How it works
How WingDerby works
You manage a racing loft, not a single bird. The game runs in real time: your pigeons age, recover and race while you are away. A few minutes a day keeps a loft in top shape; a week without care will show in the results.
The week
Every week has several races. Training flights (short, cheap) on weekdays build form. On Saturday the speed race is flown, on Sunday the middle-distance race. Every 2 weeks a long-distance race is added, and a few times a season the extreme classics — Pau, Barcelona, Perpignan, Marseille — are on the programme. You basket your birds before the deadline (12 hours before release), pay a small fee per bird, and read the result once the birds are home.
The race
Each bird is released at the liberation site and flies to your loft. Its velocity in metres per minute depends on its abilities, form, fatigue, health, the distance, and above all the wind: a headwind from the direction it flies towards slows every bird, a tailwind speeds them up. Results are ranked nationally and within your verbond, and the top 25% of returning birds share the prize pool. On hard days birds get lost — especially young ones, tired ones and those with poor orientation.
Breeding
Every pigeon carries two alleles for each of five traits: speed, endurance, orientation, recovery and vitality. A youngster gets one allele per trait from each parent, with a small chance of mutation. You never see the genes directly — only an estimate that becomes precise as the bird races. Pedigrees are public, so a youngster from a proven line is worth real money on the market.
Care
Choose the feed (basic, standard or premium) and the training load (rest, light or hard) for the loft. Feed costs money every day per bird. Hard training builds form but slows recovery. Sick birds need a vet. A full loft can be expanded.
The market
Any active bird can be sold at auction. Auctions last 48 hours, with a small commission for the seller. Bidding in the last minutes extends the auction, so there is no sniping.
Fair play
WingDerby is free to play with one loft. A future supporter package will add statistics, pedigree analysis and cosmetic extras — never faster pigeons. Nothing in the game can be bought for real money that gives an edge in the results.