Round & Revel / drawing
Town by Turn
Four landmarks. One shared pencil. Can your peculiar town find its way?
Planning estimate only. This edition has not had a live group playtest.
What you need
24 printed town cards, cut apart; Three sheets of paper with a large 4-by-4 grid on each; One shared pencil or pen; a second pen for checking completed maps; A 60-second timer for planning, optional; Paper to record three round scores
How to play
Print and prepare
Print one deck single-sided and cut along card borders. All card information is public once revealed. Copy the included blank map sheet three times, or draw three large 4-by-4 grids yourself. Label columns A–D from left to right and rows 1–4 from top to bottom. Leave cells large enough for a small picture and road junction. The top-left cell is A1; the bottom-right is D4. No external board or answer key is needed.
The aim
You are one town-planning team, making three delightfully odd maps. Each map scores 0–3 points from a printed checklist, for a shared maximum of 9. Drawing talent and whether a picture is funny never affect points. Everyone helps create the same map; nobody guesses what a picture means.
Set up
Sit in a fixed order with a grid everyone can reach or see. Shuffle the 24 cards. Choose a starting player and a different scorekeeper. Reveal one card. Beside the grid, write its VISIT cell and mark its CLOSED cell with a small X as setup marks; these are not drawing turns. The CLOSED cell must remain on the grid. Keep the card visible.
Plan together
Read the four DRAW landmarks, VISIT cell, CLOSED cell and ROAD LIMIT aloud. Discuss a route for up to 60 seconds. You may point, but nobody may draw or write a plan during this discussion. A road joins the centres of two orthogonally adjacent cells, so a road from A1 to A2 is one segment and A1 to C1 needs two. Roads may branch and share cells. Diagonal roads do not connect cells. The VISIT cell needs a road connection, not a fifth picture.
Sixteen turns, one mark at a time
After planning, take exactly 16 turns in seating order, including passes. On your turn, do ONE thing: draw one of the four labelled landmarks in its specified cell; add one road segment between adjacent cell centres; or pass. A landmark picture plus its identifying word is one action. A complete picture can use as many pencil strokes as needed. Road length is counted in cell-to-cell segments, not physical pen strokes. The scorekeeper counts turns aloud. No player takes two consecutive turns.
The quiet construction rule
During the 16 turns, do not coach, point out a route, gesture directions or announce plans. You may ask for the card to be read again, identify your own landmark label, clarify a rule or request access help. Look at the whole map before adding to it. Nobody may erase, move, overwrite or remove a mark. Landmarks can be drawn before or after their roads. A road may pass through a landmark cell. Duplicating a landmark is allowed but will fail the landmark checkpoint.
What marks count
A road must join two neighbouring cell centres visibly; a slightly wobbly line is fine. Each distinct neighbouring-cell link counts once, even if traced twice. Drawing two links in one turn uses that turn: keep the first link and mark the extra link cancelled immediately. A diagonal or other invalid road uses a turn but is marked cancelled and cannot connect anything. Accidental stray pen marks are not roads. Unclear endpoints may be identified immediately without adding or moving the road. Cancelled links are ignored in all scoring. These corrections are procedural, not extra turns.
Check the map: 0–3 points
After turn 16, trace the roads with a finger and check three boxes. LANDMARKS, 1 point: each of the four required labelled pictures appears exactly once and in its assigned cell. CONNECTIONS, 1 point: one connected road network reaches all four specified landmark cells and the VISIT cell, whether or not the pictures were placed correctly; unrelated road fragments do not prevent this point. CAREFUL ROUTE, 1 point: CONNECTIONS was earned, the total number of valid road segments anywhere on the map is no greater than the card limit, and no valid road touches the CLOSED cell. The CLOSED X is not a road or landmark. There is no subjective art judging and no partial point within a box.
Finish and share the result
Record the 0–3 points, then optionally add decorative details without changing the recorded score. Discard that card. Start a fresh grid with the player who would have taken the next turn, so the rotation continues across maps. Finish after three maps: 0–3 points is a town under construction, 4–6 is a town taking shape, and 7–9 is a connected little wonder. These are playful labels, not tested difficulty ratings. Everyone shares the same result, so ties and individual winners do not apply.
For 4–12 players
Use one shared map at every group size. With 4, each person gets four drawing turns per map; with 5–8, most get two or three; with 9–12, everyone gets at least one and some get a second. Never restart the seating order between maps: continuing it keeps total turns across the game within one turn of each other. Rotate the scorekeeper after each map; the scorekeeper also takes ordinary drawing turns.
A miniature example
Suppose four landmarks are assigned A1, C1, A3 and C3, VISIT is B2, CLOSED is D4, and the limit is 8. One successful network uses A1–B1, B1–C1, B1–B2, B2–B3, B3–A3 and B3–C3: six road segments. Four correctly labelled pictures plus those six segments take ten turns, leaving six passes. The map earns 3 points. Adding three unnecessary valid segments would make nine roads and lose only CAREFUL ROUTE, provided the network still connects the required cells.
Access and comfort
There is no drawing-speed limit. Use large grids, bold lines, plain printed landmark labels and verbal coordinates; colour is never required. Simple outlines or a meaningful mark beside a word count as pictures. A player may direct a helper to make their chosen mark; that remains the player’s single turn. Read the visible card aloud whenever needed. For a fully spoken-access or relaxed version, allow route discussion throughout construction and describe every new mark aloud; retain 16 turns and the same scoring, and label the result as open-planning if comparing sessions. Replace any uncomfortable or inaccessible theme before planning without penalty.
Replay
A game uses only three cards. Keep used cards apart and draw from the remaining 21 next time. When fewer than three remain, reshuffle the whole deck, excluding any cards your group set aside for access or comfort. Switch the starting player and try different route shapes. Do not compare quiet-construction and open-planning scores as if they were the same challenge.
Blank town map
Print or copy this grid three times, or draw your own. Mark the CLOSED cell and note the VISIT cell for each card.
Printable play cards
Print single-sided at 100%. Cut along the borders and follow the setup instructions.
DRAW: bun at D1; oven at B4; bell at C4; moon at A2.
VISIT: A3.
CLOSED: C2.
ROAD LIMIT: 9 segments.
DRAW: snail at B1; stamp at D1; letter at C4; leaf at A2.
VISIT: D3.
CLOSED: B3.
ROAD LIMIT: 9 segments.
DRAW: cloud at D4; patch at A2; ladder at B3; sun at D2.
VISIT: B1.
CLOSED: C1.
ROAD LIMIT: 8 segments.
DRAW: egg at D2; flame at A4; pool at C3; crown at C1.
VISIT: B1.
CLOSED: B3.
ROAD LIMIT: 8 segments.
DRAW: apple at B4; pear at B1; basket at D2; branch at A2.
VISIT: D1.
CLOSED: A4.
ROAD LIMIT: 8 segments.
DRAW: whale at C1; ticket at B2; bench at C3; flag at D4.
VISIT: B1.
CLOSED: B3.
ROAD LIMIT: 7 segments.
DRAW: mushroom at D1; drum at B4; horn at B1; baton at A1.
VISIT: C4.
CLOSED: B3.
ROAD LIMIT: 8 segments.
DRAW: planet at A4; tent at D2; rocket at A3; star at B3.
VISIT: B1.
CLOSED: A1.
ROAD LIMIT: 7 segments.
DRAW: puddle at A1; boot at C1; frame at B4; umbrella at D2.
VISIT: A3.
CLOSED: B1.
ROAD LIMIT: 9 segments.
DRAW: robot at C1; sandwich at D1; cup at A2; blanket at B4.
VISIT: D2.
CLOSED: C2.
ROAD LIMIT: 8 segments.
DRAW: lantern at D4; sock at B3; tub at C1; peg at B2.
VISIT: D1.
CLOSED: C4.
ROAD LIMIT: 8 segments.
DRAW: clock at D2; flower at D4; gear at A1; bee at A3.
VISIT: A2.
CLOSED: C3.
ROAD LIMIT: 8 segments.
DRAW: teapot at C1; cup at B3; balloon at A2; cake at A3.
VISIT: D1.
CLOSED: A1.
ROAD LIMIT: 7 segments.
DRAW: cactus at C1; screen at A3; popcorn at B4; chair at C2.
VISIT: D1.
CLOSED: A4.
ROAD LIMIT: 7 segments.
DRAW: penguin at C4; telescope at D1; moon at A3; dome at C1.
VISIT: B2.
CLOSED: A1.
ROAD LIMIT: 8 segments.
DRAW: boat at C4; anchor at D1; paper at B4; lighthouse at D3.
VISIT: B2.
CLOSED: A2.
ROAD LIMIT: 8 segments.
DRAW: button at B4; bed at C1; key at D1; door at C4.
VISIT: A2.
CLOSED: B2.
ROAD LIMIT: 9 segments.
DRAW: comet at C4; sponge at D2; bucket at D4; hose at A2.
VISIT: B2.
CLOSED: A4.
ROAD LIMIT: 7 segments.
DRAW: volcano at D2; pillow at A2; kettle at D3; cloud at A1.
VISIT: C1.
CLOSED: D1.
ROAD LIMIT: 7 segments.
DRAW: frog at B2; wheel at A2; helmet at A3; flag at C1.
VISIT: D3.
CLOSED: C3.
ROAD LIMIT: 7 segments.
DRAW: marshmallow at B1; peak at C4; tent at B4; spoon at D2.
VISIT: A1.
CLOSED: C2.
ROAD LIMIT: 9 segments.
DRAW: moon at A4; stall at D4; coin at A1; basket at C3.
VISIT: B2.
CLOSED: D2.
ROAD LIMIT: 9 segments.
DRAW: acorn at B3; plane at A4; tower at B2; leaf at D3.
VISIT: C2.
CLOSED: D2.
ROAD LIMIT: 7 segments.
DRAW: umbrella at C2; book at D1; shelf at B4; lamp at C4.
VISIT: C1.
CLOSED: C3.
ROAD LIMIT: 7 segments.
Original Round & Revel game text. Edition 1 / October 2026. Reuse the printed cards for future gatherings.