Cartographers: A Roll Player Tale

Product Information

Affril splits the map into several separate islands, and you can only play on islands you've connected. At the same time, you also can't not build around the volcano, especially as the rest of your map fills up.

In Spring you’ll score the Edicts on A and B, in Summer you’ll score B and C, Fall scores C and D and you finish up in Winter scoring Edicts D and A.If there is ever a scenario where that shape is impossible to fit onto your map, players either choose the alternative shape on the Explore card or must draw a 1×1 square. When an Ambush card is drawn players will pass their maps to the player in the direction of the arrow on the card. Pencils wise, you’ll notice that my score sheets in the photos, I don’t draw the terrain, I use a set of colored pencils instead. The number of players is limited only by the number of available score sheets; each box includes 100. In this game you are trying to draw a map over the span of four seasons, each season keeping an eye out for two of four victory point cards.

Then players collectively choose which side to play on, one with a giant chasm in the middle, the other with a plethora of ruins and mountain spaces.It’s a fantastic and original take on a genre of games that could be seen as “jumping the shark”, and thanks to that recognition, it has seen some increased play time over the last week, let’s hope that continues. The individual card art is quite lovely, and when the cards are stacked up are they are played then it creates a lovely colourful landscape mosaic column. There is something both relaxing and satisfying about finding the just-right placement of a word or digit, of slowly picking your way through the haze of uncertainty to find the one logical solution. Quite honestly, there’s not much more to say here because a lot of the thoughts on the solo mode have already been spoken of in the reviews of the multiplayer game.

The game is played over four seasons; each season looks at two different scoring cards that give you points at the end of the season. This list has wallet-sized and wallet-friendly games; games for the first timer and for friends who have been playing for years. Heroes also comes with a new deck of exploration cards, which you have to use on its own, rather than mixing with the base cards. The goal, shape, and ambush cards are all very clear, and solo game information is also noted well on each card. Count up your score for the season and then proceed to the next season if it is currently Spring, Summer or Fall.Most of the volcano cards (like ambush cards) contribute 0 toward the season's threshold, but one of them contributes 1, and you have the option to draw a larger lava shape in exchange for a coin. Nebblis, Affril and The Undercity also came out as part of the Kickstarter – but let’s leave that for another time.