ANAmap: a free RPG Map Editor

ANA Map will no longer be updated

This version won’t be updated anymore. You can switch to the new RPG Map 2 which gets rid of Flash and implements many features requested by users. The source code of the original ANA Map is available on GitHub.

About the old Flash version

IMPORTANT : you need a Flash Player for this version to work. So far it has been tested on Firefox 59 and Chrome. For Chrome, you may need to click this link for it to work and choose “Allow” when asked to run flash. If nothing shows, there might be an issue with the Flash player: you should check if it’s enabled and not blocked by any third party extension.

For the last 20 years, I’ve been playing tabletop RPGs with friends on a very regular basis. I’ve spent a huge amount of time writing scenarii and missions. I did it with traditional pen & papers at first, and with Google Docs afterwards.

Problem is: it’s ok to write missions with Google Docs, until it comes to drawing the map of, say, a dungeon in Dungeon & Dragons, or a haunted house in Call of Cthulhu. Most of the dedicated tools are either:

  • Old: like with a Win95 interface with almost zero attention to ergonomic
  • Bloated: the tools allows EVERY single thing related to drawing a map, and therefore, is too complicated for my simple needs.
  • Ugly: the tool uses lots of terrible textures where I just want to draw walls and doors.

For some times now, I’ve been using Photoshop to paint my maps. But let’s face it. It’s a great tool, but it has not been designed for that purpose. And it’s not free.

So I’ve decided to work on my own tool, with the sacred KiSS principle in mind (Keep it Short & Simple).

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  1. Deadzed:

    Aha, exactly what I was looking for : simple and efficient. Thanks a lot :)
    September 3, 2015 at 11:57
  2. Mine Puyo:

    How to test?
    September 1, 2015 at 16:15
  3. Andrew:

    What plugin do I need to run the program? every time I try to use it the website says I need a plugin but won't tell me which one.
    August 28, 2015 at 22:25
  4. NICK CEZAR LIRA:

    Nice Tool!
    August 28, 2015 at 21:13
  5. Tony:

    Hey guys I see there are people posting about wanting a entire outdoor button or stuff like that. If there was a way to post the .json file so others could download it we wouldn't need those options. Just a thought!
    August 21, 2015 at 00:19
  6. tumbleweeed:

    Great tool, i really like it.

    Some people already specified some missing options that would be great to have and i was going to write the same. Some form of "endless hole", water (+ maybe lava) and some for of height difference tiles would be great.

    Would you think some diagonal walls were possible?
    August 20, 2015 at 17:10
  7. Dwight:

    I saved the map but I can't seem to bring it back up out side this site. Any program or app I need to load the map?
    August 11, 2015 at 04:15
    • Sébastien Bénard:

      You can save the map but it can only be loaded using AnaMap. You can also export an image (PNG) using the Export PNG button :)
      August 11, 2015 at 10:20
  8. Helwet:

    This is the best mapping tool i know. Interface wise everything works as you would intuitively expect it to.
    The abstraction level of just having furniture is so perfect it has changed the way i run my campaign.

    Few things i wish were there however: a plain black "chasm" tile, a blue water tile and some tile to use to do differing height levels for cliffs etc
    August 8, 2015 at 11:39
  9. Edu:

    Can you add a tool to put water in your map creator?
    July 28, 2015 at 19:51
  10. Kaalamity:

    I love this tool. Use it for any situation where I need to plan out a dungeon/compound ahead of time. The "Dark Theme" is particularly useful for my Edge of the Empire campaign.

    As an idea/constructive feedback, I feel a "Mirror" option, diving the canvas in half and allowing a perfectly symmetrical map would be a really neat, and simple addition (Simple in terms of cluttering the UI, not development).
    July 24, 2015 at 19:31
  11. romain:

    great tools thanks for this !

    Intuitive and esay to use.

    I notice that the map is removed if you move it out of the grid with arrow (specialy on left and top side)

    I just create a map for a one shot scenario, and the only thing missing are symbol for secret doors and basic furniture (bed, table, barrel)
    I see in example labels but i didn't find it :(

    Good job et bon courage :)
    July 20, 2015 at 17:20
  12. Court:

    used it for a fan made fnaf map it's pretty usefull!
    July 19, 2015 at 18:09
  13. George:

    Great system! This is so intuitive to use. Is there any chance we could get a dirt path texture for maps of villages?
    July 18, 2015 at 04:40
  14. Saber:

    Felt like I should let you know, but a few times while making a large map, areas around doors, 3×1, and 4×1 furniture end up with slight to a lot of pixelation near them that distorts the colors. I dunno what exactly causes it since for the map I made it only seems to have happened to a few of the objects.
    July 15, 2015 at 18:37
  15. Anonymus:

    I really like the look of the map, the form is limited to basic and its for the best and its time saving also. For further development I would like to see an editable canvas size and maybe symbols, like arrows, dots, dashed lines.
    July 13, 2015 at 10:20
  16. Mike:

    Love it! This is exactly what I've been looking for…simple, easy, looks great, and imports into Roll20!
    July 11, 2015 at 05:37
  17. Toxicat:

    Aaah ! My bad and sorry for missing that option ! :)
    July 4, 2015 at 22:40
  18. Toxicat:

    Hi Deepnight,

    I currently encounter a bug when I move-up or move-left the map. If my drawing hit the left edge or the upper edge, wall will be deleted.

    Bug occur on chrome (last version) and firefox (last version) too.

    Any hint ?

    Regards,
    July 3, 2015 at 13:23
    • Sébastien Bénard:

      It's not exactly a bug :) Arrow keys actually PAN the whole map in the corresponding direction (deleting elements that leave the bounds). If you want to scroll the view, use the middle mouse button :)
      July 3, 2015 at 17:59
  19. BaidenFallwind:

    This little tool is incredibly simple to use, exactly what we need to get our Dungeons and Dragons games going. Are there any plans for updates? The addition of colored tiles (blue = water), as well as angled walls would be beneficial. Thanks for all your hard work on this!
    June 25, 2015 at 22:55
  20. Jack Marrinson:

    This is easily the best solution for those of us interested in making clean, visually simple maps. If I were to make one suggestion, it would be to introduce some way of creating angled walls.
    June 24, 2015 at 07:48

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