ABSTRACT
In this chapter I will examine computer games in which both mapping and spatial progress are important organizing principles. Games such as Age of Empires (1997-2005), Rise of Nations (2003), and Civilization (1991-2005) invite the player to go on an imaginary expedition, where traveling through landscapes creates a story. During this process maps and landscapes are mutable instead of fixed, changing appearances according to where the player travels and what is being altered in environments (e.g. mining, founding trading posts or towns, expanding borders). Right through this explorative journey, the player develops a spatial story with herself or himself as the main character as well as being an imaginary cartographer who interacts with maps and changes them according to the spatial advancements that are made. As I will show in this chapter, cartographical practices in such games augment the spatial awareness and reflection of players by inviting them to play with maps and change them according to their spatial advancements. Players themselves create spatial formations, thus generating a particular sense of place and space.
