The Art of a Mapmaking Solo Game with Cartographers
Take a journey through the uncharted lands to become an acclaimed mapmaker in Cartographers: A Roll Player Tale.
Yes! Little by little, I’m trying to avoid picking up solo board games that aren’t going to be played anytime soon. This may backfire as I have a bunch of deliveries scheduled for the upcoming week… But I digress. I eagerly tore into another new game the other day. Cartographers: A Roll Player Tale was exactly what I wanted, and off I went to be a mapmaker!
A Quick Note on My Listed Play Time
By no means should my time be used as an accurate portrayal of the necessary play time. 30-45 minutes is more reasonable. I had a long work week and wanted to use my color pencils to slowly shade in some areas. Although I was completely focused on playing, I also took my time just to relax and enjoy the quiet fun of coloring!
Game Overview
Game Name: Cartographers: A Roll Player Tale
Publication Year: 2019
Designer: Jordy Adan
Artists: Luis Francisco and Lucas Ribeiro
Solo Mode: Designed for Solo (Included in the Base Game)
The idea of crafting a map has always intrigued me. There was a time when I started to look at possible career paths involving modern cartography! I required a hired cartographer in Might and Magic VI… Never mind I could do it myself. Hire a cartographer! So the ability to actually take on the role in a game format totally appealed to me!
Starting in Spring
There was no need to have beautiful season cards. They simply follow a predictable order of which scoring goals will be used during a particular round. Nothing special.
Yet there they are! Just glancing at the top of the stack gave me a warm and happy feeling. To adventure!
Well, some might argue that making a map is far from a true adventure. I still stick with the idea that board games offer all sorts of experiences. And cartography is cool.
So off I went into the unknown to fill in some spaces on grid paper. Little did I know what I would think…
The Main Points Source
Although collected coins and minimized monster issues help with points, each season focuses on a pair of specific scoring goals. For spring, these were goals A and B.
Each type contains 4 different cards, and these are placed in random positions with every play. There is a lot of variety here! Everything guides the way the map develops.
This concept of having these goals as a guide to decisions is interesting. Especially scoring goal A…
There’s an interesting race to earn a little bit from it to start with, and then plan ahead to score it during winter.
Off to the Wilderness
There I was: Cartographer on the loose! I was to make the queen proud of my mapmaking endeavor. The castle and nearby town were left behind. I was ready for adventure!
And then the first card happened. ‘Twas an ambush! These random events, of sorts, add monster spaces to the map that must be added in a set way. No making decisions.
I just imagined my cartographer self hiding out in the bushes and sketching out the goblin realm.
Taken in the right way, ambushes can actually be useful for filling in spaces. But this was a jarring beginning!
A Little Spring Map
As spring drew to a close with a clever timing mechanism, my map looked quite nice. Apologies for the lack of drawing. I loved my colors, though! But those fields…
I had way too much fun shading in these spaces. It was just a nice way to unwind after a long day. No complaints here!
A mountain was surrounded to earn me a coin, and I had a couple of scoring goals moving along nicely. Not perfect, yet there are some strategies to pick up on over time.
I only felt bad for the southern village. It was basically cut off by a mountain and monsters. Yikes!
Many Little Decisions
The map takes shape based on a series of little decisions. This is something that affects most games, yet I became more aware of it here. Coloring gives you time to think!
First, though, take a moment to enjoy the gorgeous appearance of these exploration cards. So, so pretty!
Decisions often look easy on the surface. Draw a large shape, or go for the smaller option with the coin.
At another level, though, it’s all about planning and weighing what generates the most points. The remaining exploration cards also play a role: What could show up?
A Relaxing Summer
My real summer has been relatively busy with less time for relaxation than I would like… But my cartographer self didn’t have to suffer the same fate! She was calm and cool.
Actually, that might have been very accurate. Almost every new addition involved forest spaces. This was less optimal than I originally planned. Not too bad, though.
I was fortunate not to come across another ambush. But that meant that fall would feature 2 ambush cards…
Turning over the next card each turn was so much fun! Even with a small deck, there were so many possibilities.
Fading Into Fall
Well, well, well. Both ambushes managed to show up around the same time. Disastrous! But what an adventure.
At a glance, it looked like I just had a bunch of colored squares. Maybe it was all that time shading with my color pencils, yet a little story about this area started to form.
What was going on in the central region into the northeast? It was all forests or fields, yet the monsters were gathered in the southern areas near villages.
The village in the northwest was almost cut off from the rest of the lands. The queen would certainly be interested!
Every Type of Ambush
My only gripe with the ambush cards is a small one, and unrelated to the frustration of one showing up!
The grid in the upper right shows which corner to start in for the solo game, and I struggled to see the difference between purple and black. I may need white marker dots.
But with that aside, I actually enjoyed this element. In other ways, these could be interpreted as random events unrelated to monsters. Hmm, possibilities!
As winter approached, there was a single ambush card that might show up. I only hoped it was at the bottom.
At the Very End
I clawed my way back to the queen with my completed map. Trouble threatened the southern villages, thereby cutting off the supply route to the north.
Points wise, don’t get too excited about that value of 87! I had to subtract out the solo values on the scoring goals.
I ended up with a slightly respectable -1 points on the solo scale. Amateur! Not too bad for my first outing.
What might look like a jumbled bit of coloring is actually… Well, my amateur attempt at coloring. Ha ha! But I really enjoyed the little stories that popped up.
The Most Important Part of a Map
Thinking about the areas of the map got me thinking about the most necessary question of all time. The question that defines EVERYTHING. The question I can never ignore… Where would I live? Ah, yes, the timeless query that will never allow me to stop thinking deeply. Ha ha! I pondered this for a little while. Or a long while. This was important.
Even though it wasn’t the best area, I was over there in the lone village square towards the east side of the map. Forests, fields, and a slight threat of invading monsters. That was it! I believe my cartographer self settled there, especially so she could wander off just to the north in order to do more mapmaking in her later years. Discoveries always abound!
Mixing It All Up Again
Perhaps a single map was more than enough for my initial session, but I had more time! Resetting involved doing a little shuffling and randomizing over a few minutes.
I originally planned to start printing out other sheets because I rarely use included score sheets. But this pad was just too nice to pass up. Excellent paper quality, too!
As usual, my shuffling skills resulted in 2 of 4 identical scoring goals. Still, this changed everything significantly.
The fields in the farmland card were so very inviting. Find me this scene in the real world: I would love to visit. Ha!
Session Overview
Play Number: 1 and 2
Solo Mode: Designed for Solo (Included in the Base Game)
Play Details: Map A
Required Play Space: 20″ x 18″
Setup Time: 5 Minutes
Play Time: 1 Hour & 15 Minutes per Play
Outcome: -1 and 12 (1 Win and 1 Loss)
A second attempt resulted in a very different map and a much more acceptable scoring tier. I was a journeyman! Nice. My chosen home? The little village in the southwest just beneath the mountain. Cozy waterfront property!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
8
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
8
Quality
Components & Rules
9
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
10
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
8
Continue the Conversation
Have you had a chance to play Cartographers: A Roll Player Tale? What has been your best map or score? I didn’t expect to like these mechanics that much, but I was pleasantly surprised. My color pencils had the chance to come out, and my creativity brought the little squares to life! It’s just too bad the map isn’t hex-based, or I might have another idea…
Nice Coat of Arms At The Very End.
Goblins, Kobolds, Gnolls and Bugbears! I had no idea Cartography was so risky.
Thanks, and good eye in regards to my family crest. Ha ha! Mapmaking has all sorts of dangers. Imagine if that quill breaks or the ink runs dry, especially in the midst of an ambush. That explains my artistic skills here, right?!
Beautiful and pictures and review of one solo game I actually enjoy. Thanks for your care.
Thank you! I can see why many people enjoy this game now. There’s a lot of fun and plenty of challenges!
I haven’t played this solo, but quite enjoy playing with friends. We liked it enough to laminate the maps and use colored erasable markers 🙂
I definitely see its value as a multiplayer experience. Nice call on the laminated maps, too! I used my color pencils recently and couldn’t bear to put them away… Though I might try my wet-erase markers and sheet protectors eventually. Good luck with your group: I hope you all become master cartographers eventually!
I particularly like that Rift Lands card art… I saw that “score these two goals this time” mechanic first in Isle of Skye and it always surprises me that it’s not used more.
The cart art is gorgeous, indeed! I even don’t mind the ambushes all that much since they’re so bright and colorful. Ha!
I’m surprised that this mechanic is so new, too. So simple, yet so very powerful! It means that planning takes on new meaning in terms of when certain areas should be filled in. The decisions help guide the map, although I don’t feel like it induces the dreaded analysis paralysis. It’s just right, and I love the game!
Just got this in a trade recently, and I’m absolutely smitten with this very relaxing game. Something about it appeals to the kid in me who used to draw maps and doodles all the time. My oldest daughter played it with me and enjoyed it as well.
How awesome! I wrote it off at one point, too, for unknown reasons. I thought it looked too… Simple? Boring? It might be simple in how some of the mechanics work, yet creating the map is so much fun! I feel like it’s something I could introduce to my parents at some point. Easy to learn for beginners, yet strategic enough to challenge seasoned board game players. I love it!