As I write this, the various internet places where the cardboard denizens serve up quips and questions and bedazzle and baffle have gone into full meme mode ever since Stonemaier Games announced its latest version of the Wingspan series with Finspan. My favourite meme is still the Monty Python version of the game, Span, span, sausage and span, and the one that lets face it will probably end up getting made. Though you wonder how much encouragement has come from the publishing side where entire threads on Facebook groups have been devoted to memespan. As far as marketing goes, its bordering on genius.
For everyone who makes a mocking comment, everyone who derides the announcement and the decision, there are a couple of defending comments about how the game is an easy purchase, and will definitely join the collection. When Wrymspan was revealed to the world, there were shouts of cash in, and the tone was slightly cynical, because after Wingspan had enjoyed several key expansions, where do you go afterwards?
There are after all only so many birds that you can cover in a game, and the joke about making CowSpan so the game series could be milked that little bit further missed the point. Wyrmspan had development involvement from Elizabeth Hargrave but the design for the game came from Connie Vogelmann, the same person who was involved in Apiary. You could argue that Wyrmspan is a fan project, and in other circles it might have just ended up as a series of printable files on the Board Game Geek page.
Whether it should have stayed like that will be discussed when we get Wyrmspan to the table in the next couple of months and share our thoughts on it. FinSpan has different names at the helm again. At this point it is almost like Jamey Stegmaier decided that after the phenomenal success of the first game, that he could no longer claim 100% control over his IP and that the fans should have some input. Let's face it, it is not such a bad idea all in all.
The Wingspan Fan Art Pack is a collection of 255 separate pieces of art from all across the community who have given their time to give us their representation of one of the birds from the games. It is the very literal celebration of creativity and favouritism where the styles and mediums vary from card to card.
Some have been illustrated gloriously by children, some actual sculptures and others are a step into another universe, where a different illustrator was chosen for the project and you get to witness a slice of what could have been. With such a choice, you'll fall in like with some almost immediately and others you'll wonder how they made the cut, but each of them hold a particular story to that creator. What made them chose that bird, what made them decide on that style and medium, what made them spend the time sitting there and focussing and correcting and squinting their eyes until they sat back and thought to themselves. 'That will do'.
The cynics shout that it is just another grab of cash, an add to basket guarantee where those new to the space will buy 'because Wingspan'. It maybe speaks to the huge appeal of the original game and those who bought it and like it enough to give something back. I don't remember seeing something similar for another game. Though I can only ponder how something like Terraforming Mars would look like if someone had given a damn about the art. The opportunities for 'something wonderful is about to happen Dave' would be worth the price of admission alone.
The strangest thing is that the cards do nothing for the actual game part of the game. Nothing mechanically has been improved or changed. It's more like a exercise in bling, although even that is a stretch as unlike buying additional eggs or purchasing a wooden organiser, there's an ironic chance that people won't like the change the new cards present. It is an exercise in your mileage may vary and therefore is likely to be your favourite and least favourite thing depending on which cards end up in play. Which is some rather interesting in itself.
The pack to me ultimately represents an emotional connection that some have with the game. For many it was the first dalliance into the space of modern games. For others it was the game that finally persuaded certain friends and family to get involved in some cardboard times. It was a chance to pay that experience. Even for those who jumped on the competition with a chance to have their art involved in a board game project, it involved commitment and time, something that the AI shit lords would never understand. While the WingSpan art pack is not necessarily essential, it tells part of the history of one of the biggest selling modern board games. Look, there's the cutest picture of a gull.
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