Concept
Cartograph is a puzzle-exploration game where you play a cartographer stranded on a living, shifting island. Sketch tiles into your field journal — a bridge, a cliff, stepping stones — and the terrain physically manifests in the world to match your drawing. Explore, sketch, solve environmental puzzles unlocked by the terrain you create, and uncover ancient landmarks to complete the island's map.
Core gameplay loop: Explore → Observe a blocked path or puzzle → Sketch the needed terrain tile in the journal → Terrain manifests in the world → Traverse/solve → Discover new area or landmark → repeat with new tile types.
Target platform: PC (Steam), single-player. Switch is a stretch goal post-demo.
Art/style direction: Warm ink-wash and watercolor-on-parchment aesthetic; the world reads like a living illustrated map, with terrain "growing in" via ink-bloom animation when a tile is sketched.
Minimum viable feature set:
- One biome (Ink Marsh) with ~6 sketchable tile types: bridge, cliff, tunnel, bloom-vine, stepping stones, calm-whirlpool
- Journal UI for selecting/sketching tiles
- 5 environmental puzzle rooms gated by tile combinations
- One landmark discovery + map-completion ending beat
- Save/load of journal + world state
Milestone Plan & Ownership
| Milestone |
Focus |
Owner |
| M1 — Prototype |
Core sketch-to-terrain mechanic; one graybox test room proving the "draw it, it appears" fantasy is fun and legible |
lead |
| M2 — Vertical Slice |
Full Ink Marsh biome loop: journal UI, 3 of the 5 puzzle rooms playable start-to-finish |
reviewer |
| M3 — Art & Content Pass |
Ink-wash/parchment art style applied across the biome; remaining puzzle rooms; style guide documented |
docs |
| M4 — Playable Demo |
Tutorial, bug bash, balance pass, save/load integrity hardening, packaged demo build for external feedback |
devrel (with security consulting on save-data integrity/corruption edge cases) |
Sub-issues for each milestone are linked below and carry the squad:plan label.
Notes
This is a fresh, original concept for today's planning run — distinct from prior Squad Game Planner runs (Hushcart, Neon Exorcist, Glasswing, Driftwood Bay). This tracking issue and its sub-issues auto-close after 1 day; the next scheduled run will start a new concept.
Generated by 🎮 Squad Game Planner · auto · 39.7 AIC · ⌖ 2.23 AIC · ⊞ 9.4K · ◷
Concept
Cartograph is a puzzle-exploration game where you play a cartographer stranded on a living, shifting island. Sketch tiles into your field journal — a bridge, a cliff, stepping stones — and the terrain physically manifests in the world to match your drawing. Explore, sketch, solve environmental puzzles unlocked by the terrain you create, and uncover ancient landmarks to complete the island's map.
Core gameplay loop: Explore → Observe a blocked path or puzzle → Sketch the needed terrain tile in the journal → Terrain manifests in the world → Traverse/solve → Discover new area or landmark → repeat with new tile types.
Target platform: PC (Steam), single-player. Switch is a stretch goal post-demo.
Art/style direction: Warm ink-wash and watercolor-on-parchment aesthetic; the world reads like a living illustrated map, with terrain "growing in" via ink-bloom animation when a tile is sketched.
Minimum viable feature set:
Milestone Plan & Ownership
Sub-issues for each milestone are linked below and carry the
squad:planlabel.Notes
This is a fresh, original concept for today's planning run — distinct from prior Squad Game Planner runs (Hushcart, Neon Exorcist, Glasswing, Driftwood Bay). This tracking issue and its sub-issues auto-close after 1 day; the next scheduled run will start a new concept.