I don’t have good English writing skills. I still hope to make myself understood in this comment.

I also leave below an Italian translation of the comment, for those who want to follow the discussion anyway.

Hi, Fred!

As others have already commented before me, I too am of the opinion that this entry does not fit into the objective of the jam, but I must say that it is still a great entry.

I really like how “Of maps & men” manages to make different people generate a map, referring to zip codes. As Graypawn has noticed, I also think there could be some sort of pattern during the creation of the map, if the same zip codes are used. This can still be a good thing!

Another interesting thing is the idea of actually having to send an envelope to create a correspondence between cartographers. Good one.

But I have a doubt about this project. I’m afraid OM&M is more an exercise in style than a game.
In the paragraph “Sent it to a friend”, refer to a possible letter included in the envelope. To increase the idea of the game, have you tried to think about making this procedure mandatory?
The idea of a shared diary on a territory explored by several cartographers could be interesting and each player could play much more!

I’m curious to see if you will make any changes and which ones.
I’ll keep an eye on the project!

Bye!

Ciao Fred!

Come hanno già commentato altri prima di me, anche io sono dell’idea che questa entry non rientri nell’obiettivo della jam, ma devo dire che è comunque un ottimo prodotto.

Mi piace molto come “Of maps & men” riesca a far generare una mappa a persone diverse, facendo riferiemnto ai codici postali. Come Graypawn ha notato, anche secondo me potrebbe esserci una sorta di pattern durante la creazione della mappa, se vengono utilizzati gli stessi codici postali. Questo può essere comunque un plus!

Un’altra cosa interessante è l’idea di dover inviare realmente una lettera per creare una corrispondenza tra cartografi. Bella trovata.

Ho un dubbio su questo però. Ho paura che OM&M sia più un esercizio di stile che un gioco.
Nel paragrafo “Sent it to a friend”, fai riferimento ad una possibile lettera inclusa nella busta. Per aumentare ulteriormente il concetto di gioco, hai provato a pensare di rendere obbligatoria questa procedura?
L’idea di un diario condiviso su un territorio esplorato da più cartografi potrebbe essere interessante e ogni giocatore potrebbe giocare molto di più!

Sono curioso di vedere se farai modifiche e quali.
Terrò sott’occhio il progetto!

Ciao!

First Impressions:

Love the premise for how the game is played.  Love the execution of the components of play and how it's taught and presented.  Excellent eye for aesthetics.

Questions:

Having not yet gotten to play it, I'm trying to sort out how it would play if you sent the map back and forth between you and one other person?  Given the same address/Zipcode, would that induce a sort of pattern in moving forward?

What if you further randomized the #'s for the Cartogropher Key - again, I might be missing something here - What if you had a randomly generated set of digits that were written on the outside of the letter, instead of using elements of the address?

Favorite Bits:

The absolutely dynamite way this game is put together for presentation, taking note of the orientation and how the letter folds, elements like that make this game really great to print and hold.

The premise of the activity itself is awesome, but it feels like using just one map is the better way to go, which is why I didn't rate it higher for stars in regards to this jam.  I think mailing a singular map around is the best way to achieve the goal (a detailed sandbox setting for a fantasy game), so it's only a criticism in the sense that the jam was asking for 2 or more maps doing different things.  But this is an excellent idea that I would love to see polished and put out there!

Wow, what a gorgeous game! Kudos for the presentation, it really shines! My comments/questions:

1. Very clever way to use a short string of numbers as a generator!
2. It says that it was made for the Step up for the Postal Service Jam. I wonder if that's against the jam rules...
3. It's kind of interesting that when a person sends the letter, the next part will always have the same "structure"
4. It feels like there's quite a bit of heavy lifting from each player to come up with the contents of every hex. I wonder if it would be a good idea to provide an initial context so it's easier to come up with descriptions and/or keep a certain common thread of consistency. It seems that maybe there's at least the assumption that it's traditional fantasy?

Hey, thanks for the submission. With the big caveat that I haven’t actually played the game, just read it, here’s my review.

Theme

Right out of the gate I'd like to say - I love the idea here! I love the idea of the letter and map travelling. However, unfortunately I don't think it actually addresses the the theme of the jam, as there is just one map. It's true that different people will contribute to it, but in my reading the jam theme requires multiple maps of the same place/space, varying in scope and/or scale. This creates a map of one place.

Maps

The map is basically the product of the game. It is central to the game, but as I've mentioned in other jam submission comments, I think the map is mostly a product or artifact of play rather than the space of play itself.

Tone and style

I like that this is simple and to the point. The layout is great.

Elegant

I like the simple and light mechanics. I wouldn't feel intimidated opening the letter, but rather would want to participate immediately.

Easy to understand

Unfortunately as it says on the jam page, this still needs a few more instructions, particularly around getting started. That's too bad, because I feel like it's super close to a playable game! Please finish it! I'll probably start a letter even if you don't, but I'd love it if it were finished.

So, in conclusion, I really like this one, I just don’t think it addresses the theme of the jam very closely. But in the end it's still a map game, and I'd like to play it!

Nice game, very well crafted and with very cool editing! It really gives you the thrill of an ancient past with explorers and only letters!