To say that Wingspan has had an impact on boardgaming is an understatement. Financially, it has been uber-successful for Stonemaier Games, selling well over one million copies. For gamers, it introduced many players to board games that are more complicated than Monopoly or Life. And for the hobby overall, it contributed to seeing “gamers” games in retail stores, such as Target and Walmart, which was unheard of eight years ago.
Of course, when a board game is this successful, expansions and spinoffs will be in the pipeline. Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan, Carcassone, and the four thousand versions of Monopoly and Clue, there is another sheriff in town. Wingspan has already had three published expansions, with a fourth in the pipeline. Wyrmspan has been published, replacing birds with dragons. It also has an expansion that is being developed.
That brings us to the game that I am reviewing—Finspan! Yep, you guessed it. This is a game based on fish. But, more importantly, is it better than Wingspan? Does it replace Wingspan?
Well, as this is a written review, you can just scroll to the bottom if you want the final verdict. I am not going to ask you to “read on to find out.” I know you are busy. No judgement here.
Gameplay Overview:
Finspan is a card placement, competitive engine builder for one to four ichthyologists. Games last between 45 and 75 minutes, depending on the number of players and their experience with the game.
Games last for four weeks (rounds), with each player taking six turns per week. During their turn, players have two options:
- Play a fish card – place a fish from your hand onto a space one on your ocean mat by paying its cost and making sure it is placed in its allowed depth and dive site.
- Dive at a dive site – Send a diver down one of the three columns on your ocean mat, gaining different benefits as the descend to the bottom of the mat.
At the end of weeks one through three, there is an end of week bonus that is scored. After the end of the fourth week, cards with a “Game End” benefit are scored, points are tallied, and the player with the most points wins!
Game Experience:
What made me want to throw away my binoculars and grab a fishing pole:
This game is different than Wingspan. Yes, there are some similarities, but there are several new mechanisms.
The best change is how you play your cards. Unsurprisingly, there is no bird feeder in Finspan. While I did love the birdfeeder, I always found the “reroll all dice when the remaining dice have the same face” mechanism clunky. Now, you simply pay the costs with cards in your hand, or eggs/young on your mat. It is that simple.
No worrying about different food groups or if taking certain dice will allow your opponent a reroll. Oh, and by the way, those cards you paid to play your fish go into YOUR discard pile, not into a community one. Why is that a big deal? Several fish and activated abilities allow you to gain cards from your discard pile. Remember that fish that you did not think you needed in week one but would score significant points in week three? Bring that card back! While there is less player interaction in playing your cards, I preferred Finspan’s streamlined design.
The second design choice I love is that placing your cards matters more in Finspan. Not only does your mat have three zones with different depths (rows of sunlight, twilight, and midnight), but three different dive sites (columns) as well. You need to efficiently place your fish on your mat. Some fish can only be in one or two of the zones. Others need to be in specific columns. Worse, some have both zone and column requirements.
Why does fish placement matter? There are three dive sites (columns) that your diver can explore. Each column has different benefits, depending on a) if there are fish in that zone, b) if it is the first time a diver has explored that site this round, and c) if the fish have “if activated” abilities. You have to balance where you place your fish to capture more dive bonuses with wanting to just place the highest scoring fish you have, especially if they are all in the same zone.
What if a zone is filled? EVERY fish can be a predator in Finspan. All it has to have is a bigger finspan tan the fish that is on the board. Yes, you can place your fish on the same space, but know the consumed fish is only worth one point. I loved trying to figure out when to eat and when to not eat my own fish!
The third improvement is the egg spamming strategy has been solved. First, every fish can only have one egg on it. Second, you need to hatch the eggs into young, because some fish need to eat young to be placed on the board. Third, having three young on the same space forms a school, which is worth six points (egg and individual young are each worth only one point). Not only did I enjoy the mechanics around the eggs more in Finspan, but I also enjoyed the puzzle of trying to get my fish together to form schools.
My final pro is the theme. The mat, with the different depths and dive sites, is more thematic. I preferred using divers to activate bonuses. But, most importantly, fish are simply more interesting than birds. Birds are dumb.
Except for ravens. Those are awesome…
What made me wish I was playing a game about stupid birds:
I only had two issues with Finspan. The biggest issue is the lack of “if activated” benefits. Unfortunately, there are only six unique benefits included in the base game: gain an egg, hatch an egg, move a young/school, consume a fish, gain a card from the discard pile, and draw a card. That is it. This pales in comparison to Wingspan. I understand that the feeder created interactions that are not available in Finspan, such as exchanging or placing food for points. Hopefully the designers will get creative and add more “if activated” benefits in future expansions.
My only other disappointment was the fish tokens that were included in the retail edition. The colorful eggs in Wingspan created a memorable first impression. Flash forward to Finspan and you get two types of cardboard tokens. The egg/young token is double sided and tri-colored. When an egg hatches, you flip the token. The school token is also double sided and tri-colored, but has the same art on both sides. I was hoping for components that popped. The eggs could have been like the berries in Everdell. The young and school tokens could have been wood like the diver tokens already included in Finspan. It is not a reason to pass on purchasing this game, but is a disappointment, especially when compared to Wingspan.
Final Thoughts:
Finspan was better than I thought it would be. When announced, I assumed it would just be another game in the “X”-span universe. In fact, I was a bit underwhelmed after my first game. But after several more plays, it grew on me like barnacles, but not in a parasitic way. I really enjoyed the new mechanism for playing cards, the card placement puzzle is fantastic, and consuming fish reminded me of the Feeding Frenzy videogame, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
But what about the one million-dollar question? Is it better than Wingspan? I know it is a cop out, but it is too early to tell. Wingspan has the advantage of three published expansions. I will provide a final verdict after one or two Finspan expansions are published. (Side note – work on the first Finspan expansion has already begun, with an undetermined delivery date as of the publication of this review.)
That being said, the two games are different enough to keep both in your collection. Finspan is an excellent game. I highly recommend it!
Final Score: 4 Stars – Another excellent addition to the “X”-span family
Hits:
• New cost for playing cards mechanism
• Card placement choices
• Solved the Wingspan egg “issue”
• Fish > Birds
Misses:
• Limited activate abilities
• Egg/young/school tokens
Source: Board Game Quest
