Wingspan

You attract birds to three habitats on your own board: forest, grassland and wetland. After four rounds you count the points on your birds, the eggs sitting on them, the food and cards tucked beneath them, the round goals you met and a secret bonus card. A turn is one of four actions: play a bird by paying its food cost, take food from the dice in the birdfeeder tower, lay eggs, or draw bird cards. Each action also triggers every bird already in that habitat row, so an empty row becomes a chain of small effects by round three. This is the game we reach for when someone asks for something beautiful that still rewards planning. It sits a little above Ticket to Ride in weight and teaches in ten minutes with the quick-start cards. It plays properly solo, works well at 3, and is the one most likely to convince a sceptical partner.