Overview

Finspan is a competitive strategy game in the Wingspan family where players are marine researchers exploring three ocean zones — Sunlight, Twilight, and Midnight — to discover fish, lay eggs, hatch young, and form schools. Over 4 weeks of 6 turns each (24 turns total), players build an ocean tableau by playing fish cards and diving to activate benefits. Points come from fish, eggs, young, schools, consumed fish, and weekly achievements. Developed by Elizabeth Hargrave with art by Ana Maria Martinez, Catalina Martinez, and Mesa Schumacher.

Components

• 5 ocean mats
• 1 achievement board (double-sided: side A for beginners, side B with random tiles)
• 9 achievement tiles
• 125 fish cards
• 10 starter fish cards (dark gray corners)
• 30 divers (6 per player color)
• 90 egg/young tokens (double-sided)
• 40 school tokens
• 1 first-player token
• 5 player aids
• 1 scorepad
• 1 week tracker token

Setup

Global Setup

1. Place egg/young and school tokens as the general supply.
2. Shuffle the 10 starter fish cards face-down near the supply.
3. Shuffle the 125 fish cards into a face-down deck.
4. Place the achievement board (side A for first-time players; side B with random achievement tiles otherwise). If using side B, randomly select Week 1, 2, and 3 tiles.

Player Setup

1. Place an ocean mat in front of you.
2. Choose a player color and take 6 divers of that color.
3. Place 1 egg on each of the 2 starting egg slots (printed forage fish) on your ocean mat.
4. Place 1 young on the starting young slot.
5. Gain 2 random starter fish cards (face up beside your mat as your hand).
6. Draw 3 fish cards from the deck and add to your hand (face up; all unplayed fish are public knowledge).
7. Randomly select the first player.

Turn Structure

The game is played over 4 weeks. Each week, every player takes 6 turns (one per diver). On your turn, place an available diver to perform one of two actions:

A. Play a Fish Card

1. Place a diver in the gray box at the upper left of your ocean.
2. Pay the cost on the fish card (may include discarding cards, paying eggs/young, or consuming a shorter fish).
3. Place the fish on an empty or occupied slot in your ocean, following zone restrictions (Sunlight/Twilight/Midnight) and dive site color restrictions (blue/purple/green columns or any column if no color band).
4. Resolve “When Played” abilities — gain optional benefits in any order. If the ability says “all players,” each player decides whether to gain it.

B. Dive

1. Select a dive site (column) and place a diver at the top.
2. Gain topmost dive site bonus if you have at least 1 fish in the Sunlight Zone of that column.
3. Move down row by row through all 3 zones, gaining “If Activated” benefits from fish and dive site bonuses (if you have a fish in that zone’s column).
4. Gain bottom bonus if this is the first diver to reach the bottom of this dive site this week (place diver in the special slot). Otherwise, no bottom bonus (place diver in the gray box).

End of Week (Weeks 1-3)

1. Gain points for the week’s achievement.
2. (Side B only) Player(s) with most achievement points this week gain 3 bonus points.
3. Retrieve all divers.
4. Pass first-player token clockwise.

Actions

Fish Costs and Abilities

• Consume (predation): Play a fish on top of a shorter fish (card or forage). Consumed fish stay underneath, worth 1 point each at game end.
• When Played: One-time benefit gained immediately.
• If Activated (brown): Benefit gained during a dive through the fish’s column.
• Game End (yellow): Scored at end of game.
• All Players: Each player may independently choose to gain the benefit.

Key Ability Icons

• Draw a fish card from the deck.
• Place an egg on a fish without one (max 1 egg per fish).
• Hatch an egg (flip to young side).
• Place/discard a young in your ocean.
• Form a school (3 young on the same slot replace with a school token).
• Move a young or school along a row.
• Recover a card from your discard pile.

Fish Tags

• Venomous, Predator, Camouflage, Bioluminescent, Electric.
• Uber Predators (two predator tags) have abilities affecting all players when played.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

At game end (after Week 4), score in order:

1. Game End abilities (yellow) on fish in your ocean.
2. Points on visible fish (not consumed fish).
3. Consumed fish: 1 point each (cards and forage).
4. Eggs and Young: 1 point each.
5. Schools: 6 points each.

Add to achievement points from Weeks 1-3. Most total points wins. Tiebreaker: most fish cards in hand. If still tied, shared victory.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Schools: When 3 young occupy the same slot, they automatically form a school (replace with a school token). A slot can hold only 1 school. Schools cannot pass through a slot with another school when moved.
• Public hands: All unplayed fish in your hand are face-up and visible to all players.
• Egg/young on consumed fish: Tokens on a consumed fish transfer to the fish placed on top.
• Zone placement: Fish must be placed in one of their allowed zones (Sunlight, Twilight, Midnight).
• Dive site restrictions: Fish with colored bands (blue/purple/green) may only be placed in matching columns.
• Bottom bonus: Only the first diver to reach the bottom of each dive site per week gains the bottom bonus.
• Fish lengths: Large, Medium, Small — consuming requires the predator to be longer than the prey.
• Solo mode: Included via separate Nautoma rulebook.

Player Reference

Item	Details
Players	1-5
Duration	45-60 minutes
Weeks	4
Turns per week	6 per player
Ocean zones	Sunlight, Twilight, Midnight
Dive sites	3 columns per ocean mat
Fish cards	125 + 10 starters
School formation	3 young on same slot
School value	6 points
Egg/Young value	1 point each
Win condition	Most points after Week 4