Earlier this year, I did a review of Fantasy Map Maker and was able to ask the game’s creator, Harry Metcalf (aka Doopy Games), a few questions. I gave the original version of the game 4-stars, but I recommend getting the Improved Edition instead. With the tweaks and adjustments made in this new version (and the inclusion of The Continent game variation), this game has risen to a higher status.However, in this article, I wanted to share with you a Christmas Project I did for my friends and myself.
Disclaimer: prior to delving into this project, I contacted Mr. Metcalf via email and made sure he was alright with my doing this. After all, I had backed for one print-n-play copy of this game. It was a short conversation, but we came to an agreement as to how I could move forward with this. If you have plans to do something similar, please reach out to him.
A Good Physical Copy
Print and play is all good, but when it comes to making things like the cards that go into this game, I lack the talent to do it well. Mr. Metcalf had printed and made the cards for me when I got my review copy of the original edition, so that was not an issue. I can make the cards, I suppose, and for me, I can sleeve the results. I do have friends that are not as interested in sleeving their games. As a result, when I got my files for the Improved Edition, I knew I was going to need help with the cards.
It was while I was contemplating having the good folks over at Print & Play Games do the printing of the cards for me that I started thinking about going whole hog on this thing: get a nice printed and bound rulebook, laminated copies of the player sheets, etc. That was when the idea of making these as gifts for friends and family started entering into my head. Economies of scale meant that the cost per set would go down the more sets I made. The project had begun!
A Case
I was looking for something that would be good to hold everything together. I searched a few places that make plastic boxes as replacements for older board games, but none of those seemed to be what I really needed. Then, while looking on Amazon, I found some A4 document storage boxes by a company called PerKoop. The rulebook file is formatted to A4 so this seemed perfect. I did some measuring for the other stuff, and so these were perfect. I was able to get a multi-color set of 6 boxes which set my project’s limit: I would be making six copies of the game.
A Rulebook
The download for the Improved Edition has everything set up for either A4 or Letter sized paper, except the rulebook. The rulebook only comes in A4. Having worked to convert a file from one of those sizes to the other, I know why this was only in one format. I cannot tell you how much I wish the United States would drop the old sizes of paper and standardize things on metric. There are so many advantages!
My book printing company of choice is Lulu. Getting things ready for a private project on the site was easy enough. The turn-around-times for Lulu are quite good, and the print quality (in my experience) has always been exceptional. So, I put in an order for six copies in standard quality A4 paper printed in color. What I received was absolutely perfect!
Player Sheets
A long time ago, I got a Scotch Laminator and some laminating pockets for letter-sized paper. It has been sitting in my craft room with me intending upon pulling it out and giving it a run! But, my life got chaotic and busy and so I was never able to do so. Until now. I printed all the player sheets. There are nine, so with six copies, this means I had to print 54 sheets:
- Standard player sheet (✕1)
- Alternative player sheets (✕4)
- The Continent player sheets (✕4)
I then ran them each through the laminator and made sure they were good and sealed; they were perfect. I did some testing with dry erase markers, which worked pretty well. With several of the markers, I needed to use some glass cleaner to get the last remnants of color from the sheets.
Given that, I figured it might be best to include a non-laminated version in the package as well. This could be scanned and printed by the recipient. I found some folders I had that were in colors I could coordinate with the latches on the boxes, and so each package has a standard paper copy of the sheets as well.
Cards
As indicated above, when I need to do anything that is a bit more involved than making a printed book, I get in touch with Print & Play Games. I recall the first item I ever had them make for me: when my wife and I were planning the wedding ceremony, we designed a simple little game that could be used by our friends and family to get to know the individual they had not known all their lives. This requires some rather complex design for the player books where choices made would allow the player to tear off a strip from the pages to reveal passages below. They had never done this before and were excited to give this a go. The results were impeccable!
I contacted them about the cards. They are in the file at a rather odd sizing. But the good folks over there noted that the size was very, very close to standard poker-sized cards, and asked if it would be alright to adjust things to fit onto that size, as this would save me some money on the set-up costs. I trust them, so I agreed. As with Lulu, the turn-around time for Print & Play is amazing, and so when I got my cards shortly after ordering them, I was very pleased with the results. These are high-quality professionally printed cards that will last a long, long time.
Dice
I have a lot of dice. I mean, a lot of dice. Some have suggested I might have a problem. I will not argue with them. What this means, though, is that I have a lot of six-sided dice in various color schemes that could be coordinated with the latches on the boxes. Some of the colors might be difficult for someone with color vision issues, so I decided to include some standard black-and-white dice in the package as well.
The color-coordinated dice I pulled from several copies of the game Tenzi I have. This game comes in many, many different color sets. However, multicolored dice can be gotten relatively cheaply in many places online.
Final Result
In the end, I have five beautiful printed copies of a wonderful game to give as gifts, and one to keep for myself. I could not be happier with how it all turned out.
Final Thoughts
This is not a review of Fantasy Map Maker. This is an article where I share with you my love of the game, my desire to share it with others, and the generosity of Harry Metcalf. The review of the original version of the game stands as a good introduction to the game. Just know that it has definitely been improved! The base game with its adjustments, I would rank at 4.5 stars or more (especially considering the addition of The Continent mode). This is a beautiful game and one I highly recommend.
That said, even though I have no regrets doing this, it was not exactly cheap to do!
Please note that this does not include shipping and handling, taxes, etc. Still, I think $30 is a good price to get this game into a form deserving of the rules and game play.
Merry Christmas, and happy gaming!
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