Characteristics of the Game Map

The development of ICT (information and communications technology) provides new challenges and opportunities for modern cartography. Totally different from the traditional cartography in the fields of the research methods and themes, modern cartography trends to digital cyberspace from paper map, and cartographic theories are urged to be improved. However, the understanding of the theories about cartographic virtual space have great differences within the professional domain, and the internal contradictions and transboundary invasion make map gradually become an appurtenance of Internet products. To learning from certain domains to analyse and handle them, challenges have prompted cartographic scholars to explore new fields. The development of "digits and culture" has pushed the game to the forefront of high-tech. Games are often geographically significant, and maps of game are a combination of ICT and maps. Based on the cyberspace in game map with instances as the research subject, this paper explores the characteristics and essence of game map and its implications to the real physical world by the dimensionalities, interactivity, narrativity, exploration and cultural dissemination of game maps to discover the extension of cartography, which would replenish and perfect modern cartographic theory and promote its development.