Cartographers

Setup: collectively choose map side A or B. Draw one scoring card from each of the four categories and assign them beneath edicts A–D. Stack seasons in order. Shuffle one unseen ambush into the explore deck, keeping the other ambushes for later seasons.

Each turn proceeds through Explore, Draw, and Check. Reveal an explore card; ruins require further reveals and impose their placement condition. All players independently choose an available shape and terrain and draw simultaneously on their own maps.

Ordinary shapes may be rotated or flipped and need not touch existing terrain. They cannot overlap filled spaces or leave the map. Mountains and wastelands are filled; an uncovered ruins symbol is not. Adjacency means sharing a side, never just a corner.

If none of the offered shapes can be drawn legally, draw one square in an available space with any non-mountain terrain. Rift Lands already offers a single square: choose a terrain shown on that card and follow the normal restrictions.

Ruins require the next applicable explore shape to cover a ruins space. If that is impossible or no unfilled ruins remain, use a single square of any non-mountain terrain instead. Consecutive ruins do not require multiple ruins spaces. An intervening ambush resolves normally, leaving the ruins requirement for the following explore card.

For multiplayer ambushes, pass maps in the arrow’s direction and draw the specified monster shape on the received map. Normal rotation and flipping are allowed; if the shape cannot fit, draw a single monster square instead. Return maps and remove the resolved ambush from the game.

Fill a coin when all four spaces beside a mountain become filled, or when choosing a shape with a coin. After drawing, total this season’s revealed explore-card time. The season ends when that total reaches or exceeds its threshold; finish the current drawing first.

At season end, score the two edicts named on the season card, add all coins currently marked, and subtract one per empty space beside a monster. An empty space touching several monsters still costs only one. Keep your map and accumulated coins for subsequent seasons.

After a non-winter season, reshuffle the explore cards and add one new unseen ambush. Unrevealed earlier ambushes remain. After winter, total all four seasons; highest score wins. Ties favor the least total monster penalty across the game, then share victory.

In solo play, leave your title blank. For an ambush, use its indicated corner and arrow to search the map edge for a legal placement without rotating or flipping the shape. If necessary, repeat one space inward until it fits; ignore it if no placement exists. Subtract the four scoring cards’ corner values from your final score, then consult the title table using that rating.