Stonemaier Games has recently announced its new Wingspan-inspired title, Wyrmspan. And most importantly, yes… this dragon themed version of the modern classic will also contain premium coloured eggs, but this time they're speckled. I'm excited.
According to the Stonemaier site the board game will initially launch on its store on January 31, with the worldwide retail release set to come in late March. Wyrmspan has been designed by Connie Vogelmann, designer of the recent space bee hive builder Apiary, which currently holds an impressive score of 8.0 on BoardGameGeek. The acclaimed Wingspan designer Elizabeth Hargrave is credited as a developer on BGG and the new title is also listed as a reimplementation.
In Wyrmspan you're an amateur dracologist who is attempting to entice dragons to roost in your recently excavated caves. The mechanics will be similar to Wingspan—you'll collect creatures with wings to score points in multiple different ways. Wyrmspan introduces new elements and will be a step up in complexity. If you're a visual learner like me, the Stonemaier Games Youtube channel has posted a quick three-turn gameplay video which should help give you an idea of how it will play, as well as a closer look at those wonderful egg tokens and beautiful dragon cards!
From the limited images available, Wyrmpan's artist Clémentine Campardou has already seduced me with the tasteful illustrative style. The mystically muted colours, and Campardou's signature watercolour aesthetic are a perfect match for this fantasy twist of such an iconic game. Looking at their previous work like the beautiful flower-themed card game, Floriferous, we are in for a treat.
Though I personally find Wingspan to be a little flat with its actions, there is no doubting its huge commercial success, even its digital version was well received, getting a score of 90 in our own Wingspan review. It will be interesting to see if Wyrmspan can reach the heights of its predecessor, soaring its way to expansions and digital versions, while adding some spark. I hope so, I really do like dragons.
This is no D&D Monopoly—a throw away reskin to appeal to all of us dragon fans out there. This is the retheming I didn't know I needed, and now it's all I can think about. Give me those little speckled eggs and beautiful dragon cards. Rethemes and reimplementations are commonplace in the board gaming world, and at the moment there seems to be a wave of well known favourites getting this treatment.
Popular war game Undaunted is getting much hoped for sci-fi version called Undaunted 2200: Callisto, and recent success Nucleum seems to have taken heavy inspiration from the current ranked number 1 game on BGG Brass Birmingham. It's a proven method of success, if it ain't broke, change the theme to something else that makes sense, make a few tweaks, and sell it again.
