If you know Na Wings , released in 2019 , you will feel right at home. Birds of Asia don’t turn the base game’s premise upside down. We still play bird cards here, collect food, lay eggs and expand the range of actions and scoring methods. We continue to outdo each other in meeting the objectives at the end of the round and draw bonus cards that will give us an advantage at the finish. So what’s new?
Birds of Asia as a two-player game
The content of the box primarily offers the opportunity to play the new Duet mode, which is focused on greater interaction between players. In the middle of the table, we place an additional board on which we will occupy the fields related to the cards we play. The symbol on the space must match the habitat and type of nest, food, or wingspan of the bird species depicted on the card. The placement of the duo tokens on this board will determine the points awarded at the end of the round. At the end of the game, we will also compare the largest groups of our markers.
In the box you will find cards with the types of actions introduced in previous expansions, i.e. abilities that activate at the end of the round and the game. Thanks to their use, the gameplay is more diverse than in the basic version. In addition, the actions are very diverse and focused on interaction – many effects require giving resources to the opponent, taking risks or earning points in an interesting way.
All this makes the two-player game intense and exciting – the style of the game is far removed from the solitaire from the original.
Duet tokens are formed in part of the yin-yang symbol, but we do not use the ability to combine tiles in this way during the game. The game begs for a cooperative variant in which we would care for the harmony of habitat development.
Solo mode is also present in the game, updated with rules using new components. Automa works flawlessly and simulates a real opponent pretty well. Due to the fact that the game is designed for 2 people, the struggle in solo mode is more interesting than before.
Birds of Asia as an addition to the base game
Cards with birds found in Asia can be easily combined with those from previous expansions, without changing the game. In addition to increasing the variety, the big change is the ability to play with 6 and 7 players. This takes a little more preparation, as in practice we divide players, table space and resources into two separate areas, with the common area limited to end-of-round and end-of-game activities. During such a game, 2 people can take turns at the same time, which means that the game will not drag on for hours.
If we have the opportunity to play in a larger group, it is one of the few more difficult family games that will give us such an opportunity.
Performance and (for) value
In the box we will find components that are more ecological than those used before – the tray for chips is made of reed mass, the string bags are made of opaque corn foil, and the egg markers are wooden. Bravo for a step in the right direction, but the decks of cards are still wrapped in plastic, one of the bags is still traditional, and the outside of the box is closed with foil. I am surprised by this lack of consistency, especially since the choice of components certainly also affected the price of the game. For a price similar to the basic version, we get almost twice as many bird cards (90 and 170, respectively), and proportionally fewer other elements.
Interestingly, among the species illustrated on the cards, we will find birds that also occur in Europe, so we will easily recognize many of them. The illustrations themselves continue the trend and are well drawn.
Summary
Birds of Asia will be an obvious purchase if you have the previous expansions and you often play 2-player or solo. The new game mode introduces a refreshed formula and greater interaction between players. The publisher of the English version will issue cards from this expansion as a separate product at a lower price. If Rebel decides to take this step and you are not interested in duo mode – it may be worth waiting.
If you don’t own the base game and want to play one of On the Wings , it’s up to you to decide what to choose: a well-crafted, two-player version of Birds of Asia or a comprehensive base game. You will not be disappointed.
