# Cartographers — A Roll Player Tale

> Tactical flip & write game of mapping territory and fulfilling royal edicts. (iPhone/iPad app by BrettspielWelt.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cartographers/id1515991485 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [BrettspielWelt](https://appshunter.io/developer/1063292497)
- Category: Games, Board, Card
- Price: $3.99 with in-app purchases
- Rating: 3.30/5 from 113 App Store ratings · 163 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 12+
- Requires: iOS 16.0 · 47 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2020-08-21
- Data updated: 2026-08-31
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cartographers/id1515991485/reviews.md

## What is Cartographers?

The official Flip & Write companion to the board game hit!

Step into the shoes of a royal cartographer and surveyor commissioned by Queen Gimnax. Your mission: explore, stake out, and immortalize the wild northern lands on parchment. In this strategic card game, you decide how to shape your territory—but beware: you are not alone in the wilderness!

An Epic Adventure in the Roll Player Universe
Cartographers brings the fascinating mechanics of the modern board game directly to your smartphone. Experience the tactical Flip & Write principle that has thrilled critics and fans worldwide and was nominated for the prestigious Kennerspiel des Jahres (Connoisseur Game of the Year) in 2020.

Strategy Through Ever-Changing Decrees
At the heart of this board game are four royal decrees. These are recombined in every match, making each game a unique puzzle. You must constantly adapt your strategy to squeeze the maximum score out of your lands:

Diverse Scoring: Earn fame through the Gloomy Wood by skillfully enclosing forest patches, or use the Golden Granary to place farm fields on valuable ruins.

Tactical Placement: In the Magician's Valley, score points by placing water and farmland near mighty mountains. Every hamlet and settlement must be cleverly planned to meet the Queen’s shifting demands.

Seasonal Cycle: Priorities change through Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Only those who plan ahead will be named Master Cartographer at the end of the year.

The Gameplay is Simple
Flip: Each round, a new card is revealed, showing you landscapes and shapes.

Write: Skillfully place these areas on your map. Use the space optimally to fulfill the conditions of the decrees.

Score: Collect valuable reputation points, but watch out for monster ambushes!

Monsters in the Borderlands
A cartographer must be brave! The monsters never sleep. At regular intervals, you will encounter ambushes that thwart your plans. Monster fields will be discovered on your map—surround them quickly to minimize the damage to your reputation.

Why You’ll Love "Cartographers":
Official Adaptation: The faithful digital version of the popular board game by Thunderworks Games.

Weekly Challenges: Compete with players from all over the world in global highscore lists. A new scenario awaits you every week!

Three Game Modes: Choose between different difficulty levels and randomness factors—from relaxed puzzling to hardcore strategy.

Achievements & Ranks: Collect achievements and rise from apprentice to legendary Royal Cartographer.

Solo Fun & Competition: Perfect for a quick round in between or a deep strategic experience.

Awards for the Original:
2020 – Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee

2019 – Golden Geek Best Solo Board Game Nominee

2019 – Golden Geek Best Family Board Game Nominee

2019 – Cardboard Republic Socializer Laurel Nominee

Are you ready to expand the borders of the realm? Grab your quill, draw your cards, and master the ultimate Flip & Write adventure. Whether you're a fan of board games, logic puzzles, or fantasy strategy, Cartographers offers tactical depth right in your pocket.

Download the official app now and begin your journey through the northern lands!

## Key features

- Map reclaimed northern lands
- Fulfill royal edicts
- Outmaneuver rival outposts
- Tactical flip & write gameplay
- Multiple game modes
- Global weekly highscorelists
- Collect achievements

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: $3.99.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cartographers Heroes | $1.99 | one-time |


## Chart rankings

- #90 in Top Paid · Board (US App Store)
- #66 in Top Paid · Card (US App Store)

## What do users think of Cartographers?

Overall sentiment: neutral

**Pros**

- 👍 Faithful adaptation of the board game
- 🚀 Great solo experience
- 💡 Helpful visual cues for gameplay

**Cons**

- 🐛 Buggy and unstable app
- 🔒 Login and account issues
- 🔋 Performance and battery drain problems
- 👎 Lacking key features like multiplayer

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Game freezes and crashes
- Incorrect tile placement and scoring
- Inconsistent save/resume functionality
- Registration and login problems

**Most requested features**

- Add online/local multiplayer modes
- Implement undo/rollback functionality
- Improve tutorial and in-game help
- Add support for expansions and new maps

## Recent user reviews (10 of 163)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cartographers/id1515991485/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Best game ever

*2026-07-20, version 1.6*

This game is so much fun, I absolutely love it.
I hope they will add more of the expansions and the ability to make it multiplayer!

### 4/5 — Good game

*2026-07-19, version 1.6*

Good game, challenging, fun, and mostly relaxing… the solo variant scores are a bit unrealistic, but otherwise a good game. I learned more about the game by playing this way (in addition to bga and in-person play).

### 5/5 — Cartographers is my go-to game on the phone

*2026-07-15, version 1.6*

Cartographers is my go to game on my phone. Ten minutes. Great puzzle. And it’s great on the table too!

### 3/5 — Long animations

*2026-06-19, version 1.6*

Fun game but scoring animations take too long. Developer mentioned a way to speed it up, but even at top speed they take about 50 seconds every game. With games around four minutes, this means 1/4 of the game is spent waiting. The score is already on the card, the animations just break down the total, they’re not giving new information. Raised rating from 2 to 3

### 5/5 — Fun

*2026-06-15, version 1.6*

Very quick, easy, and fun.

### 3/5 — Animation megalangsam

*2026-06-05, version 1.6*

Eigentlich schönes Spiel, aber die Animation beim Punktezählen ist so langsam, dass einem die Lust vergeht.

### 2/5 — Update has logged me out

*2026-05-23, version 1.6*

I was really enjoying this game until the last update.  Now the game is asking me for a previously entered email address to let me back into the game.  The problem is I cannot remember entering an email address when I purchased the game through the AppStore and it does not recognise any of my email addresses when I try them. How do I get back in, please?

### 4/5 — Overall good

*2026-05-22, version 1.6*

I’ve really enjoyed this - it’s leveled up my tabletop game!

My only complaint is when the game updates I get logged out and it loses all of my progress.

### 1/5 — Online should be optional

*2026-02-15, version 1.5*

My login was reset, now I cannot get online because I don’t maintain a bunch of email addresses. Request a method to recover my username without having to create a new login….

I cannot login. It forces me to use create a new account.

How am ito restore purchases?

### 4/5 — A pretty decent solo experience

*2026-01-14, version 1.5*

Cartographers is one of my favorite board games and I was so pumped to see an app version! It’s not the smoothest user experience (every time I have to re-log in it’s a struggle), and there are some features that would be nice additions or help with some quality of life, but overall, it’s not bad. The game is fun, the way the shapes show up when you click around the screen are helpful, and I’ve gotten to practice some strategies I wouldn’t normally think about for the next time I play the board game with friends. 

I hope that there are plans to add some of the other expansions/maps to the game. I play a few rounds on my commute and would love some more variety and challenge.

## Frequently asked questions about Cartographers

### What is Cartographers about?

Cartographers is a tactical flip & write game where you play as a cartographer in the service of Queen Gimnax. Your goal is to map newly reclaimed northern lands, fulfill the queen's edicts, and strategically claim territory while fending off rival outposts to gain the most reputation.

### What are the key features of the app?

The app offers tactical flip & write gameplay, allowing you to map lands and fulfill royal demands. It includes multiple game modes with varying randomness, global weekly highscorelists for competition, and an achievement system to become the most legendary cartographer.

### Is Cartographers free to play?

The application is free to download and play, but it does offer in-app purchases. These purchases may unlock additional content or features within the game.

### What platforms is Cartographers available on?

The description mentions it's an app, implying availability on mobile platforms like iOS and Android. It is a digital adaptation of the popular board game.

### What kind of games are similar to Cartographers?

Cartographers is a tactical flip & write game. Similar experiences can be found in other digital board games that involve strategy, map creation, territory control, and fulfilling objectives, often with a competitive element.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.6 — 2026-05-20

This update brings several improvements to make the experience more stable and reliable:

Gold Card: Fixed an issue where the underworld view was not saved correctly when using the Gold Card.
Tap areas: We've reworked touch and click targets throughout the app. Elements now respond more accurately to input — safe areas are correctly recalculated after tapping.
Tutor: Fixed an issue with the tutor's start and end points, so the guided introduction now runs smoothly from beginning to end.
New visuals: Updated artwork and images have been integrated.

We've also made additional stability improvements under the hood.

### 1.5 — 2025-08-19

Improved login functionality in case of disconnection
Fixed bug with Underworld Extension
Fixed bug with ancient ruins
Fixed issues with scrolling through high score lists
Fixed display issues when restarting on certain devices

### 1.4 — 2024-04-10

Fixed problems with the tile selection at the bottom edge on certain devices 
Fixed minor bugs
Better usability
Green games included in statistics from now on

### 1.3 — 2023-11-17

We have fixed a bug that could lead to unintentional clicks and actions.

### 1.2.4 — 2022-11-04

Startup accelerated
Fixed incorrect scorecards
Animation speed optimized
Other bug fixes

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## More apps by BrettspielWelt

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All apps by BrettspielWelt: https://appshunter.io/developer/1063292497

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-31.*
