Clanking in Space and Wyrms Galore

 

Pontification of Perilous Pursuits

The last few weeks have seen some specific games in my collection get some additional love and I thought I would take the chance to review them since I've had them on the brain. I think my weekly reviews on Friday have been going well and I hope to continue this trend of reviewing games in my collection since there's a lot that I have to say about them, especially ones that may or may not get as many plays as they deserve. It also might force me to get a few plays of those games in again, especially if I'm planning on writing a review of them.

Enough of my pontification; let's get to the reviews!

In Space, Everyone Can Hear You Clank!

The Dark Lord Eradikus seeks to stop any who would steal from him

Game Name: Clank! In! Space!
Publisher: Dire Wolf
Year Released: 2017
Mechanics: Deck, Bag, and Pool Building, Delayed Purchase, Modular Board, Open Drafting, Player Elimination, Point to Point Movement, Push Your Luck
BGG Score (Overall Rank): 7.8 (#129)

Times Played: 5
Josiah's Score:  8.75  

What I Liked: Clank! In! Space! takes everything that I love from the base game, slaps a fantastic sci-fi skin on it (along with the excellent references too), adds a modular board, and adds a slight level of depth to the game before packaging it all in a nicely organized box, just like it's predecessor, Clank!. There's a lot of similarity to the base game included in Clank! In! Space! to the point that much of the rulebook looks and reads similarly to the rulebook in Clank!. If you liked the original Clank!, Clank! In! Space!is more of the same with a set of fantastic science fiction references that encompass television shows and movies alike. While the references are numerous, they don't take away from the gameplay (as often times shoehorning references in do) and act as a nice little Easter Egg for those who know what they reference.

When comparing Clank! In! Space! to it's fantasy counterpart, it does have a bit more mechanical depth to the game, which is noted in the rulebook for the game, specifically in a section that notes where the mechanical changes are for veterans of the Clank! series. Cards themselves have a few additional effects, adding in several that require cards of the same type to activate or additional resources that can be obtained during a player's run. Additional transportation methods, including teleportation and a hyperlift have been added to the game, as well as additional requirements and rules to use said transportation methods. Players also will find that accessing the area where the treasures lie on the right of the board requires them to place two data cubes in separate modules of the ship to get an "Access Pass" which allows them to pass through to the respective area.

Additionally, the board itself is modular, allowing players to choose one of two sides for the three included boards. Due to the nature of the boards, there are potentially 48 separate combinations of the boards that can be placed, allowing the game to have a bit more modularity than it's fantasy counterpart (which only has two sides to the board). It doesn't have as much randomization as Clank!: Catacombs, which does lend itself to players getting a bit more familiar with the game, but I do appreciate that it has quite a few configurations available. With the inclusion of several expansions, that number skyrockets even further, bringing it into at least the hundreds.

I would also like to mention that the game does play differently than Clank!, especially with the cards that are in the game and the different abilities that they have. While the original game allowed players to reduce overall clank that is made throughout the game with multiple cards that allow them to take away clank produced, in Clank! In! Space!, there are a significantly lower number of cards available that perform that action. Conversely, in Clank!, there are significantly fewer cards and spaces that allow players to heal themselves and in Clank! In! Space! both cards and spaces that allow restoration of health are significantly more present in the game, albeit depending on the setup that is prepared at the beginning of the game. When playing Clank! In! Space!, players should be aware that they will make much more clank than in the original game, but there are significantly more opportunities to heal than in the original game.

As a final point in favor of Clank! In! Space!, the free companion app provided by the developer is fantastic, allowing players to set up randomized boards, adding in a lieutenant that reacts to players actions in the app, as well as including a solo campaign that players can play through on their own. While the writing of the story is very vague, it does present enough of a reason to come back and play through the game again as a solo player. The nice point tracking at the end of the game is also great for completing the game as it does most of the addition for players.

What I Didn't Like: Clank! In! Space! is a bit more mechanically heavy than the original Clank!. It might be slightly more difficult to bring to the table than the original game, but I don't think there's anything overwhelmingly difficult in the game that couldn't be overcome with some experience. A new player will definitely have a disadvantage to a more veteran player, but that's generally how it works with most games. The modular nature of the board helps offset this and card draws and secret placement also helps mitigate that concern with some randomness to how it's set out.

I would say that the biggest complaint that I have about the game is the build of the boards themselves. The edges of the pieces that come together are very tight and have resulted in a little separation of the pieces. It makes me nervous to play the game as there's a concern that I have that they'll come apart if I play too much. However, I think that could be solved with a quick application of glue and might require further investigation.

Overall Thoughts: I absolutely love the Clank! series, especially after getting 14 separate plays of both Clank! and Clank! In! Space! in March. I'm eager to try both Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated and Clank! Catacombs but that will most likely be after I add a few (or all) of the expansions to my base games. It's good enough that if suggested, I'll play without any question. With all of the excellent sci-fi references scattered through the entire game, it's always a treat to run across a familiar, yet legally distinct, figure in the game. While I might prefer the original Clank! over Clank! In! Space! very slightly, I still absolutely love both of these games.

Here Be Dragons

I am absolutely in love by this artwork, especially since it evokes the same feeling as Wingspan.

Game Name:Wyrmspan
Publisher: Stonemaier Games
Year Released: 2024
Mechanics: End Game Bonuses, Hand Management, Once-Per-Game Abilities, Open Drafting, Solo / Solitaire Game, Track Movement, Turn Order: Progressive
BGG Score (Overall Rank): 8.1 (#888)

Times Played: 3
Josiah's Score:  10  

What I Liked: Let's just get this out of the way: I'm doing a review of Wyrmspan absolutely because of all the hype that is surrounding the game right now with it just releasing. However, I will note that I did preorder the game as soon as it was announced, unplayed, unreviewed, and without any additional information because after playing Wingspan several times, I knew that I wanted the game in my collection. I had enjoyed Wingspan enough with my initial play that I wanted to immediately add it to my collection, but the bird theme was not really something that struck my fancy. However, when Wyrmspan was announced with a dragon twist on said game, I immediately was hooked.

The artwork is especially evocative of it's predecessor and Wyrmspan doesn't use the traditional dragon models, opting for it's own style and design of dragons. Some of them are a bit odd in design, but more often than not, each of the dragons that get pulled elicit the required "oohs" and "aahs" that a well-established fantasy monster often deserve. With over 150 dragons to potentially pull from, there always seems to be a new dragon that gets pulled that I haven't seen in my plays (all three of them!), which pulls out a feeling of exploration and excitement when playing the game. Each of the player boards and general boards also have wonderful watercolor artwork that draws the players into the world of Wyrmspan even further.

The gameplay itself in Wyrmspan is also extremely close to it's bird-based predecessor, although I would say that there is slightly more mechanical depth to the game with the excavation action required to add more dragons to each player board. With the potential of numerous combinations provided by newly excavated caves and already placed dragons, there's so much depth that can be found in Wyrmspan, resulting in quite a bit of replayability. I also am appreciative that the dice rolls of Wingspan for materials have been replaced with a more simple solution of letting players choose what material to take versus having a set of potential options that may or may not be helpful for placing cards in player's hands.

It also differs from it's feathered cousin by having players move their tokens from left to right on the board versus right to left. This creates a slightly altered feel on Wyrmspan versus the left-moving tokens in Wingspan. Players also retain the same number of actions per round through the entire game, getting six coins (the replacement for action cubes in Wingspan) at the beginning of a round, with potential to get additional coins. While players generally use one coin per turn, some dragons require a coin to entice, resulting in a nice push and pull mechanic for actions available to players during their turn.

The game has been very well balanced resulting in games that feel close when played. Each of the times that I have played with another person, I've never been able to discern how they are doing during the game despite seeing their board in front of me. With games of Wyrmspan, even players who have a slow start at the beginning of the game might find themselves ending with multiple extra actions at the end of the game like I did in my previous game I played on April 3rd. I had a slow start with my engine that I had built on my board, with my friend being able to take multiple actions in the first two rounds that were beyond what I could do. However, at the end of the fourth round, my engine had been built enough that I was able to end with three extra actions after he had completed his final turn and passed to me. Despite that, when we were totaling our points, I had no idea who would win because there were such varied scoring options on each of our board, which made for a fun tense slow burn while we tallied it all together.

What I Didn't Like: I know that I've said this a few times in previous posts, but I lament the addition of any storage solution in the main box. I know that Wingspan has an excellent game tray (even though it is plastic) to hold each of the birds on the market as well as some storage for the cards. I wish that Wyrmspan had something similar for the cards, although it would have had to be slightly different due to the addition of the cave cards. Granted, the game does come with a nice cardboard board for the cards to be laid on, but it just feels lacking when being compared to the tray in Wingspan. Additionally, letting the pieces just sit in the box with only plastic bags to hold everything feels frustrating, especially with the incredible insert for Apiary that was included. It's frustrating that I'll probably need to go out and either buy or print my own insert, since the game is such an excellent showcase in game design.

I also was not the biggest fan of the solo version of Wyrmspan, but that's too when comparing it to the solo automa that was included with Apiary. After having played the game with the solo automa only once at the lowest difficulty setting, I was frustrated that it was more of a series of actions that were taken to cycle through the cards or present a score to overcome. One reason why I love the automa in Apiary so much is because it feels like playing against an actual person, which I didn't really feel like when I was playing the solo version of Wyrmspan. I still have to attempt the solo version against the "Ravel Mode," which seems to be uniquely different and I will attempt a few more solo games with an open mind before I pass my final judgement on the mode.

Overall Thoughts: I'm absolutely in love with my copy of Wyrmspan and have a feeling that once I'm able to teach it to my wife, that it will become one of our regular games that hits the table. I love the dragon theming and was so happy that it came out so I didn't have to shell out for all of Wingspan. I'm hoping over the next few months to upgrade the game with my own personal components (metal coins, crystals, tiny gold bars, milk bottles, miniature steaks) to give the game just a little more of a "premium" feel, but overall I'm very happy with how everything feels.

The game is exactly what I was wanting in a drake successor to Wingspan and every time I pull the game out off my shelf, I get excited for the incredible world that has been created in the game. While I do have a few complaints, ultimately they are fairly minor and don't take away from my enjoyment of the game too much. Like I noted, I do need to give the solo mode a few more attempts before passing final judgement on how I feel about it. My opinion on it might change, especially like it did with Clank! after subsequent plays.

I know that there was some drama here on BGG regarding the announcement of Wyrmspan, claiming that it was just an attempt to gain more money for Stonemaier Games. I know that Jamey Stegmaier did an excellent blog post about it discussing how as a company they hope to have continued success and capitalize on the momentum that Wingspan has managed to build. Personally, I think it's an excellent strategy and it worked for me since while I was on the fence about Wingspan, I bought Wyrmspan without a second thought. Do I fault Stonemaier Games for making a similar game to Wingspan in order to drive up sales? Absolutely not. I think it is a brilliant marketing strategy and the fact that Wyrmspan is very well designed and plays well shows that a game can be similar to it's predecessor, yet be distinct enough to warrant it's own rating.

Final Thoughts: The ratings that I've given the two games that I reviewed today are provisional, although I don't expect them to change too much. My gut feeling on games, especially when I rate them, tends to be fairly accurate long-term. While it might fluctuate a bit in several months after more plays, I generally am fairly consistent with my ratings. I did rate both of these games highly (a 10 in Wyrmspan's case), but especially after how many games I've played this last year, I am confident in my ratings, especially using BGG's rating system.

I'm going to try to do a regular Friday review of my collection now since I have quite a few games that I've referenced, but never really talked about in depth here on BGG. Next week I'll be doing a review of Everdell: The Complete Collection, taking specific time to talk about each of the expansions in depth as well as my thoughts on them and if they are worth adding to the game. As the collection is the base game plus the five major expansions and all the mini expansions, it will be taking up the entire post so I won't review another game that post. Keep an eye out next Friday for when it comes out!

Give me your thoughts: What are your thoughts on the Wingspan vs Wyrmspan drama that popped up here on BGG when it was announced? Do you think that companies releasing a spiritual successor to a popular game is wrong, or just smart business sense? In the case of Wyrmspan, I actually enjoyed it more than Wingspan. What games have you enjoyed the sequel or spiritual successor more than the original game and why? When it comes to purchasing new games versus getting an expansion or even upgrading components, what is your preference in that regard? Has your collection hit a point where you would prefer to do one over the other?

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*Originally posted on BoardGameGeek on 12/4/2024*