resources, Dragon cards, Cave cards. You can lay down dragons to get further out which gives you more rewards each time you explore that cave. This is where the strategy and engine building come into play.
The last thing to talk about is the dragon guild. This is a new feature, and really makes it unique. There are little brown shields that are the symbol for the dragon guild. Whenever you would get one, either by exploring, laying down caves, or dragons, you immediately move up one on the track. This gives you alot of rewards as you move, and when you hit one of the brown sections, will give you the ability to choose one of the rewards on the cards. This can range from more turns and cards or resources, to end game points, to being able to play things for free. It's a really interesting mechanic, and brings uniqueness to the entire game.
Overall, the game is alot of fun, and while it borrows alot from the Wingspan game, there is enough here to make it unique. Hope you enjoyed the video, and let me know if there are questions in the comments below and I will do my best to address them.
Thank you!