I recently came across a TikTok video that stopped me mid-scroll. A guy is walking the board game aisle at Target, picks up Wingspan, looks at the camera, and genuinely asks: "Do people actually know about this?"
Fair question, honestly. It's a valid gut reaction when you encounter a game you've never heard of sitting on a shelf next to Monopoly. But here's the thing—as someone who spent years on the retail side of this industry, I knew exactly how to answer that question. I didn't need to guess. I went straight to Google Trends.
And what I found genuinely surprised even me.
This chart compares search interest for Wingspan and Ticket to Ride in the United States from 2019 through early 2026. Back in 2019, Wingspan was essentially flat—a blip on the radar. Ticket to Ride, meanwhile, was already a household name with consistent search volume bouncing between 25 and 50 on the index.
Fast forward to today? Those two lines are nearly on top of each other. Holiday spike for holiday spike, peak for peak—Wingspan is now matching one of the most recognized board game titles in the world in terms of how often people are searching for it.
Let that sink in for a second.
Now, I want to be fair here. Search volume doesn't mean identical customer bases. Ticket to Ride has over 20 years of brand recognition baked in. Wingspan is still earning its seat at that table. And yes, Wingspan is a heavier game—there's more going on mechanically than Catan or Ticket to Ride.
But here's what's fascinating: Wingspan has actually done something remarkable for a game of its weight. It has pulled people into heavier games who never thought they'd go there. The production quality is stunning. The gameplay teaches itself beautifully. People who said they'd never play "a complicated game" are sitting down with Wingspan and coming back for more.
I saw this firsthand as a retailer. My job wasn't just to stock shelves—it was to train a staff of 70 to 80 employees to feel confident selling games they'd never played themselves. That's not a small task. But the games that made it easiest were the ones with enough mainstream pull that customers were already walking in the door asking for them.
Wingspan is one of those games now. The demand is there. Your customers are googling it. The question is whether they're going to find it at your store—or somewhere else.
If you're curious about how to tap into that demand (and how to get your team confident selling it), I'd love to talk.
