MODA | Designing Wingspan: A Conversation About Designing Board Games with Elizabeth Hargrave

Join MODA’s Executive Director Laura Flusche for a discussion with board game designer Elizabeth Hargrave, whose game Wingspan was an overnight hit when it was released in 2019, has gone on to sell over a million copies in over 18 languages, and won the 2019 Kennerspiel des Jahres for hobby games — the Oscar of board games.

The conversation will touch on subjects such as:

• What inspired Elizabeth to become a board game designer
• How she came to create beautiful, nature-based games like Wingspan and Mariposas, a game about butterfly migration, both of which are featured in MODA’s current exhibition Full Circle: Design Without End
• The process of designing, pitching, selling, and publishing a boardgame, from prototyping to playtesting to printing
• How Wingspan has impacted the real-life of some of its players
• And, why  so few board game designers are women

About the Speaker

Elizabeth Hargrave is an American game designer. She has designed several games, including Wingspan, Tussie-Mussie, and Mariposas. After earning a master’s degree in public affairs, Hargrave worked for many years in Washington, DC, first at the Department of Health and Human Services and later as a public policy analyst at the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center. Her policy research included prescription drug policy, and work on a report to the U.S. Congress by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. Hargrave was featured in a US News Money article discussing the U.S. 2012 Medicare Part D Plan. Growing up, she played games with her family, particularly Scrabble and hearts, and played gin rummy in high school. Described by the New York Times as “a spreadsheet geek,” Hargrave lives in Silver Spring, Maryland with her husband, landscape designer Matt Cohen.

About Wingspan

Wingspan is a competitive, medium-weight, card-driven, engine-building board game. Players assume the role of bird enthusiasts—researchers, bird watchers, ornithologists, and collectors—seeking to discover and attract the best birds to their network of wildlife preserves. The game features over 170 birds illustrated by Beth Sobel, Natalia Rojas, and Ana Maria Martinez.

About Mariposas

Every spring, millions of monarch butterflies leave Mexico to spread out across eastern North America. Every fall, millions fly back to Mexico. However, no single butterfly ever makes the round trip. Mariposas is a game of movement and set collection that lets players be part of this amazing journey.