Canvas of Kings

I had no idea what to expect with Canvas of Kings and even after spending a fair bit of time with it, I am still not entirely sure what the point of this game/software/app or whatever you want to call it is! This is a map making/building tool that feels more like a proof of concept, but from what I have read, people seem to be loving this thing and the developer seems like a super nice person and they have some grand plans for this. While it may not have exactly been my cup of tea, I enjoyed screwing around with this and I can see why some people would find it so addictive.

The Walking Dead

Ok, so let me tell you how I ended up getting into and hooked on Canvas of Kings. The idea here is that you use the various assets that it has to make maps of small what to me seem like rural villages and forest type areas. There is no city building here and at first, I was just screwing around and putting stuff in random places, but I was messing around with a fence type thing and it reminded me of the Hill Top from The Walking Dead. It sounds weird, but I then started making a map of little settlements that I imagined were places like those in The Walking Dead. Hey, when there is no direction, your imagination can get a chance to play and that is what happened here for me.

Learn By Doing

Canvas of Kings has you putting buildings and other little things in different places, making parks, forests, and stuff like that. The game pretty much throws you in and leaves you to discover it all for yourself. In the trailer for this game, it shows you a few of the things that you can do and that is pretty much all the tutorial you get, but I do not think you need any more. You learn how this game works by messing around with it. I made this big circular type fence by complete accident and I used that to make more little communities as I messed around with the game. I can see why it may be daunting for some to have this blank canvas and not know where to start though.

A Sign Of Things To Come

The assets that Canvas of Kings has really make it so building small villages or perhaps even a town are all that you are going to be able to do. I think that was what led to me making my own Walking Dead world style maps. Those who want to make cities or larger type areas will find that there are simply not enough assets to do that. Of course, if you are more creative than I am, you very well could come up with some clever ways to use the tools and the assets that this has to make what you want. I am hopeful that the developer will add more assets to the game or perhaps there will be a way that the community can add things to the game to give us more stuff to play around with.

A Cool Artistic Kind Of Style!

I just love the whole style of Canvas of Kings! This game looks like one of those fancy prints you can buy that is an aerial map of somewhere (we have one of Disneyland Paris in our office) and it just looks so cool! Although, I say that, but I do think this has a slightly more “fantasy” kind of style to it than a standard aerial map if you get what I am saying. Look, I know nothing about maps and an argument I had with my wife many years ago before we had a sat nav also suggests I have no clue how to read a map! What I can tell you is that this game looks very cool and has a certain artistic style about it that I am sure people will love.

Pros:

• Building your little towns or whatever is fun
• You learn by doing and it is easy to figure out
• I loved the whole style of the game
• I am sure more assets are going to be added

Cons:

• This is the kind of thing that is not going to appeal to everyone
• I know more stuff is probably coming, but it could do with more assets to play with

Canvas of Kings is a minimalist digital tool for crafting customizable fantasy maps. At its core, the game focuses on using flexible paths and plots to define landscapes, then randomly placing a variety of hand-drawn objects to bring worlds to life. While limited in scope compared to heavyweight map editors, Canvas of Kings offers a relaxing creative experience for any fantasy worldbuilder.

I was immediately drawn to the simple yet powerful path and plot system. With a few clicks, I was sculpting forests, fields, and coastlines. Complex terrain became approachable through adjustable shapes that naturally guide the eye.

The randomized object placement then brought the landscapes to life, effortlessly scattering trees and rocks in a way that felt organic. Comparing it to games like Minecraft and Darkest Dungeon, Canvas of Kings streamlines the map creation process while maintaining an element of surprise.

Customizing Atmospheres

The built-in lighting and weather effects allowed me to further polish worlds. Options ranging from clear skies to raging storms transformed moods with realism. Combined with the day/night cycle, maps evolved depending on conditions. While lighting could be more advanced, the system provides an easy way to set ambiences without complicated setups. Overall, it adds polish that makes simple maps feel alive.

As someone who's more than eagerly awaiting Tiny Glade's release, a game like Canvas of Kings is the closest I can get to an ideal, chill map maker that lets me skip the complicated stuff and get right into the map creation.

Bringing Maps to the Tabletop

Exporting was simple yet flexible. Defining an area and grid let me share precisely what I wanted for tabletop purposes. The lack of text support limits potential uses, but maps are transferred smoothly to print or digital mediums.

Most impressively, I could save presets to standardize future cartography. Compared to professional editors like Campaign Cartographer and Wonderdraft, Canvas of Kings remains approachable while covering basic needs.

Some missing deep customization may disappoint power users, but the approachable systems realizing randomized lifelike worlds resonate with the imaginative spirit of exploration and discovery at the heart of games like these. For touching up lands between quests or kickstarting campaign settings, Canvas of Kings empowers expression through easy world-defining.

Rating: 8/10

In the end, Canvas of Kings delivers a charming combination of automated randomization and direct customization for worldbuilding. With future updates adding deeper functionality, this toolkit shows promise for enhancing any tabletop realm.

Pros:

• Flexible, forgiving path/plot systems
• Speeds up mapmaking with auto-object placement
• Customizable lighting/weather brings worlds to life

Cons:

• Lacks some advanced features of dedicated editors
• Missing manual terrain painting for additional variety
• Limited custom asset importing

Canvas of Kings is a minimalistic map maker with randomness as its main highlight. Can you beautifully arrange objects on the map that may be unrelated to each other? Use a large arsenal of hand-drawn inventory and create your own vision of a medieval map. The creation format is suitable for writers, board game players, and just plain creative people. The simple toolkit and easy-to-understand interface won't make newcomers take longer than a couple minutes to figure out the game.

Pros of the game:

• Minimalistic design with hand-drawn objects
• Intuitive interface
• Ability to upload your own content