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Cartographers
#183BGG7.5RATING
Updated Jun 10
1–100
PLAYERS
30–45
MINUTES
4
BEST WITH
1.9
LIGHT
ERRATA2
1x1 fallback shape excludes mountains — official errata for p.6 and p.7designerpublisherlinked official source
- RULING
- Page 6 (general can't-place fallback): "If a player cannot legally draw any of the available shapes, they must instead draw a 1x1 square anywhere on their map and fill it with any terrain type (excluding mountains)." Page 7 (Ruins fallback): "If a player cannot legally draw one of the available shapes so that it overlaps a ruins space -OR- there are no unfilled ruins spaces left on the map, they must instead draw a 1x1 square anywhere on their map and fill it with any terrain type (excluding mountains)." Both corrections were published to the official Thunderworks Games rulebook PDF.
AUTHOR: xris (Chris Lawson, designer); kmatejka (Keith Matejka, publisher) published the correction to the official Thunderworks Games rulebook PDFSOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(15 replies)DATE: 2020-06-28Players can never draw mountain terraindesignerpublisher
- RULING
- Mountain terrain is reserved for pre-printed map spaces only. Players may never draw mountain terrain under any circumstances, including the 1×1 fallback square (see E1).
Q&A11
Scoring cards are placed on Edict slots randomly, not in a fixed orderdesignerpublisher
- QUESTION
- Are scoring cards placed on Edict slots in a specific fixed order, or is placement random?
- ANSWER
- Scoring cards are placed on Edict slots randomly. Any scoring card can go in any Edict slot — there is no fixed assignment between card types and specific Edict letters.
The entire map is rescored from scratch each scoring phasedesignerpublisher
- QUESTION
- Do you score only terrain drawn since the last season, or rescore the entire map?
- ANSWER
- You rescore the entire map and all coins every scoring phase. Nothing carries over — the full map is evaluated from scratch each time.
Coins are cumulative and counted in every subsequent scoring phasedesignerpublisher
- QUESTION
- Are coins counted only in the season they were drawn, or in every season after?
- ANSWER
- Coins are cumulative. Every blackened coin circle on your map is counted in every subsequent scoring phase — not only the season in which it was drawn.
Coin scoring multiplier: each coin scores once per remaining seasondesigner
- QUESTION
- How does the cumulative coin scoring compound across seasons?
- ANSWER
- A coin scores once per remaining season including the season it was drawn. A Spring coin scores 4 times total (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter); a Summer coin 3 times; a Fall coin 2 times; a Winter coin once. Coins that have been spent (crossed out) do not score.
Shield Gate with only one village cluster scores zerodesigner
- QUESTION
- If you have only one cluster of village spaces, do you score any points for Shield Gate?
- ANSWER
- No. Shield Gate scores the second largest cluster; with only one cluster there is no second largest, so you score zero points.
Solo mode monster shapes cannot be flipped or rotateddesigner
- QUESTION
- In solo mode, can you flip or rotate the monster shape to make it fit?
- ANSWER
- No. Solo monster shapes must be placed exactly as shown on the card. The Heroes rulebook Solo Mode (page 15) states: "Attempt to legally draw the monster shape on your map sheet, without flipping or rotating it."
Shield Gate tie: pick one of the equal-size clusters as the second largestdesignerpublisher
- QUESTION
- If two clusters are tied for largest (e.g. 8, 8, and 3), which is the "second largest"?
- ANSWER
- One of the tied clusters counts as second largest — you pick it. With clusters of 8, 8, and 3, you score one 8-space cluster (16 pts for Shield Gate), not the 3-space cluster. You are not penalized for building a third cluster.
AUTHOR: Tyralis (John Brieger, designer, publisher); confirmed by kmatejka (Keith Matejka, designer, publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(15 replies)DATE: 2019-08-02Resolved Ambush cards are permanently removed from the explore deckdesignerpublisher
- QUESTION
- When a new season starts, are previously resolved Ambush cards shuffled back into the explore deck?
- ANSWER
- No. Once an Ambush card is resolved it leaves the explore deck permanently. Only unresolved Ambush cards — those that were never drawn during the season — carry into the next season's deck.
AUTHOR: designer78 (Geoffrey Greer, designer, publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(9 replies)DATE: 2022-09-24Stoneside Forest scores 3 pts per connected mountain, not per connectiondesignerpublisher
- QUESTION
- If all 5 mountains form a connected loop via forest, do you score for each connection between mountains or for each connected mountain?
- ANSWER
- 15 points total. Stoneside Forest scores 3 pts per mountain space that is connected to another mountain via a cluster of forest spaces. Each mountain is either connected or not — there is no multiplier for the number of connections.
AUTHOR: kmatejka (Keith Matejka, designer, publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(12 replies)DATE: 2020-03-19Great City: any mountain-adjacent space disqualifies the entire clusterdesigner
- QUESTION
- For Great City, if one village space is adjacent to a mountain, does only that space not score, or is the whole cluster disqualified?
- ANSWER
- The entire cluster is disqualified. If even one village space in the cluster is adjacent to a mountain space, none of the cluster's spaces score for Great City.
AUTHOR: jordyadan (Jordy Adan, designer); confirmed xris (Chris Lawson, designer) on 2020-07-06SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(19 replies)DATE: 2019-09-04Ambush shapes may legally be placed over ruins spacesdesigner
- QUESTION
- Is it legal to place an Ambush (monster) shape so that it covers an opponent's ruins space?
- ANSWER
- Yes, it is fully legal. Note that once all of a player's ruins spaces are filled, that player draws a 1×1 square of any terrain anywhere on their map when a Ruins card is revealed — which can sometimes benefit them strategically.
EDGE CASES5
Mountains and Wasteland spaces both count as filled spaces for scoringdesigner
- SITUATION
- A player asks whether pre-printed Mountain spaces and Wasteland terrain count as "filled" for scoring cards such as Lost Barony.
- RULING
- Both count as filled spaces. Mountains are pre-printed and treated as filled for all scoring purposes. Wasteland terrain is also a filled space, but it is not a terrain type — it does not count as forest, farmland, village, water, or monster for terrain-specific scoring.
Lost Barony scores the largest N×N square only, not the total connected clustercommunity high-engagement
- SITUATION
- A player fills a large L-shaped or rectangular region and asks whether Lost Barony scores the entire connected area.
- RULING
- Lost Barony scores only the largest perfect N×N square of filled spaces on your map. A 1×6 strip scores 3 pts (the largest square within it is 1×1). A 6×6 area scores 18 pts. The overall shape of the territory does not matter — only the largest inscribed square is counted.
AUTHOR: multiple community members (convergent verdict)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(multiple replies confirming; corroborated by xris in thread 2393888)DATE: 2019-08-27Lost Barony square need not touch the map edge; external spaces are ignoreddesigner
- SITUATION
- A player wonders whether the Lost Barony scoring square must be positioned in a corner or touch the map edge to be valid.
- RULING
- The scoring square does not need to touch any edge of the map. Additional filled spaces hanging off the outside of the N×N square do not affect scoring — only the square itself is evaluated.
Broken Road diagonal must touch the left edge and bottom edge at opposite endpointsdesigner
- SITUATION
- A player draws a diagonal line from the bottom-left corner to the top-right corner. Because the bottom-left corner touches both the left and bottom edges simultaneously, they argue it satisfies both conditions.
- RULING
- It does not count. The diagonal must have one endpoint touching the left edge and the other endpoint touching the bottom edge — as two distinct ends of the line. A line that only touches the corner meets both edges at a single point and fails the requirement. The bottom-left corner alone is a valid 1-space road, but it does not constitute a road running from left edge to bottom edge.
Great City: a single village space (cluster of size 1) still scoresdesigner
- SITUATION
- A player asks whether Great City requires a minimum cluster size, or if a lone village space qualifies.
- RULING
- There is no minimum cluster size. A single isolated village space counts as a cluster of 1 and scores normally for Great City, provided it is not adjacent to a mountain space.
Last researched: 2026-04-29
CATEGORIES
Fantasy·Territory Building
MECHANICS
BingoEnclosureEnd Game BonusesGrid CoveragePaper-and-PencilPattern BuildingSimultaneous Action SelectionSolo / Solitaire GameSquare Grid
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