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Interview. Jamey Stegmaier and Connie Vogelmann
“A Desire for Another Theme”
An old game in a new skin by a different designer? Could this be the simple formula behind Wyrmspan? We asked publisher Jamey Stegmaier.
By CHRISTWART CONRAD
Wingspan was and is still very success- ful. Can you mention any figures? And can Wyrmspan live up to those at all—if you compare the two market launches? Jamey Stegmaier: Currently the two millionth copy of Wingspan is in produc- tion—but the first few months of Wyrm­ span were far stronger in terms of sales than the first few months of Wingspan were in 2019. This is partly because peo- ple are already familiar with the forerun- ner, and also because we produced many more copies of Wyrmspan right from the start, over 200,000 so far.
Is Wyrmspan primarily aimed at play- ers who know the original game? And which of the two would you say is more accessible, which is more tactical? Wyrmspan is the slightly more complex game, mainly due to the action system and the additional layer provided by the Guild board. Our goal was for the game to appeal to those who know Wingspan and are looking for a similar, yet new and slightly heavier game. I think Wingspan is more accessible, but both titles allow easy access for most people familiar with modern games, by design. And both re- ward long-term strategy through engine building, coupled with tactical decisions made by card selection.
How did the idea of a game similar to Wingspan come about?
It started as an in-house discussion in- volving Wingspan designer Elizabeth Hargrave. We talked about next steps in this respective game universe. While we felt there was a potential and a desire for other themes than birds, we didn’t want to simply make the same game with a different class of animals. Instead, we wanted to create something new, yet fa- miliar, that would appeal to both Wing­ span fans and those players who wanted a little different and slightly more com- plex game within the framework of a new theme. We debated back and forth between dinosaurs and dragons and fi- nally went for dragons. Please feel free to
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Photos: Stegmaier/Stonemaier Games, Vogelmann
Jamey Stegmaier