Stepping deeper into the Roll Player universe, players will take on the role of mapmakers competing for reputation and Queen Gimnax’s favor in Cartographers: A Roll Player Tale. The Queen has decreed that the territories north of the Kingdom of Nalos are to be retaken and has issued declarations regarding which lands she desires. Players will be challenged along the way not only by other players but by opposing forces and their outposts. As if that were not enough to overcome, players will also have only one year to finish their expedition and return to the Queen. Can you complete the quest tasked to you and arrive before the throne with the best findings amongst your peers in order to win the ultimate favor of the crown? Cartographers will put your skills as a mapmaker to the test against all odds as you strive to be the best at your craft in all the kingdom.

Cartographers, a 2019 release from Thunderworks Games, is a 1+ player card game as it can support an infinite number of players as long as they all have access to paper and a pencil! The game was designed by Jordy Adan, who has also designed Rolling Ranch and was part of the design team for CMON’s upcoming game Trudvang Legends. Luis Francisco and Lucas Ribeiro were both artists for the game. Francisco’s artwork can also be found in Roll Player, Coup, The Bloody Inn, and Masmorra: Dungeons of Arcadia. Ribeiro has worked on such titles as Space Cantina, Die, die, DIE!, and Lockup: A Roll Player Tale. With both artists having worked on games in the Roll Player universe, it is no surprise to see them working together on this project.

At the beginning of a game of Cartographers, each player receives a pencil and map sheet. Players will then decide as a group which side of the double-sided map sheet they want to use. Once decided, players can not only name their cartographer but can go a step further into character creation by also giving them titles and designing a family crest! In the play area, players will place the Season cards, Edict cards, and scoring cards as explained in the rulebook. Lastly, they will build the Adventure deck. To do this, all Adventure cards are shuffled with a random Ambush card added in. This deck is placed face down within view of all players. Play is done simultaneously so once the first Adventure card is flipped, all players can begin filling in their map!

Cartographers is played over four rounds, which makes it a fairly quick game. Each of these rounds, known as seasons, consists of multiple turns made up of three phases: adventure phase, draw phase and check phase. During each season, players will flip Adventure cards and draw shapes on their map of an indicated terrain type. These shapes and terrain types are displayed on the Adventure cards. When placing shapes on a map, players use Tetris-like tactics to try to score points as they manipulate and fit shapes together. Points are scored based on the two Edicts being used during that season and earning coins. Invading monsters left unchecked will cost the player points at the end of each season. Each season has a time threshold, which determines how many cards can be played before a season ends. Individual Adventure cards have a time value that contributes towards the season’s fulfillment. Points are then tallied at the end of the season, with the four seasons’ totals being added together to reach a player’s final score. The player with the highest score at the end of the game is declared the winner.

Currently, there are several mini-expansion packs available for Cartographers. Some of these packs include new Ambush cards to add more variety to the monster encounters and packs that add Skills to the game. Skills can be purchased by players once per season with their acquired coins and provide new abilities to aid the cartographer with their quest. Additionally, three new map packs and a standalone expansion (Cartographers Heroes) were recently crowdfunded on Kickstarter. The new map packs (Nebblis – Plane of Flame, Affril – Plane of Knowledge, and Undercity – Depths of Sabek) each come with their own set of rules, the map sheets, and a set of three new cards for each pack. Cartographers Heroes adds monsters with abilities, new types of map sheets, more scoring cards, and Heroes that can be drawn on the map to aid in destroying monsters.

When I first saw Cartographers, I did not think it would appeal to me much. After just one game, I realized I couldn’t have been more wrong. I was hooked! We have played this game in every session since its arrival. I personally have bought the phone app and frequently solo it on Happy Meeple when I can’t find someone to drag to the table to play. I also recently discovered it exists on Tabletop Simulator! Though we find the game to be very family-friendly, it is probably best for ages 12 and older unless they are puzzle minded children. Younger players may find the theme unappealing as well. Cartographers is a good entry-level game that will still engage the minds of more experienced gamers. There are enough strategies and mechanics involved for the game to be enjoyed by all. When playing, I highly recommend using colored pencils as it makes the maps effortless to read, easier to draw, and much prettier to look at upon completion. With a fairly low price point and tons of replayability, Cartographers is a highly recommended addition to anyone’s game shelf!

All photos of Thunderworks Games products were taken and edited by Krista unless otherwise specified.