Are you ready to dive back into Wingspan from Monster Couch with some new content? Then check out our Wingspan: European Expansion review!

 

Last year I got a chance to review Wingspan from Monster Couch on Nintendo Switch, a very fun 1-5 player digital adaptation of the board game of the same name, and now it’s time to check out the Wingspan: European Expansion DLC! Since this is an expansion to the base game, that means you’ll get to enjoy the main gameplay mechanics for Wingspan, along with a new region, new birds, and new everything!

The attention to detail is astonishing since, along with the new cards for each bird, they’re also accompanied by recordings of the voices of each bird! The new region is also accompanied by lush landscapes to explore, thanks to the picturesque backgrounds inspired by the continent’s locations. Add new music from composer Pawel Gorniak, with sounds inspired by classical European string music, and you have a very interesting expansion for Wingspan. You’ll also get valuable information about each bird as you put it into play, learning more about each one of them as you progress through a match.

 

Once you’ve downloaded and installed the European Expansion, and before you begin to play all of the new content, the game will kindly ask if you would like to take on a short tutorial to allow you to learn what you need to know about the new stuff. To speed things up, the game will start the tutorial after already having played some turns so that you can get a chance to see some of the new abilities that the European birds will be bringing to the table thanks to this new DLC for Wingspan.

For example, by playing the Eurasian Nuthatch, you’ll notice that it catches wheat from the supply – as do some of the birds in the base game. What the Eurasian Nuthatch does on top of this is allow you to spend that wheat at any time! Then, when you play the European Roller, you’ll see that it occupies two slots in the habitat without having to pay the extra egg cost. This is a great way to boost the resources for a habitat in a cost-effective way. Play a Eurasian Jay, and you’ll be able to activate its ability to steal one wheat from another player, thus increasing your supply while also lowering theirs!

 

Then we have the Common Goldeneye in your pond, and you’ll be able to make good use of its ability to lay one egg at the end of a round for each bird with a nest that you have. The Eurasian Magpie will allow you to choose another player, and for each action cube on their field, you can cache one resource from the supply each time the opponent you pick has laid an egg on the round. If you use its ability at the right time – say, when an opponent is trying to go all out to store resources to gain bonus points at the end of the math – you can quickly turn the tables in one fell swoop!

Wingspan is available on its own at a $19.99 price. The European Expansion DLC is available at an additional $9.99, and there’s also a Seasonal Decorative Pack for $4.99 that gives you unlimited access to the 7 seasonal backgrounds that appeared during 2021, as well as brand new matching avatars exclusive to this DLC. You could go all-in and buy the game and both DLC packs for a discount price of $31.49. If you hurry up, you can save even more and take advantage of a 31% discount that brings down the bundle to only $21.72!

Disclaimer
This Wingspan: European Edition review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Monster Couch.