11 Fun Games Like Wingspan to Play Today!

1. Everdell

Number of players: 1-4
Time to play: 40-80 minutes
Age: 13+ 
Complexity: Medium

Why Everdell is like Wingspan: Both games feature indirect player interactions.

See at Amazon: Everdell

Through the dense forests, following the trickling stream, and into the vast valleys, lies a town full of critters known as Everdell. The seasons change, the land transforms, and your tiny forest-dwelling settlement is expanding by the minute. There’s just so much to do!

You’ll be tasked with a busy schedule. As the bushy-tailed leader of your critter pack, you’ll host parties, build cities, and mingle with other characters to settle and establish new boundaries. Work fast my friend, the winter means it’s time to hibernate. 

It’s going to get squirrely! On your turn, choose from one of three actions: 

1. Place workers.
2. Play a card.
3. Prepare for the next season.

Use a strategic combination of these actions to aid in your city’s success. Workers can help you amass resources and draw cards. Playing a card will boost your abilities and generate resources, scoring you points at the end of the game. Preparing for the next season will allow you to remove old workers, and add new ones for the upcoming season. 

Everdell plays from one winter to the following winter’s onset. As frost arrives, the player whose city has the most points is crowned the winner. 

Board gamers who own both Wingspan and Everdell boast about Everdell’s hidden depth. They’re alike in their shared Woodland theme, and card management mechanisms. If you already have Everdell, take a look at my strategy guide on how to win Everdell!

If you feel like spreading your wings to more challenging realms, take a fly around Everdell available at Amazon.

2. 7 Wonders

Number of players: 2-7
Time to play: 30 minutes
Age: 10+ 
Complexity: Light-Medium

Why 7 Wonders is like Wingspan: Complementary set building mechanics and kindred victory point goals.

See at Amazon: 7 Wonders

7 Wonders is a medium-to-light complexity board game focused on drafting, set collection, and hand management. Oh, look, a spear!

Head back in time when ancient rulers controlled the globe, and everyone wore tunics. No worries, the box doesn’t include any linen skirts for the players. Everyone will be fully clothed at all times.

Tasked as one of the seven rulers of the ancient world, the responsibility falls on you to build the strongest city thine eyes can see. Industrialization wasn’t really around back then, so you’ll be doing the heavy lifting by yourself.

Gather resources, construct commercial trade routes, and define your military presence to solidify your role in history. Sadly, you don’t get to pick and choose exactly what cards your city uses. In fact, players pass around a deck of age cards clockwise to attain abilities and actions. Some age cards grant military strength; others discounts on resources. All card effects are resolved immediately, so keep a watchful eye on your neighboring opponents and which cards they are collecting to mess with their game plans!

After playing through three ages, the game ends. Will you have built your wonder before the end of the thrid age?

Go wonder at 7 Wonders for yourself at Amazon.

3. Splendor

Number of players: 2-4
Time to play: 30 minutes
Age: 10+ 
Complexity: Light

Why Splendor is like Wingspan: Shared card pool for selection, and engine building.

See at Amazon: Splendor

If you’ve ever traveled abroad to a bazaar and heard merchants hollering at you for sales, well this is you now. You’re playing a big game in the gem trade, and you have nobles to appease.

Harness your inner salesperson to micromanage your gem resources and snatch up the best properties on the market. All eyes are on you. As you build wealth, land, and prestige, you’re sure to get a visit from one or more wealthy faces. Doing so grants you more fame and fortune than you’ve ever dreamt of.

Watch the market, observe your fellow merchants, and make power plays to be the first seller with ten prestige points. Will you secretly reserve an expensive property and only reveal it when the time is right to surprise your opponents? Will you acquire wild gem tokens to allow you more flexibility in property purchasing? Will you buy up all the properties of one gem color to have the monopoly on that resource? Whatever you do, do so in the name of fame.

If Wingspan was too heavy of an engine builder for you, Splendor is a much lighter game.

See Splendor in all its finery at Amazon.

4. Parks

Number of players: 1-5
Time to play: 30-60 minutes
Age: 10+ 
Complexity: Light-Medium

Why Parks is like Wingspan: We all love a wholesome nature theme, this time with national parks.

See at Amazon: Parks

Take a walk through nature with your friends and family in the 2019 board game, Parks. If you’ve ever road-tripped across America, chances are you’ve set foot in a couple of these world wonders.

In case your heart isn’t overwhelmed with memories and nostalgia, you’ll be taken on a visual trek through all of the 59 state parks. Just as in life, take only photos, leave only footprints.

Each player plays as a duo hiking through the state parks as the seasons change. Each trail comes fit with allotted actions and memories for the pair to pick up as they stroll amongst nature’s masterpieces. 

As the game progresses, trails get longer and longer. You’ll find yourself needing to stock up on resources, gear, and camping utensils. Spark up a campfire to share a space with other players. Manage your resources accordingly to not be left stranded in the woods!

If you get Oregon Trail vibes off this table topper, I don’t blame you. It’s a similar competition for a full stomach towards the end of the game, but as it is nature-themed, your meal won’t be critters. Do you smell that? Mmm, smores!

Trek your way over to Amazon to see Parks the board game for yourself. Can you spot your favorite national park?

5. Photosynthesis

Number of players: 2-4
Time to play: 30-60 minutes
Age: 10+ 
Complexity: Medium

Why Photosynthesis is like Wingspan: It combines abstract elements with nature.

See at Amazon: Photosynthesis

At first glance, you’d be thinking you’re playing Catan or Carcassonne. Although it may look the part, photosynthesis is a modern-day breath of fresh air, literally!

This hexagon grid takes place in a dense forest that’s slowly growing as seasons come and go. The sun is the main character in this game. Everything revolves around the sun, and your tree’s growth is directly dependent on it. The sun processes through six phases, and you’ll want your newborn forest to be in its gaze for all of them.

When your opponents plant and progress their trees, they’ll cast a shady shadow on the surrounding areas. This means your trees could be negatively affected. Too much time in the shade can set your foliage backward, and pause your growth. Luckily, the sun advances after each round so it’s quite possible the light will find its way back to your leaf babies.

Meeple bonus – the game components include 3D trees to pop up yourself, and models an actual forest. I highly recommend it for kids, friends, and family. It’s a stunning table topper, with high-quality components that are built to last.

How does it relate to Wingspan? Well, birds hang out in trees, and trees need to photosynthesize to grow mighty and strong. Wood you look at that!

Shed some light on Photosynthesis over at Amazon.

6. Terraforming Mars

Number of players: 1-5 
Time to play: 120 minutes
Age: 12+ 
Complexity: Medium-Heavy

Why Terraforming Mars is like Wingspan: An engine builder packed with complexity and card management.

See at Amazon: Terraforming Mars

Just as it takes years to get to Mars, it takes years to play this board game. Joking, but you’ll need to put two hours aside to build your perfect planetary abode.

I know you’re asking… How is Mars even related to birds? You’re right, it’s not. There are no birds that we know of, on Mars.

As mankind transcends on the red planet, industrialization is taking flight. Earth’s biggest corporations are paying millions for you and your opponents to develop life on Mars. Currently, it’s not habitable for others.

Bid on various projects to establish human infrastructure: introduce plant life, discover animal species, throw asteroids into the void, and mine away for greenhouse gasses to warm up the planet’s atmosphere. The corporation official who amasses the largest Terraform Rating in the last generation is the winner. 

Transform Mars’ natural surface with three global parameters: ocean, oxygen, and temperature. Only then can humankind travel lightyears to reach their new oasis!

See more about Terraforming Mars over at Amazon.

7. Mariposas

Number of players: 2-5
Time to play: 45-75 minutes
Age: 14+ (suitable for 8+)
Complexity: Medium

Why Mariposas is like Wingspan: All the animals/insects in the game have wings. Also, both games are by the same designer.

See at Amazon: Mariposas

Do you speak Espanol? 

Mariposas is the Spanish word for butterflies. 

These four-winged creatures migrate up to North America from Mexico every spring and return back in the fall before the winter freeze. It’s up to you to get as many of your beautiful monarch butterflies back to the safe zone before it’s too late.

Mariposas functions on set collection and movement. It’s an abstract gateway game that works for families and head-to-head butterfly-breeding competitions.

Similar to the previous games in this list, Mariposas also has three seasons. However, it’s more than enough time to level up your fluttering friends and spawn them across America. 

The board features a grid-like map, spanning from the east coast to Canada. An array of flower species decorates the playing board, ready for butterflies to grace their petals. Land on milkweed to reproduce and pay the floral fees. Hatch your way to success. 

The thematics in Mariposas are stunning. From the flowers to the butterfly tokens, board, and cover art- wow! I thought the same of Wingspan, so it definitely adds up that it’s by the same designer.

Fly through the images of Mariposas on Amazon and see for yourself.

8. Oceans

Number of players: 2-4
Time to play: 60-90 minutes
Age: 13+ 
Complexity: Medium-ish

Why Oceans is like Wingspan: Nature-theme twin, and animal facts.

See at Amazon: Oceans

Thalassophobia is psychologically defined as “the fear of oceans.” Over 64% of Americans have it. If you’re lucky enough to be in the minority percentiles, then don’t hold your breath on Oceans.

This game is designed by North Star Games, the developers who brought us the award-winning Evolution game series. You know it’ll be a solid choice. 

In comparison to Wingspan, both games are nature-themed and share real scientific animal facts. You’ll evolve your range of species whilst competing against the all-to-volatile marine life food chain. But you’ll have help, by the way of Surface trait cards to stabilize your oceanic system.

First step: Modify. Second step: Disrupt and cause a wave. Third step? Marvel for hours at over 120 wonderfully designed ocean life cards. 

The game also features 100 “Deep” cards depicting even the most fantastical deep ocean dwellers like the Kraken.

Sea for yourself the beautiful artwork of Oceans at Amazon.

9. Gizmos

Number of players: 2-4
Time to play: 40-50 minutes
Age: 14+ 
Complexity: Light

Why Gizmos is like Wingspan: An engine builder that plays actions on top of actions.

See at Amazon: Gizmos

Not only is Gizmos a fun word to say, but it’s also an exciting game to play. 

Each player plays the role of an intelligent mind constructing their own personal invention at the local Science Fair. Build little by little until your machine starts churning out chains of actions. Soon enough, your gizmo will be fully powered and spurting out massive action combos that’ll have your opponents losing their marbles! Literally. There are marbles and a marble dispenser in Gizmos!

Gizmos is more random in nature and less thematic than Wingspan. You could compare the two with the engine building mechanisms and the action building cycle, but Gizmos is a bit more speedy. It feels like the actions in Gizmos ramp up much more quickly than they do in Wingspan. 

When you play an action, it takes a few seconds. What comes after is the long process of you chaining as many combos together as possible. It gets wild!

Think of Gizmos as a sprint, and Wingspan as a marathon. If you’re pushed for time, Gizmos is a worthwhile supplement.

Check out the funky design of the Gizmos marble dispenser at Amazon.

10. Viticulture

Number of players: 2-6
Time to play: 90 minutes
Age: 13+ 
Complexity: Medium-ish

Why Viticulture is like Wingspan: It’s by the same publisher, this time with wine!

See at Amazon: Viticulture

Ah, Tuscany! The birthplace of wine, grapes, and a good party. Thankfully for you, you’ve just come into a stroke of luck!

You’ve inherited a novice vineyard in the countryside, a few plots of land to raise your grapes, a crush pad, a little cellar, and three eager workers. Make your family proud by flipping this meager grape field into a full-fledged winery. 

From Stonemaier Games, the publishers who brought you Wingspan, they present Viticulture!

Assign your workers to numerous jobs and tasks throughout the seasons to expand your operations. As guests come and indulge in the vino, they’ll be more inclined (or merry) to help out around the vineyard. They’ll need to be supervised of course.

Manage your employees, satisfy your guests, and expand to grape-crushing victory to be named the best winery in all of Tuscany!

Sit down with a glass of red and gaze at Viticulture at Amazon.

11. Dinosaur Island

Number of players: 1-4
Time to play: 90-120 minutes
Age: 8+ 
Complexity: Medium-Hard

Why Dinosaur Island is like Wingspan: Both games include resource allocation. Dinosaur Island packs an added dosage of Dino-mite.

See at Amazon: Dinosaur Island

I was initially surprised to see a board game with heightened complexity and longer than average playing time approved for eight-year-old gamers, but seeing as the theme is saur-sly engaging, it makes a lot of sense. Include dinos in anything and you’ll have a kid’s attention for hours. Me as well, but that’s beside the point.

Before we dive into the summary of Dinosaur Island, I have a bone to pick with the setup. There are so many components that packing and unpacking the game takes a tyrannous amount of time. If you’re prepared to burn a solid 20 minutes each way, read on. If not, check the Rawr ‘n Write version of the game instead.

Here on Dinosaur Island, you’ll be researching, analyzing, and combining DNA to bring back these ancient behemoths. All players are competing for the common prize; the best prehistoric theme park in existence. You’ll need to attract guests, and most importantly, keep them alive every season. 

Those pesky dinosaurs aren’t anything to be taken lightly. Herbivores aren’t boring, but your guests want some action! If you can’t afford to hire a security team, you might need to hold off on acquiring a ferocious pack of Velociraptors. Let’s face it, half-eaten customers write horrible reviews!

Go see the funky-looking dice and adorable dinosaur meeples of Dinosaur Island at Amazon.

Conclusion – 11 Games Like Wingspan

Did your eagle-eye spot a board game like Wingspan that takes your fancy? Great! No egrets here.

If you want to get an eggcellent score in your next game of Wingspan, check out my 11 Wingspan Strategy Tips for How to Win! And if you feel like taking your Wingspan game to new heights, take a gander at my favorite Wingspan Accessories and Upgrades!

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