Hey everyone, I recently bought the Map Alchemists map bundle. I thought it was a good deal at 1/2 off. Unfortunately for me (and this could be different from you), I'm quickly realizing this is not the direction I want to go. First and foremost, this review will be more critical and praise. It's to justify the star rating. Overall the company produced and sold what was promised. I hit buy knowing what I was getting - my feelings changed after I looked at them more closely. To me, that does not equal automatic 5 stars.

My major problems are these: 1) Some maps (most) are overpopulated with assets and items. The Mine map for example; almost every single tile has some sort of item or obstacle. There are also weapons and treasure and all sorts of things strewn about the maps. As a DM this is frustrating because players will automatically associate those with receiving some sort of award.

2) The grids are on top of all of the assets. I've seen other cartographers who put the grid layer over the terrain and assets on top of that. After this purchase I realized that was my preference. It's very distracting seeing the black lines all over the map.

3) There are no blank maps. For example, the castles, caves, mines... they all have junk in them. I bought the 500+ asset bundle in hopes that I would get blank maps to populate myself - no go. The assets are almost unusable, but I'll review that separately.

4) Cost - This, even at 1/2 price, is extremely expensive for what you get. The maps are usually 1-piece and are inflexible as far as use goes (you can use it once and it's done).

5) Art - The art looks better smaller. When it's blown up the lack of consistency in shadowing, asset placement, and the terrain becomes more apparent. I think that's a byproduct of the software &/or style and likely not the artists however.

Overall I personally regret the purchase, but for the most part these maps are what the seller says they are. shrugs 3/5 stars - average.