A Board Game Where Birds (And Science) Win

Short Wave

NPR

Daily News, Nature, Life Sciences, Astronomy, Science, News

4.7 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 21 February 2020

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Wingspan is a board game that brings the world of ornithology into the living room. The game comes with 170 illustrated birds cards, each equipped with a power that reflects that bird's behavior in nature. Wingspan game designer Elizabeth Hargrave speaks with Short Wave's Emily Kwong about her quest to blend scientific accuracy with modern board game design.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You're listening to shortwave from NPR.
0:04.6	Hey everybody, Maddie Saffai here with Shortwave Reporter Emily Cuong.
0:08.5	Hey Maddie, so last weekend I did something extremely nerdy.
0:12.2	On brand, continue.
0:13.7	Hi!
0:14.7	Okay.
0:15.7	Well, I organized a science-themed board game day, so we're at Crossroads Tabletop Tavern
0:20.9	in Manassas, Virginia.
0:22.4	My partner Duncan and two of our colleagues, Emily Vaughan and Rebecca Ramirez, gathered
0:26.3	to play Wingspan, which is a competitive bird collection game and one to five players.
0:33.1	A bird collection game, huh?
0:35.5	A fiercely competitive bird collection game.
0:38.1	We're going to play the less competitive version because I know who you all are.
0:41.7	You don't want to end some friendships today.
0:44.2	Remember the last time we played charades?
0:46.8	I remember I won.
0:51.2	Yeah, we're not going to talk about that.
0:53.4	So in Wingspan, you are a bird enthusiast, got it?
0:57.0	Trying to attract birds to your network of wildlife preserves.
1:00.1	Makes sense.
1:01.1	And the birds are represented through 170 illustrated cards.
1:04.8	You'll have a painting of a bird in the middle, indigo-bunting, barn owl.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.