Stonemaier Games, creator of the hit tableau-building board game Wingspan has announced a new title for 2025, and it’s essentially ‘Wingspan with fish’. Finspan (yes, that really is its name). is just days away from release, launching on January 22, 2025.
In Finspan, you take on the role of marine researchers tasked with collecting fish from all over the ocean, hatching eggs, and encouraging schools to grow. The full rulebook is already available online, and like the other Stonemaier spinoff, Wyrmspan, the game plays a lot like Wingspan, but with some key differences.
For starters, this game does away with food. Instead you often pay for fish by removing other cards from your hand, which you can then recycle later on. Rather than different habitats, Finspan has three depths which different fish belong to: the Sunlight Zone, Twilight Zone, and Midnight Zone (where all the freaks hang out). You also activate your fishies’ powers by sending a diver down one of three different paths.
Finspan was designed by David Gordon (Lego Monkey Palace) alongside Stonemaier veteran Michael O’Connell. In a press release, Wingspan designer Elizabeth Hargrave says “Fish have been a surprisingly common request from Wingspan fans, but I didn’t feel like I had the bandwidth to do them justice. So I’m absolutely delighted that someone else was available to take this one on.”
Hargrave was still involved, however. She says she “weighed in on the design at several key points in the development process” and describes the “interesting puzzle” of making games that “feel like they’re in a family with Wingspan, while still delivering a different play experience”.
A varied and enjoyable engine-builder, Wingspan has been one of boardgaming’s greatest success stories since its 2019 launch. There’s just something that can’t be beaten about escaping from the horrors of the real world to collect a feathery friend or two. Check out our Wingspan review to see why we stuck it on our best board games list.
While I do wonder how many similar ‘-spans’ the world needs, I’m somewhat optimistic about this title – mostly thanks to the gorgeous board, and what a diverse range of fish seem to have been included (though 135 in total is a little on the low side compared to Wingspan’s 180). Without the delicious-looking eggs, however, I’m not sure how it can ever be a success!
While it’s too early to tell how it’ll play, a pretty solid bet is: a bit like Wingspan. Finspan will therefore probably make a great gift for that friend who’s terrified of pigeons and won’t stop trying to plan trips to the aquarium.
For more, you should check out our 2024 interview with Elizabeth Hargrave, or our guide to every Wingspan expansion on the market. Or, you could try your luck with this of the very best strategy board games.
Source: Wargamer
