So yes, cartographers is a very good game in it's niche, it's just not my fav niche my any means. However, it is my friend Ceedee's fav game and she streams it on twitch here along with other games www.twitch.tv/ceedee_on_board . Thanks to Ceedee for popping over to teach me the game.
As for other thoughts, i think im pretty blunt in this review. Roll and writes aren't my jam, but if i am going to play one of them cartographers would be my pick. There's enough thinking in the game to overcome my natural animosity to the "everyone doing math homework" aspect of roll and writes and i do have fun playing it. Still, for solo, i'd go with hadrians wall, but i get thats like 10 times more involved.
Matter of fact I went to order Night of the Ninjas today and saw Hadrian's Wall on sale for a good price and threw that into the basket as well. Then I thought, 'Well, I've never introduced my group to roll and writes so maybe I should start them with something more simple.' So I added Dungeons, Dice and Danger to the basket and what started out as a $20 purchase ballooned into $100. I will never learn.
Building a little landscape, with scoring conditions all being known at the start but different ones active each round, reminds me of Isle of Skye. And the buying and selling mechanism in Skye adds some fun interaction compared to your average roll and write game.
I never bothered with roll and writes because I don't think my friends would like them - as you say, they don't want to do math homework. They want to play something like Root or Cosmic Encounter, where their actions have direct consequences for other players. But my family doesn't like those games. Root has too many rules and Cosmic is too interactive. My family wants a simple game where they can focus on what they're doing and interact indirectly with other players. Roll and writes might be the perfect type of game to play with my family, and if Cartographers is as good as you say, I might have to pick up a copy. It would be nice to have a game I can play with my family that we all enjoy enough to play again.
Love playing with the kids, who spend more time making their map their own and pretty (did we really need to name the map, there goes 10 minutes...). The gamer in me says this game desperately needs something that forces each player to make their map different to other players. The competitive player by default just does the same as the smartest at the table, only deviating when an obvious error has been made. I'd like to have seen more generosity with the different maps rather than them being so expensive. I am sure its just a printing limitation but its a real limitation of this game. Its still staying in my collection though. I agree strongly with your thoughts on the game, it has certainly put me against getting any others of its type.
On Tour is my only roll and write but I have enjoyed it a lot. Easy to teach and play, usually a hit. If I'm looking for something more complex, I think I'd rather play a board game than a roll and write. All that said, this looks cute and I would think about getting it.
I just bought this (Deutsch Edition) for my German friend and his wife and also gave him some upgrades in the form of fine point colored markers and premium card sleeves. I know the game and rules so my inability to speak German is of no concern. I like this game and I don't like roll/flip and writes!
So yes, cartographers is a very good game in it's niche, it's just not my fav niche my any means. However, it is my friend Ceedee's fav game and she streams it on twitch here along with other games www.twitch.tv/ceedee_on_board . Thanks to Ceedee for popping over to teach me the game.
As for other thoughts, i think im pretty blunt in this review. Roll and writes aren't my jam, but if i am going to play one of them cartographers would be my pick. There's enough thinking in the game to overcome my natural animosity to the "everyone doing math homework" aspect of roll and writes and i do have fun playing it. Still, for solo, i'd go with hadrians wall, but i get thats like 10 times more involved.
Matter of fact I went to order Night of the Ninjas today and saw Hadrian's Wall on sale for a good price and threw that into the basket as well. Then I thought, 'Well, I've never introduced my group to roll and writes so maybe I should start them with something more simple.'
So I added Dungeons, Dice and Danger to the basket and what started out as a $20 purchase ballooned into $100. I will never learn.
I play this one mostly solo and it's one of my favorite games.
Building a little landscape, with scoring conditions all being known at the start but different ones active each round, reminds me of Isle of Skye. And the buying and selling mechanism in Skye adds some fun interaction compared to your average roll and write game.
I never bothered with roll and writes because I don't think my friends would like them - as you say, they don't want to do math homework. They want to play something like Root or Cosmic Encounter, where their actions have direct consequences for other players.
But my family doesn't like those games. Root has too many rules and Cosmic is too interactive. My family wants a simple game where they can focus on what they're doing and interact indirectly with other players.
Roll and writes might be the perfect type of game to play with my family, and if Cartographers is as good as you say, I might have to pick up a copy. It would be nice to have a game I can play with my family that we all enjoy enough to play again.
Love playing with the kids, who spend more time making their map their own and pretty (did we really need to name the map, there goes 10 minutes...). The gamer in me says this game desperately needs something that forces each player to make their map different to other players. The competitive player by default just does the same as the smartest at the table, only deviating when an obvious error has been made. I'd like to have seen more generosity with the different maps rather than them being so expensive. I am sure its just a printing limitation but its a real limitation of this game. Its still staying in my collection though. I agree strongly with your thoughts on the game, it has certainly put me against getting any others of its type.
Great review Jarrod! Let me see, I have to be good at drawing and spatial relationships? Not for me. Thx!
On Tour is my only roll and write but I have enjoyed it a lot. Easy to teach and play, usually a hit. If I'm looking for something more complex, I think I'd rather play a board game than a roll and write. All that said, this looks cute and I would think about getting it.
I just bought this (Deutsch Edition) for my German friend and his wife and also gave him some upgrades in the form of fine point colored markers and premium card sleeves. I know the game and rules so my inability to speak German is of no concern. I like this game and I don't like roll/flip and writes!
Thanks for reviewing Cartographers! :)