Manhattan is a hybrid map, featuring a long, thin center island surrounded on all sides by mainland, with a thin river being the only water separating the island from the other land, though there are shallows connecting the two. At least one player will always start on the island.
While a river runs the whole way vertically through the map, at one end, there is always a coastline with bays, peninsulas, and small neutral islands. Larger islands can also be present, with players having the potential to start there. All relics on the map will spawn on neutral islands and not on the mainland, incentivizing water control. Neutral islands will also contain gold and stone for extra reward.
The varied geography and starting positions can make this a unique experience with dynamic battles, befitting its New York-inspired theme. The name comes from the most famous and densely-populated borough of New York City, and indeed, the player that starts on the middle island can find themselves short on space if surrounded on all sides by enemies, and the generally compact nature of the map can lend itself to fast and fierce battles. Overall, it is a map with a lot of potential for enjoyable and distinct games.
After modeling the map in the Scenario Editor, I figured out the most interesting way to start is by having three villagers in a Transport Ship on the opposite side of the coastline from the enemy player, basically being a Nomad start.
I tried playing a game against the AI, but it doesn’t know to land the villagers and just gets stuck with them in the Transport Ship indefinitely. If the map were modded in, there’d have to be a new AI map script to accompany it, because it doesn’t know what to do otherwise.