The Newest Game Documentary Series: Cloth Map

As a spiritual successor to my NoClip blog, I decided to write about what Drew Scanlon is going to do in his new upcoming documentary series, Cloth Map. And before I get into the blog, I will say that I already know most of you know what he is doing. I'm just writing it here because this is where I write stuff.

Anyways, let's get right into Cloth Map. Despite their not being any episodes as of now (just a few vlogs about setup,) what Drew has described for his new series already is exciting. From the sounds of it, the series will be of Drew exploring the different cultures of games from around the world. But this list isn't just for video games. All games(card, board, etc.) will be studied by Drew through the lens of people, places, and culture.

Their isn't a lot to talk about (as for their hasn't been an episode yet,) but the idea of people choosing where Drew goes and what he sees as he travels the world sounds fantastic. Where NoClip talks about the development of a game, Cloth Map talks about the development of games to a person, place, or culture. On top of that, this idea of a show doesn't just pertain to video games. I would love to see all types of games that are played around the world. On top of that, having that broad idea of all games also opens the show to anyone who likes games.

What I feel Drew is going to do in his new series is important. It is good to have documentation of different parts of the world and how they as a person or culture view and play their games just as it is good to have documentation of the origins of games and how developers wanted you to feel and think playing their games in NoClip. If Drew can do his documentary series right, then I believe that he could strike gold in terms of documentaries.

I do apologize for how short this blog is, but I can't think or say much else until we see what Drew Scanlon has in store for us. What he does in the future may be the opposite of what I think he will do and maybe it will be something that I do not like down the line, but as of now, I am really excited to see what he does and where he goes.

Here is the trailer for Cloth Map.

I feel Drew hasn't been doing great with giving updates about what's going on.

When Danny started NoClip I feel I had a better idea of what was going on. Danny if I remember correctly was posting on patreon multiple times per week, and even when he couldn't reveal what his first project was, he announced when the appointments were booked, etc...

Drew however started on March 13th, so it's been over a month. And in that time he has posted two short Vlog videos, with no details about what he is planning or when he is planning it. So far it seems he has worked two days in the past month or so. To be clear, I'm sure he's been working hard to get Cloth Map off the ground, but if he cannot communicate what's going on then to some of his patrons it might appear as if he's not doing anything.

I understand that he may not want to promise stuff he cannot deliver, and therefore doesn't want to give any details about the first trip until it is fully booked. But it would be nice to at least know that progress is being made towards that first trip + documentary in some way.

PS: I'm a $5 NoClip patron and a $3 Cloth Map patron.

What a strange disproportionate amount of Edge Master appearances.

It's funny that you mention that

This is totally the kind of thing I would have been all over 10 years ago. These days like just don't have the time or energy to get myself motivated about these things.

@matoya: Of course this happens right after I write this. What luck. Anyways, I am excited to see what Drew has in-store in Ukraine and what will happen at Eurovision. Interesting that he talked about Chernobyl.

That's about what I expected for Drew's first stop. Maybe Russia next time!

@redhotchilimist: Russia (at least the parts west of Moscow) are a giant pain to get into even on a tourist visa, much less as someone filming things for profit/entertainment. You need sponsors within Russia and extra paperwork to be allowed to cross the Urals, essentially.

Knowing how much he likes to go places everyone else says are dangerous (like North Korea) Chernobyl makes sense that way, and as a frequently tapped source of video game mutant monster plots.

@toopopplio: But it is about games. Games encompass much more than just video games. If it didn't there wouldn't be the word "video" in video games.

As someone who desperately wanted Drew to continue to focus on video games, I found Cloth Map's reveal initially disappointing to myself because it didn't seem to prioritize video games.

Key quotes such as the following really made it apparent, as did the focus on tangible/non-video games in the intro video: "Cloth Map is a video series that explores how games impact the lives of people around the world. Games are a universal concept, but can take drastically different forms from culture to culture. By exploring these differences, I hope to not only expand our definition of “games,” but also remind ourselves that no matter our background, everyone on Earth loves having a good time."

In the end I still backed the project and decided to just see what Drew produces. My hope is I'll enjoy it despite the focus not being what I wanted. Given the success so far, it appears many others were happy with Drew's decision to highlight travel/culture and "play."

Michael Palin with a HOTAS. I'm all for it.

@toopopplio: Didn't he sell it as exactly that though? It's right there in the intro video in the OP, he talks about games encompassing a wide variety of things, not just video games, noting that 'everyone plays something'. The infrequent updates could be better for sure, but kind of hard to judge just how connected to games it'll end up being until the first product comes out.

I think deep down we always knew this was all just a way for Drew to get on EuroVision.

Also, given Drew's penchant for traveling to global hotspots, I wouldn't be surprised to find out he's actually a CIA spy.

I have to agree somewhat that I think the destination reveal video did not really focus enough on gaming in general. Now I'm sure the actual documentary episode on Ukraine will feature plenty of game focused content whether it be video games, board games, or traditional parlor games specific to that country, but I do think the Eurovision contest is a bit of a stretch in regards of gaming. It's basically entertainment, and yes it is a sport of sorts. Maybe Drew has a much broader definition of the term, or more likely it's just a fun "little" aside. And for those of us who already know of Drew, of course he would go to Eurovision.

EDIT: Some small criticisms, or hopes rather I have as a patreon is that there will be more updates and bonus videos in the future. I'm sure the lack of it is because of Drew literally being over in Ukraine right now and filming all kinds of stuff. But for example there hasn't been an announcement on the Discord channel about the reveal video.

The person who feels most misled by Drew's past history on this site with video games has a Giant Bomb join date from 2 weeks ago...ok

@htr10: You can watch the videos on this site without registering. You know that, right?

I'm curious if he's going to cover sports at all. I'm not really a sports guy, but it would be odd to cover cultural competition and not cover sports.

@whatshisface: Yeah, I know that. It's also free to join and someone who has posted over 40 times in 2 weeks seems like they might have thought to join sooner in the past if they were so engaged with Drew's past with Giant Bomb.

Y'know what? I just realized nobody cares.

@magmamud: Hopefully the mention of Eurovision doesn't mean that it will be the only focus while he's there. What I'm hoping for is that he uses Eurovision as an opportunity to have so many cultures in one place, to delve into more traditional games (that you mention) of all the people that might be visiting, using Eurovision more as a tool for traditional sense of gaming.