Page 22 - Spielbox_2_2020

t
r
a
h
l
e
v
t
h
o
u
g
i
h
t
l
l
l
w
gray drawings: instead of profes- sional development, we only get to spread royal propaganda; and the
intercultural exchange turns out to be nothing but an exchange of tat-
tered maps.
Cartographers is very different from
what the box promised, but much better than expected. The fact that you think you are drawing landscapes instead of Tetris-shaped pieces actually contributes to a less-abstract experience. Having to consider four objectives simul- taneously increases inner debates. The fact that the objectives change in every game creates many appealing scenarios. Every decision feels important, and the creative process is constructive. The more you practice, the better it gets – which keeps motivation high. And it works even better with colored pencils: the Cartogra- phers’ Guild would welcome an upgrade
order from the beloved queen.
Udo Bartsch/tw
wh
e
t
a
h
g
h
e
e
e
f
o
e
t
t
h
he
er
ri
x
it
p
u
t
i
a
is
s
w
w
d
o
o
r
t
r
t
h
h
w
w
h
h
i
i
l
e
t
o
e
x
p
a
n
n
d
t
e
,
h
e
v
i
l
l
a
g
e
f
u
r
t
r
t
h
h
e
r
,
a
y
m
l
t
a
h
t
t
o
t
t
u
e
e
r
i
r
i
g
h
t
n
t
n
t
h
i
i
h
h
s
w
s
w
e
e
v
i
i
l
l
a
l
o
l
o
l
u
a
n
n
t
i
l
l
y
m
a
e
e
v
a
l
n
or should the priority be to
pacify monster border areas?
These questions are all the more exciting because it’s seldom possible to predict
exactly when a season will end and whether you’ll have time to draw one or two more landscape features by then.
Experienced cartographers soon discover that some orders have the potential for more points than others. Rather than getting caught up chasing after everything at once, it’s better to
focus your sheet on the most lucrative goals. Now, whether this actually pays off remains to be seen because even expe-
rienced cartographers don’t know which explore cards will be drawn and which combi- nation of forests, settlements, or fields will come out most
often.
The description on the box
of Cartographers claims that up to 100 individuals can map at the same time; and although I’ve never tested that, I doubt it. The map pad does indeed have 100 sheets though. That
said, passing the four pencils
(included in the box) through the crowd could be tedious. Regardless, the pencils don’t make
it easy to draw symbol
after symbol for forests,
villages and monsters;
colored areas would be
much clearer. There are
better ways to record the
symbols,
ingly small squares, so that they
are easily recognizable against the faded grey-brown sheets (a color clearly chosen for the ambience) when evaluation time comes. Better yet, the size of the squares should be adjusted accordingly.
I Foolish neighbors
Being a cartographer is and will remain
a solitary job, whether a hundred people are drawing or just one. Everybody does his own thing, and, at the end, we com- pare points. We only look beyond the edge of our map when monsters appear, and we pass our sheet on to our neigh- bor. It’s great when your neighbors are good-natured and randomly scribble on your sheet – instead of trying to produce the most negative points – or are even foolish enough to let the monsters circle the mountains (that would be me). Unfor- tunately, I never have such fools sitting next to me, and I feel that’s unfair. But even more than that, one particular detail seems unfair to me: anyone who can draw in an area according to the rules must do so but if you can’t do it, you just draw a single square for any terrain. Towards the end of the game, purposefully placed mini-enclaves are often more valuable than mandatory landscapes in manda- tory places, which is counterintuitive. Whereas games with Tetris-style pieces usually reward tight fitting placement,
Cartographers doesn’t place value on that strategy.
In the end, the color- ful job description that the employment agency painted turns out to be
u
a
t
i
o
o
,
on the
annoy-
n
,
20
Title: Publisher: Designer: Artist:
Players: Age: Duration: Price:
Cartographers Thunderworks Games
Jordy Adan
Luabout Ribeiro, Luis Francisco
1–100
about 10+ years about 30–45 minutes about 20 €
Reviewer Playing appeal
Udo Bartsch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Andreas Becker . . . .
Christwart Conrad*
L. U. Dikus** . . . . . .
Stefan Ducksch . . . .
Wieland Herold . . . .
KMW. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Gerald Rüscher***
Edwin Ruschitzka****
Harald Schrapers***** . . . . . . .
7 7 8
. 6 8 8 . 7 8 8
.. . .. . .. . . . . .. . .. . .. .
....... . ....... . ....... . . . . . . . . . ....... . ....... . ....... . ....... .
* Apart from Trails of Tucana, the strongest representative of this genre so far. Due to several (not always expected) rule subtleties the manual has to be read carefully.
** For connoisseurs.
*** Short, crisp, even if a little solitary. And colored pencils are a must.
**** Needs colored pencils to be clearer.
***** Unfortunately, the entry to the game is unnecessarily difficult. Four spe- cifically designated objective cards for the first games would have been good.
spielbox