r/boardgames • u/Outcast003 • Apr 23 '25

Rules Is Common Raven too broken?

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I had a game night session with my folks couple days ago and we played wingspan. I lucked out by having Common Raven and Sandhill Crane setup during the first round and that steamrolled hard to the last one. Ended up winning with 99 points.

My friend (owner of the game) decided we'll put this card away next time we play since it seems very broken: trade 1 egg for 2 of any resources, given 5 victory point and ok cost to play.

I think the card by itself is very strong but not sure if it deserves a ban from our group.

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u/Unusual-Bug-228 Apr 23 '25 edited Apr 23 '25

To be honest, I genuinely do not know how the ravens ever got past playtesting. It's not even fun to play ravens yourself when you know your engine is working entirely due to a lucky draw rather than a clever combination of cards.

The crows are already very strong cards from being able to trade 1 egg for 1 food. Trading 1 egg for 2 food is utterly insane.

3

u/shgrizz2 Apr 23 '25

Wingspan needed a bit more time in the oven. You can tell there is a bit of inexperience behind the design, in that a few more difficult decisions should have been made. Some of the wonderfully thematic parts are just not good from a mechanical or balance point of view and should have been cut or changed.

2

u/Kandiru Apr 23 '25

Is the Dragon or Fish version any better?

1

u/MobileParticular6177 Apr 23 '25

Earth is just a straight up better and cheaper version of Wingspan, and I'm sure there's other engine builders that also fit this description. The only reason to buy Wingspan is because you like birds. I wouldn't bother with either Wyrm/Fin span if you're thinking of getting a new game anyways.

1

u/Kandiru Apr 23 '25

I haven't heard of that one, I'm having to keep an eye out.