
- BGG rank
- BGG #15,077
- BGG rating
- 6.7
Mangaka: The Fast & Furious Game of Drawing Comics
- 1–8 players
- 30–90 min
- Complexity 1.0/5
- 2016

2018
Rules assistance for Cartooner: The Fast & Furious Game of Drawing Comics
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

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Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Cartooner: The Fast & Furious Game of Drawing Comics is a board game released in 2018 for 1–8 players and ages 12 and up. It was designed by Jason Thompson and its main mechanics are Paper-and-Pencil and Storytelling.
Cartooner is a new experience in drawing games, a game that combines storytelling and drawing. It is like Once Upon a Time plus Pictionary, with story prompts that are inspired by popular and quirky comics themes and trends. While this is a game about drawing, it's not a game in which the best artist wins as your strategy and ability to adapt quickly matters much more. Points are awarded for strategy and following the rules, not artistic ability. However, if you are an artist, it is undeniable that Cartooner can be a great companion for you as well. A solo mode has been designed just for that. The game plays out in four rounds that build up in intensity, and each round is five minutes long. Your goal is to get the most fame points at each round using a combination of your theme cards and the fleeting market trends that are valid only for one round. In the end, the player with the most fame wins…but every player walks away with a comic of their own creation. Start by drawing three theme cards at random to determine what your comic will be about. Will your comic involve Dinosaurs, Secret Hideouts and Car Chases? Werewolves, Obnoxious Coworkers and The Desire to Be Famous? Or Pirates, Blobs and The Last Human on Earth? When time is up, follow these simple rules to score the game: Rule 1: You get 1 Fame point for each Theme you express in your comic in a way the other players can recognize by drawing it or writing it in a word balloon. Rule 2: You get 2 Fame for drawing something in every Panel, no matter how simple. Rule 3: You get 2 more Fame for keeping it succinct by using three or fewer Word Balloons on the page. It's that easy. Rounds two through four introduce an element of strategy: Trend Cards. Each Trend Card gives you new ways to earn Fame points for that round. Unlike Themes, which are personal, Trend Cards represent the market and affect every player in the game. Your fickle readers may want you to inject Superheroes, Funny Animals, Medical drama, Disaster stories, Mystery, Romance, or any one of 52 Trends into your story. It's every artist's dilemma: stick to your original story, or sell out for Fame? Each round brings more Panels to draw and Trends to chase. Plus, each round has more Fame in play than the round before, so the outcome is up in the air until the very end. When the final round ends, the winner is the one with the most Fame Tokens, but every player ends the game with their own comic. With literally hundreds of thousands of possible combinations of story prompts, you'll never run out of ideas.
Cartooner: The Fast & Furious Game of Drawing Comics supports 1–8 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The catalogue lists Cartooner: The Fast & Furious Game of Drawing Comics for ages 12 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Cartooner: The Fast & Furious Game of Drawing Comics has a complexity rating of 1.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Cartooner: The Fast & Furious Game of Drawing Comics belongs to these categories: Comic Book / Strip and Real-time. Its main mechanics are Paper-and-Pencil and Storytelling. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Cartooner: The Fast & Furious Game of Drawing Comics are: Jason Thompson. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Cartooner: The Fast & Furious Game of Drawing Comics as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.