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Wingspan exploded into the public consciousness back in 2019. It has now sold 2 million copies worldwide, including expansions. In 2024, a related game, Wyrmspan saw nests and birds switched out for caverns and dragons, along with a step up in complexity. Now we have Finspan, where players dive into the depths and compete to obtain the best display of fish. The big question is: does it have anything new to offer? Or will another Wingspan adjacent game leave me feeling green about the gills?
No Need To Fish For Complements.
Firstly, Finspan is absolutely stunning. Stonemaier Games are known for exceptionally well produced games and Finspan is no exception. The aquatic heart of the game is the fish cards themselves and they are of excellent quality. Beautiful depicted denizens of the deep will delight and educate as they are placed onto player boards. Yes, the animal facts that featured on the cards in Wingspan are back and I enjoy being able to read about my array of sea life as I play the game.
The tokens for eggs, young and schools are simple card chits, but they are clear and practical. The printing of the young on the back of the egg tokens is a great touch - when you hatch them, simply flip them over!
Should you wish, there is an upgrade pack available, with wooden young and school tokens along with squishy fish eggs too. I have this set of upgrades and they are great additional components, though very much a luxury and not essential to fully enjoy the game.
The player boards feature more wonderful artwork and are nice and clear, for the most part. There are some preprinted spots on the board, showing where eggs and young tokens go at the start of the game, and these icons could have been a bit smaller, so as not to mistake them with the tokens themselves after they have been used later in the game.
The player diver pieces are nice wooden meeples. They could perhaps have done with being a little larger however. Still, I’m delighted with the overall production here.
Accessible, Not Shallow, Gameplay.
Finspan is the easiest game in the series to teach to new players. The gameplay is streamlined from Wingspan and Wyrmspan. There are no additional resources required to play your fish; you simply discard cards from your hand to pay the cost, or pay eggs/young from your board as required.
Some fish are predators and need to be placed over the top of other fish when they are played. In fact, this is something you can choose to do anytime you play a fish. A larger fish can always be played on top of a smaller one, the consumed fish then being worth a single point at the end of the game. This allows players greater flexibility when filling out their boards.
Speaking of which, there is no need to fill your board in a specific order, another welcome change that provides more options for the players.
Instead of playing fish, players can send a diver down one of the 3 columns on their player board. This action will allow them to gain more cards, eggs, or hatch eggs into young and start moving them to form schools. These actions are easily understood and the iconography in this game is always clear and consistent. It is helped by the excellent player summary cards. These are large and clear and it is nice to see player aids not printed on the size of a standard playing card for a change.
It all means Finspan plays at a very quick rate. There is no shared market of cards that can be impacted before your turn and little in terms of direct interaction (what there is, is positive as some fish provide benefits to all players), so you can easily plan your next turn whilst your opponents are playing theirs. 6 turns a round, 4 rounds, so you get 24 actions then the game is over. I love the paciness here and find it plays much quicker than Wyrmspan, the most complex of the games.
Finding its Plaice
I’m glad Finspan got made. It can be controversial when a publisher iterates on a theme, rather than producing something entirely fresh and new, but for me, Finspan has been well worth the purchase.
I also enjoy the other Wingspan games a great deal, but Finspan is my favourite. It strips away anything that gets in the way of the fun actions; putting out new fish, laying eggs and manipulating the young into forming schools. It is the easiest to teach to inexperienced gamers and doesn’t outstay its welcome.
Finspan is a lighter game, but one where it is not lacking anything. It has plenty of depth to keep players coming back to it. It has variable end of round goals. Players have individual discard piles that are easy to redraw cards from, allowing crucial spent fish to be reclaimed later. Players’ hands of cards are face up on the table, allowing you to see what your opponents may play on their turn. All of these things lead to the possibility of some savvy gameplay.
I enjoy playing the solo modes of many of my games and here Finspan again excels. The Nautoma opponent's turn takes no time at all, allowing the player to focus on their own game. Nautoma has many difficulty levels too, so most players will be able to find the level of challenge they seek.
Finspan is a triumph. An example of what is possible when a fabulous core game design is tweaked and stripped back to the bare bones of what makes it enjoyable to play. What is left is a game play experience that I find hard to criticise. Finspan is all of the fun without the fiddliness. For that reason, it is easy to recommend both to gamers new to the Wingspan system and for those who would appreciate a more streamlined experience.
I’m lucky in that I don’t have to choose to keep just one of the Wingspan games. If I did though… Finspan would be it.
About the author:
When not reviewing board games, Graham is teaching maths, running a games club and failing to convince his students that baseball is the greatest sport ever invented. You can read his thoughts and opinions on all things board game on his blog, GrahamS Games.
You can find him on BlueSky, where he will invariably be wittering on about whichever game has currently captured his attention: https://bsky.app/profile/grahamsgames.bsky.social
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