Overview

Cartographers is a flip-and-write game in which each player fills out a map. Each round, you'll add a new feature to your map. After a few rounds, you'll score based on the presence or arrangement of these features. The player with the most points at the end of four rounds wins!

Setup

Each player has a map. This map starts mostly blank, but may have mountains, ruins, and wasteland spaces already included.

Each turn, a card from the landscape deck determines what types and sizes are used.

The game uses four scoring cards, labeled A, B, C, and D. These take a specific format:

• One of these cards looks for village spaces
• One of these cards looks for forest spaces
• One of these cards looks for water and farm spaces
• One of these cards looks at the whole map, usually involving filled segments or patterns.

Season cards determine which two of these cards will be scored at the end of the round and how many cards will be flipped in the next round:

• Spring lasts 8 time units. Players score cards A and B.
• Summer lasts 8 time units. Players score cards B and C.
• Autumn lasts 7 time units. Players score cards C and D.
• Winter lasts 6 time units. Players score cards D and A.

Turn Overview

The top card of the landscape deck is flipped, usually containing two possible shapes or two different terrain types. All players simultaneously put one of those two choices on their map. The shapes can be flipped and rotated, but cannot hang off the map edge or overlap.

If any player can't place a particular shape, they instead place a single 1x1 square of any terrain type on their board.

Some shapes have a gold coin. These shapes are worth 1 point each scoring phase. You can also earn coins by filling all four spaces adjacent to a mountain space.

Each landscape card has a number on the top left corner indicating the value of its time unit. When the sum of all cards played equals the season's number, the round ends.

Special cards

There are two "Ruins" cards in the deck. If either of these cards is drawn, the next shape must overlap with one of the "Ruins" spaces on the map.

The landscape deck has one "Monster" card. If drawn, the next player draws this Monster's shape on your map. Players lose points for each empty space next to a Monster space.

The landscape deck also has one "Rift Lands" card. If drawn, all players draw a 1x1 square of any terrain type on their map.

Scoring

At the end of each round, the two scoring cards are resolved (see above). Players gain 1 point for each gold coin used. Players lose 1 point for each empty space next to a Monster space.

After scoring, the landscape deck is reshuffled.

After Winter is scored, the game ends. The player with the most points wins!

In the event of a tie, the player who lost the fewest points to empty spaces near monsters wins.