Finspan is Stonemaier Games’ third installment in the ‘Span” series, following the very successful releases of Wingspan and Wrymspan. Instead of looking at things that fly like previous games – birds and dragons – the team behind these fantastic games is heading under the sea. With the latest expansion for Finspan, Sharks and Reefs, we not only get new gameplay elements, but tons of new cards and lots of sharks.
Of the three trilogy games, Finspan is my favorite as it allows players to use cards as resources. It is the easiest of the three games to teach other players, and the easiest of the three games to play. It’s the perfect game to introduce to relatively green board game players.
With the release of the Sharks and Reefs expansion, I was concerned that things would get a bit complicated, taking a really good, easy-to-learn experience and dragging it down into the seaweed. Thankfully, it is all pretty seamless.
The main new mechanic, besides tons of new fish, is coral tokens. These can be earned at each dive site by either discarding a card, a small fish, or a fish egg. Not only do these coral tokens give you points at the end of the game, but they also allow you to unlock extra benefits on some cards if you have enough coral.
For example, there is a card you can play, and when you activate the card, if you have three coral or more, you can move a school of fish. Other cards let you lay eggs, eat fish for points, and more.
It is the simplicity of the new coral mechanic that keeps Finspan as the entry-level “Span” game. It creates a bit of a challenge, but only adds a few minutes to the time it takes to teach the game, and doesn’t overcomplicate the turn-to-turn mechanics that make this game so enjoyable.
One thing I struggle with when mixing expansions into my games is that when l want to return to just the base game to teach new players, I have to spend time pulling out all the expansion content. This is made easy by a little symbol on each card, but still takes work. The new mechanics here, though, are so simple I would never play a game of Finspan without them. To me, that’s the mark of a near-perfect expansion.
While learning how to use the reefs and new cards is pretty simple, that doesn’t mean this expansion doesn’t add new strategic elements to master. The scatter mechanism specifically – where a school of fish breaks up into 4 single fish – can be a great point-earning mechanic if used properly. Setting it up and pulling it off will not only take a lot of know-how and skill, but also just a bit of luck as well.
This doesn’t make the game more complex, but it does add new ways for players to score big points.
Ultimately, though, this Sharks and Reefs expansion for Finspan isn’t going to turn haters into lovers. If you didn’t enjoy Finspan the first time you played it, the expansion won’t do anything to pull you back.
Sharks and Reef is just more Finspan, and if all you want is more Finspan, this is an easy expansion to recommend. If you are hoping this fixes some things you didn’t like about the original game, you will be very disappointed. If you were hoping this would add a ton of new ideas to the game, you will be equally as disappointed.
Your mileage may vary on this one. Personally, I think it’s a good addition.
Jacob has been gaming since the original Game Boy was placed in his hands. Due to his passion for the field, writing talent, and a keen eye for SEO, he made his games journalism debut in 2019. When he isn’t playing the latest titles, he is tinkering with retro tech to bring it into the modern era.
