Finally got time to play. I played it with my gf. We played as a duo. In this game, there are three ways to lose, one of which is if you draw the same colored joker in a standard playing card deck, you lose. My first two draws were the same colored jokers… Then I draw a non-joker card. Thought I was okay, curse was lifted. I was wrong. Then I draw back to back two of other kind jokers... We were nervous, then we reached to a forest. My character had two wounds after events, three wounds and this is the other way to lose the game. Then it was time to draw again. I draw a non-joker card but because we were in a forest, if I draw 10, I would lose one wound which I was one away from dying.
I draw 10.
Had fun. Would play again, also we want to try the new version as well but it is a bit expensive for us atm but we will keep an eye on it :)
Thank you for playing! I must say, I’ve probably playtested the game over 100 times and I’ve never had such bad luck! I have to ask - you were shuffling the deck after the joker draws right? Haha well I’m glad you had fun despite the gods of fate evidently working against your cartographer!
Not explicitly in the rules - there is no combat or anything like that. This is more of a worldbuilding and exploration game. Your Cartographer may receive wounds when prompts reveal some kind of danger (which certainly could be monsters if that’s what you want in your story) and if they get enough wounds they will perish. Hope that clears things up!
Hey Lette9! The new edition of Cartograph is out, you can check it out over here. Additionally, if you want to give the game a try, there is a free quickstart guide on my website
Hi Mr. Lee. Please help. Im playing Cartograph - I don't understand the part during the Procedure of the Rest Phase - "Lose any 1 remaining die from your dice pool" ..... What is 1 remaining die?
Hi there chicobrew! If you refer to page 18 of the book, it explains the dice pool, and how adding or losing dice from your dice pool works.
In summary:
If a prompt or rule instructs you to lose a dice, you take that dice from your pool of available dice, and set it aside. In this specific case, it means you must select one of any of the dice still in your pool to be removed.
Hope that clears things up!
The Atlas Edition is coming along, and we have a date for the kickstarter launch: 6th February 2024! It should line up with zinequest :)
I’m going to start some sneak previews of some of the stuff coming to the new edition over the next couple of months, so keep your eyes peeled!
I can give a bit of information here: It will contain a revised ruleset, with rules for a few different modes of play, an expanded cartographer creation system, over double the number of location prompts along with a bunch of handy random tables for all sorts of things! All in all the book is double the size of the original, and in my opinion, a much more polished and complete game!
The kickstarter will also include a deluxe pledge option which will come with a custom set of iconized dice handmade by my wife and I, a handmade dice box, a custom Cartograph set of playing cards, and a custom journal for all your note taking!
Thanks for your support,
and as always, happy map-making :)
That sounds great! I can't wait to get my hands on it.
If you allow me to give my two cents.
I find cover art to be what first catch the eyes when looking for zines. Hence that'd be great if you could like maze rats have a cover art generated by the game itself. That would be cool as maps are greats and you would demonstrate the potential of the game without even opening it.
Anyway that's my humble take on the subject.
I hope you will again get some prime time on the dungeon dive and geek gamers channel as without their videos I wouldn't have discovered your great game!
Lastly, I accidentally stumbled upon the kickstarter page so I hope you'll be able to advertise this project.
Thank you very much! Any word-spreading would be much appreciated too!
That is a great suggestion, and one that is actually implemented! The cover of the current Cartograph is actually a washed out graphic of a map I made with the game haha!
I am hoping to undertake the daunting task of advertising and marketing the kickstarter soon, but it is new territory for me so I’ll need those well wishes, cheers!
The payment page defaults to a suggested price, which is 3, but you can change the price in the payment page down to the minimum of 2. It’s a feature of the itch.io site. I’m always happy to put up community copies for free too, if you are unable to pay for any reason :)
I would love to add this to my project for this coming year, with providing solo journaling games as take-home projects for my students to use to help them see a reason to read and write. Would it be possible for me to get a community copy for this project? If not, I’ll continue to watch for copies to be added. Thanks! :)
Hi there!
No problem, I’ll add some more community copies up! If you happen to play it with your students I’d love to hear how it goes!
Otherwise, I hope they enjoy the game
Hi! Thank you for buying the game and giving it a go! I’m glad you’re enjoying it.
As for your rules questions:
Coastline is only drawn around landmark dice, not biome dice. The explicit rule for that is written on page 20 - step 2 of the exploration phase.
Yes, cards are discarded after use. Each time you travel to a new location you should draw a new card from your deck, refer to the prompt and then discard it.
Hope that clears things up and happy map-making! :)
You’re right, it isn’t clarified in the rules - I am currently working on a revised and expanded edition of the game which will contain a full example play and further rules clarifications. I’m hoping to crowdfund it early next year, so watch this space!
Loved it. The game loop is simple and works really well. I was able to draw a pretty good map and create an interesting short story.
I haven't tried the following yet, but I'm curious if someone has used the map generated from Cartograph to play Journey... I just got that one too as I saw it as a source of inspiration for Cartograph, but seems for that one you need a pre-existing map.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed your time with Cartograph :) Funny enough, I have used a Cartograph map for a game of Journey, and it works really well to further flesh out the world!
Hello, I was wondering if I can ask for a community copy, i really wanted to try this game & willing to write a detailed feedback as a 10 year experienced GM :D It looks really fun & promising!
Wonderful passion project! Discovered the game and watched the playthrough posted on the store page. After reading through, I am very excited to get mapping myself!
I am curious: What tips would you give someone looking to tweak the prompts/systems to align with their desired Cartograph experience? Did you find a similarity in the prompts that did not make it into the current version? How has playtesting refined the current dice mechanic?
In short, I would be very interested to hear your experience designing and developing this game. Sincere congratulations on sharing Cartograph with the world!
First of all thank you very much for your interest in the game, I hope you’ve enjoyed your time with it. I’d love to see the map you end up creating!
The core rules are quite hackable, especially regarding the prompts and overall flavour. I’d advise to play the game as is first, but then altering the tables for the various die results is a great way to change the tone of the game. I’ve been working on an expansion that does just that, so as to better suit a sifi genre rather than fantasy!
Playtesting was very slow, the slowest part of game design I find, but often the most critical. I ended up doing a bit of math to find probabilities of dice pool sizes given it is a game-ending mechanic, and I didn’t want it to be too easy that it was pointless, or too hard that it ended things quickly. Originally there were far fewer ways to gain dice, so it bacame apparent it was very hard for your cartographer to live long enough to complete a map!
I had plenty of help from my dear friend The Bardic Inquiry during development, and definitely recommend their games if you love solo stuff.
Had an absolute blast playing this, especially loved how the mapmaking elements worked. The narrative elements were really good too, from twisting my ankle on a mossy rock to finding a village of haruspex seers that use see-through cat tummies to tell the future. Definitely worth a physical buy.
Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed your time with Cartograph. See-through cat tummies for diving sounds like the optimal way to see the future, I’m surprised we still use knucklebones!
Hi! I've been hearing a lot of good things about this game and would love to play, but finances are a tad tight at present... I don't suppose in exchange for feedback I could snag a Community Copy in the near future?
Hi! I'm not sure I'm able to reach you on twitter, but I'm happy to include Cartograph in the bundle. Just send me a message @SprintingOwl so I can send you the confirmation link. The bundle needs to be confirmed by all participants by 4/22/22.
Having just finished my first playthrough, I had a ton of fun with this one! It has all the narrative elements that I love about other great solo journaling games, mixed well with the skething fun of other map making games. The systems of placing landmarks are tuned well to avoid making things look to cluttered or random.
If I had one critique it would be that the game seems to have a lot of ways to injure the player, and not a ton of ways to recover. My first journey ended in only 5 turns after a series of unfortunate events, and I would hate to think most games end with the player perishing in this new land they’re exploring!
Thank you for the feedback! I'm glad you enjoyed it! That is definitely a fair critique, perhaps it would be better if there was an action in the rest phase that allowed healing? I had considered that maybe it was a bit harsh with how an unlucky set of draws could result in a quick game.
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Finally got time to play. I played it with my gf. We played as a duo. In this game, there are three ways to lose, one of which is if you draw the same colored joker in a standard playing card deck, you lose. My first two draws were the same colored jokers… Then I draw a non-joker card. Thought I was okay, curse was lifted. I was wrong. Then I draw back to back two of other kind jokers... We were nervous, then we reached to a forest. My character had two wounds after events, three wounds and this is the other way to lose the game. Then it was time to draw again. I draw a non-joker card but because we were in a forest, if I draw 10, I would lose one wound which I was one away from dying.
I draw 10.
Had fun. Would play again, also we want to try the new version as well but it is a bit expensive for us atm but we will keep an eye on it :)
Thank you for playing! I must say, I’ve probably playtested the game over 100 times and I’ve never had such bad luck! I have to ask - you were shuffling the deck after the joker draws right? Haha well I’m glad you had fun despite the gods of fate evidently working against your cartographer!
Yes we did. And we shuffled like for a minute :D
All I can say is… don’t go to a casino any time soon xD
Hi,
Do you encounter monster layers in the game?
Thanks
Hi!
Apologies, I’m not sure what you mean?
As you are creating the map, are there monsters that live in areas?
Not explicitly in the rules - there is no combat or anything like that. This is more of a worldbuilding and exploration game. Your Cartographer may receive wounds when prompts reveal some kind of danger (which certainly could be monsters if that’s what you want in your story) and if they get enough wounds they will perish. Hope that clears things up!
Lairs
Uhhh
I think the poster meant "lairs" not "layers"
Oh I see haha I was confused 😅
Hey there! If you could spare a community copy, I'd love to try this out. Thanks in advance and good luck with your Kickstarter!
No problem! Should be some available now :) thank you!!
Oh shoot. I've been on the lookout for more to be added, and I missed it! Hopefully, I'll catch one soon. I love the idea.
Hey Lette9! The new edition of Cartograph is out, you can check it out over here. Additionally, if you want to give the game a try, there is a free quickstart guide on my website
Thanks! I'll check it out
Hi Mr. Lee. Please help. Im playing Cartograph - I don't understand the part during the Procedure of the Rest Phase - "Lose any 1 remaining die from your dice pool" ..... What is 1 remaining die?
Hi there chicobrew! If you refer to page 18 of the book, it explains the dice pool, and how adding or losing dice from your dice pool works. In summary:
Hi, any ETA for the atlas edition kickstarter? If you can't give a precise date an approximation would be good enough!
Is it possible to have some information about this new edition?
Anyhow good luck with this project!
I'm all for it!
Hi there!
The Atlas Edition is coming along, and we have a date for the kickstarter launch: 6th February 2024! It should line up with zinequest :)
I’m going to start some sneak previews of some of the stuff coming to the new edition over the next couple of months, so keep your eyes peeled!
I can give a bit of information here: It will contain a revised ruleset, with rules for a few different modes of play, an expanded cartographer creation system, over double the number of location prompts along with a bunch of handy random tables for all sorts of things! All in all the book is double the size of the original, and in my opinion, a much more polished and complete game!
The kickstarter will also include a deluxe pledge option which will come with a custom set of iconized dice handmade by my wife and I, a handmade dice box, a custom Cartograph set of playing cards, and a custom journal for all your note taking!
Thanks for your support, and as always, happy map-making :)
Brandon
That sounds great! I can't wait to get my hands on it.
If you allow me to give my two cents.
I find cover art to be what first catch the eyes when looking for zines. Hence that'd be great if you could like maze rats have a cover art generated by the game itself. That would be cool as maps are greats and you would demonstrate the potential of the game without even opening it.
Anyway that's my humble take on the subject.
I hope you will again get some prime time on the dungeon dive and geek gamers channel as without their videos I wouldn't have discovered your great game!
Lastly, I accidentally stumbled upon the kickstarter page so I hope you'll be able to advertise this project.
I wish you success!
Thank you very much! Any word-spreading would be much appreciated too!
That is a great suggestion, and one that is actually implemented! The cover of the current Cartograph is actually a washed out graphic of a map I made with the game haha!
I am hoping to undertake the daunting task of advertising and marketing the kickstarter soon, but it is new territory for me so I’ll need those well wishes, cheers!
Thank you for adding community copies. I had my eye on this game for quite some time. Can't wait to start playing!! :D
I don't mean to beg. But I can't afford the game. Is there any community copies to put up?
Sure! I’ve just added some more, happy map-making :)
Just wondering why the game page says the price is $2 but the payment page asks for $3.
The payment page defaults to a suggested price, which is 3, but you can change the price in the payment page down to the minimum of 2. It’s a feature of the itch.io site. I’m always happy to put up community copies for free too, if you are unable to pay for any reason :)
I hate to beg, but a community copy would be very much appreciated.
No problem at all, I’ve added some community copies. Happy map-making
Many thanks. I appreciate it!
I would love to add this to my project for this coming year, with providing solo journaling games as take-home projects for my students to use to help them see a reason to read and write. Would it be possible for me to get a community copy for this project? If not, I’ll continue to watch for copies to be added. Thanks! :)
Hi there! No problem, I’ll add some more community copies up! If you happen to play it with your students I’d love to hear how it goes! Otherwise, I hope they enjoy the game
Brandon
Thank you! I’m hoping this project goes well and I’ll definitely offer feedback and a review. :)
Hi there.I bought the game and played it for a while.
I really love it. It's very entertaining.
The results can be very well used in and with other games.
However I do have two doubts regarding the rules:
- Drawing coast lines around landmark die include biomes?
- Are cards discarded after being used?
Thanks and keep up the excellent work.
Misticspell
Hi! Thank you for buying the game and giving it a go! I’m glad you’re enjoying it.
As for your rules questions:
Hope that clears things up and happy map-making! :)
Thanks for your fast reply.
In the first doubt I got confused watching one of the YouTube videos shown in the game page.
Regarding the second doubt, it's not that clear in the rules, including if the cards are all used again if the deck is completly used.
I played it wrong but had a ton of fun. Will correct it next time I play. I will for sure. I LOVE IT.
Best regards,
Misticspell
No problem!
You’re right, it isn’t clarified in the rules - I am currently working on a revised and expanded edition of the game which will contain a full example play and further rules clarifications. I’m hoping to crowdfund it early next year, so watch this space!
Thank you again for the kind words,
happy map-making,
Brandon
Good to know.
Looking forward for it.
Cheers.
Misticspell
will there be more print copies?
I’m ordering another print run this coming week, so expect a restock soon!
Loved it. The game loop is simple and works really well. I was able to draw a pretty good map and create an interesting short story.
I haven't tried the following yet, but I'm curious if someone has used the map generated from Cartograph to play Journey... I just got that one too as I saw it as a source of inspiration for Cartograph, but seems for that one you need a pre-existing map.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed your time with Cartograph :) Funny enough, I have used a Cartograph map for a game of Journey, and it works really well to further flesh out the world!
Hello, I was wondering if I can ask for a community copy, i really wanted to try this game & willing to write a detailed feedback as a 10 year experienced GM :D It looks really fun & promising!
Hi there!
I can absolutely add some more community copies! I would also very much appreciate a review, so thank you :)
I hope you enjoy your time with Cartograph!
Wonderful passion project! Discovered the game and watched the playthrough posted on the store page. After reading through, I am very excited to get mapping myself!
I am curious: What tips would you give someone looking to tweak the prompts/systems to align with their desired Cartograph experience? Did you find a similarity in the prompts that did not make it into the current version? How has playtesting refined the current dice mechanic?
In short, I would be very interested to hear your experience designing and developing this game. Sincere congratulations on sharing Cartograph with the world!
Hi there!
First of all thank you very much for your interest in the game, I hope you’ve enjoyed your time with it. I’d love to see the map you end up creating!
The core rules are quite hackable, especially regarding the prompts and overall flavour. I’d advise to play the game as is first, but then altering the tables for the various die results is a great way to change the tone of the game. I’ve been working on an expansion that does just that, so as to better suit a sifi genre rather than fantasy!
Playtesting was very slow, the slowest part of game design I find, but often the most critical. I ended up doing a bit of math to find probabilities of dice pool sizes given it is a game-ending mechanic, and I didn’t want it to be too easy that it was pointless, or too hard that it ended things quickly. Originally there were far fewer ways to gain dice, so it bacame apparent it was very hard for your cartographer to live long enough to complete a map!
I had plenty of help from my dear friend The Bardic Inquiry during development, and definitely recommend their games if you love solo stuff.
Hey there! Sure I will add some up now! If you do end up playing please leave a review of your thoughts! :)
Had an absolute blast playing this, especially loved how the mapmaking elements worked. The narrative elements were really good too, from twisting my ankle on a mossy rock to finding a village of haruspex seers that use see-through cat tummies to tell the future. Definitely worth a physical buy.
Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed your time with Cartograph. See-through cat tummies for diving sounds like the optimal way to see the future, I’m surprised we still use knucklebones!
A review, as promised:
I love journaling games. I love map making games. Combining the two CANT be that simple...
Cartograph not only proves it can be done, but it can be done in such a manner that is both elegant and remarkably intuitive.
Why are you still reading this? Grab this game!
Thank you for the kind words! Glad you enjoyed Cartograph :)
Hi! I've been hearing a lot of good things about this game and would love to play, but finances are a tad tight at present... I don't suppose in exchange for feedback I could snag a Community Copy in the near future?
Hey! Sure no problem I’ll put some more community copies up! I’d love some feedback in exchange, sounds like a great deal haha
Eeeeee thankee! I'll leave feedback when I have the time! ^^
No problem, enjoy the game! ☺️
Hi! I'm not sure I'm able to reach you on twitter, but I'm happy to include Cartograph in the bundle. Just send me a message @SprintingOwl so I can send you the confirmation link. The bundle needs to be confirmed by all participants by 4/22/22.
Having just finished my first playthrough, I had a ton of fun with this one! It has all the narrative elements that I love about other great solo journaling games, mixed well with the skething fun of other map making games. The systems of placing landmarks are tuned well to avoid making things look to cluttered or random.
If I had one critique it would be that the game seems to have a lot of ways to injure the player, and not a ton of ways to recover. My first journey ended in only 5 turns after a series of unfortunate events, and I would hate to think most games end with the player perishing in this new land they’re exploring!
Thank you for the feedback! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
That is definitely a fair critique, perhaps it would be better if there was an action in the rest phase that allowed healing? I had considered that maybe it was a bit harsh with how an unlucky set of draws could result in a quick game.
Thanks for the comment and for playing!