Cartographers

Each round, you turn over a card that determines the shape or terrain you must draw on your map sheet. Each of the four seasons has its own scoring objectives, requiring you to constantly switch gears and adjust priorities. Monster cards allow opponents to sabotage your map by drawing enemy camps that cost points if you don't surround them. After winter, the player with the most reputation stars wins.

Cartographers is brilliantly designed: it combines the tranquility of drawing with the joy of constantly making small strategic choices. You feel genuine satisfaction when you get land hexes perfectly aligned and when an edict unexpectedly works out well. The monster invasions add just the right amount of tension and interaction without disrupting the gameplay. It's a game that feels different every time, where you'll always want to come up with a better plan than the round before—a modern classic in its genre.