Product test

"The cartographer" tested: village, field, river

4.4.2023

Translation: machine translated

"The Cartographer" is the perfect game for a train journey or a flight: it takes you to a foreign country that you have to map. All you need is some space on a table for your map and a pencil with a sharpener.

The train journey from Barcelona to Paris is running late. We are standing somewhere in the middle of nowhere near Montpellier. "Terra Incognita" in front of me on the folded-down table in the two-person compartment of the TGV. I have drawn forests, villages, lakes and fields on a paper map that comes with the game "The Cartographer", on which square boxes are printed - I arrange them in such a way that they give me as many points as possible at the end of the game. I have to draw a better map than my opponent in the seat to my right (although according to the manufacturer, the game is suitable for up to 100 players).

Card games

EUR21,30

Pegasus The Cartographer

German

The cards that mean the world

A game card is revealed in each round. It dictates how many boxes the cartographers can fill in and which shapes (similar to Tetris) they can draw. The type of shape drawn is also determined by the revealed game card: water, field, forest, village or goblins. Everyone has to draw the figure printed on the public game card on their maps. I can rotate and mirror the figure as I wish. This means that nobody has an advantage or disadvantage because there are no hand cards or luck of the dice.

The decrees, which are randomly distributed across the four seasons, determine what points are awarded. This makes for varied games and requires tactical skill, as each decree is only scored twice.

Outline: The decrees above decide how I can score points.
Source: Simon Balissat

So I can decide to pay less attention to the decrees in spring in order to score properly in summer and autumn. Or I can try to score a similar number of points in each season by skilfully drawing them in.

The goblin cards are really nasty, where I can draw goblins on the map to the left or right of a player and thus spoil what I thought were certain victory points.

Big world, small game

After one year, the game is settled. The player who has most skilfully mapped the lands scores the most victory points and wins the round. Bonus points are awarded for collected gold coins. Deductions for fields with goblins that have an empty field next to them.

In the meantime, our train starts moving again after an hour, which the train attendant comments on in a slightly euphoric manner. In the meantime, I've lost two laps because I've drawn the worse map. Somewhere I was always missing a last piece of field or a village was incorrectly marked. There were many more maps to come before Paris - I never won, but the game was still great fun.

One of the many maps we filled in on the journey from Barcelona to Paris
Source: Simon Balissat

Conclusion

"The Cartographer" is an ideal holiday game for on the go or at the family table. Small in size, easy to understand and yet big in depth. As a round lasts no longer than 45 minutes, the game is ideal for in-between games. Above all, I like the balanced game mechanics - nobody at the table has an advantage due to luck. And the game material is lovingly designed. For example, a coat of arms can be designed on each card; although this has no influence on the game, it allows me to immerse myself in the theme.

"The Cartographer" is suitable for ages 10 and up, takes about half an hour per round and is suitable for up to 100 players.

There is already a successor, "The Cartographer". There are also expansions with new maps.

Cover photo: Simon Balissat

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Simon Balissat

Teamleader Editorial

Simon.Balissat@digitecgalaxus.ch

When I flew the family nest over 15 years ago, I suddenly had to cook for myself. But it wasn’t long until this necessity became a virtue. Today, rattling those pots and pans is a fundamental part of my life. I’m a true foodie and devour everything from junk food to star-awarded cuisine. Literally. I eat way too fast.

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