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The Winding Journey is an abstract card game designed for the cartographer jam that uses playing cards and dice as its central mechanics. Players take turns drawing six-sided die from their deck, adding them together in order to create a sum representing movement on one of four quadrants (north/south east/west). The resulting number can be used directly or compared against another player's score to determine which card is drawn next based on the matching numbers' positions. Players also draw cards that represent different paths and obstacles they encounter, adding them onto their grid before drawing new ones for movement in a random order determined by dice rolls at certain points during gameplay. The game ends when all but one players have moved across multiple quadrants without hitting any walls or encountering too many of the same card type (known as "joke cards"). Players with an even number score draw two jokecards, while those who win on their turn can choose to discard a single card for bonus points if certain conditions are met. The game offers ample opportunity for strategy and collaboration between players during its long gameplay sessions that typically last several hours or more depending on the group's skill level.