Wingspan is one of the most popular board games of all time, and Stonemaier Games has continued to support the experience with new expansions since the game’s 2019 release date.
Most of the additions made to Wingspan over the past few years have been really solid, albeit not necessary. For the first time, though, I would argue that Wingspan: Americas is almost a must-own after you are familiar with the base game.
Everything you’d expect from a Wingspan expansion is here, and what that means for most Wingspan fans is just more birds. In fact, there are so many birds added to the game with this expansion that I am pretty sure you could play a 3-player version of this with just the new birds and not run out.
More birds are always fun, and it is the driving factor behind why you’d pick up any Wingspan expansion. However, it is the hummingbird mechanic that makes Americas stand out.
Included in the box is an overlay card you will place on the left side of your board, covering the panel that outlines the biome and benefits for each specific row. The overlay card is double-sided, so whether you are playing the base game or the Oceania expansion that adds the new player boards, you’ll have the overlay you need. The big addition here is that there is a spot on the overlay to place a hummingbird.
Hummingbirds come from a central board that all players will access. At the start of the game, each player will have a single hummingbird card in their central biome (grasslands) but will be able to add other hummingbirds as the game goes on.
When you activate a row of cards, moving right to left on your board, card to card, you will get to your hummingbird space. If no hummingbird card is present, you will take one from the central display and place it on your board. If there is a card in the space, you will remove it, place it back on the central board, and move up on the brand new hummingbird track.
The hummingbird track is broken down by symbols, and as you remove cards from your board, you will move up the various tracks depending on the symbol of the card you remove, or a card on the central board, which you then cover with your removed card.
Not only does the hummingbird track let you place out more hummingbirds, but it will also provide you with endgame points depending on where you end up on the tracks. As you place and activate hummingbirds, you’ll get other bonuses as well, like resources, cards, and eggs.
One of the toughest things to overcome in Wingspan is how slow the game plays during the first few rounds. You will feel like you have no control, and that you cannot generate resources and birds fast enough. Wingspan is an engine-building game, but it just takes a long time to get that engine going. The hummingbirds really snap this into high gear by providing you with additional bonuses you never used to get. Each time you run a row, you are either placing a hummingbird and getting some instant benefits, or removing a hummingbird and moving up tracks. Essentially, even a row with bad cards, or only a few cards, will provide you with something each and every time you run it.
While hummingbirds will kickstart your game and get you moving faster, they also add a bit of time to the game. I would not consider this expansion essential for new owners of Wingspan, but once you’ve got a handle on the base game, this would be our recommendation for your first expansion purchase.
Not only are you getting a ton of really cool and unique birds with great abilities, but you get the hummingbirds as well.
The end-game points you can earn from your hummingbird track are also a fantastic way for players with unfortunate card draws to stay competitive at final scoring. Aiming to move up all of the 5 tracks is a strategy I’d employ if my birds aren’t working for me; there are a lot of points to earn from being at the top of each track.
Adam has been writing about video games since 2014 and board games since 2018. If he's not rooting for the Toronto Maple Leafs or Toronto FC, he definitely has a controller in his hand - probably playing on a Nintendo platform - or is sitting at a table playing a board game. Adam also has firm opinions on a few key topics: there are much better board games than Settlers of Catan, and Nintendo doesn't need to compete with Sony and Microsoft.
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