It wasn’t until the third run in Curious Expedition that I realized how much I disliked Charles Darwin. I’d managed to stay neck-and-neck with him through two expeditions as Ada Lovelace, but my third expedition had been an utter disaster. I’d gotten greedy and caused a volcanic curse to befall the region after stealing some artifacts from an ancient temple, and after that, it had been a race to just get to the golden pyramid before my party succumbed to madness, disease, or cannibalism. Darwin meanwhile had accomplished a wonderfully successful expedition, plundering his target region for a wide variety of valuable treasures. This recognition catapulted him well into the lead and meant I would need to throw caution to the winds and be extra aggressive on my next expedition.
Lack of caution is usually a recipe for certain doom in roguelike games.
Curious Expedition sets players up to lead a series of six expeditions as one of various 19th – or 20th-century explorers or scientists. The goal is to become the preeminent explorer of the prestigious Explorer’s Guild, and ultimately have a statue erected in your honor. Of course, there are challengers. Four other explorers are also after the same prize and will be conducting their own expeditions concurrently with your own.
Curious Expedition was originally released to Steam Early Access in 2016. The game received regular updates and eventually a full release in 2019. This console version may be considered something of a “Complete Edition” since it rolls four years of PC-side updates into a single new package.
The good news is, you found an oracle telling you that the region has lots of lovely shrines and treasures. The bad news is that you’ll probably trigger a volcanic eruption. . . or five. . .
As in most roguelikes, the name of the game in Curious Expedition is randomness. Opponents, expedition locations, and expedition maps are randomly generated in each game session. A successful run is as much a function of good fortune in map generation as it is in practical strategy.
Each expedition contains a mixture of campsites, caves, missions, native villages, temples, and various other encounter possibilities. Aside from the prestige of simply discovering the golden temple which is the goal of every expedition, some items can be sold following the completion of the expedition for either greater fame with the Explorer’s Guild, or cash to help finance the next trip. Combat with wild animals is often a punishing challenge, but that can vary significantly depending on the adventurer and the composition of the party.
Who knows what treasures or more likely, miserable deaths, the arctic wastelands will hold?
The graphics of Curious Expedition can best be described as “retro”. Intentionally harkening back to the 16-bit pixel games of old, the game looks good for what it is. As expected, the Xbox One (or any machine with more power than a potato, really) should have little problem handling these graphics. On the console, the controls definitely suffer from the lack of a functional mouse. Navigating through various windows using the controller is a bit more cumbersome than preferred, although it is relatively easy to adapt.
A typical expedition run in Curious Expedition tends to last between thirty and sixty minutes, depending on how much success the player manages. A variety of challenges required to unlock certain historical adventurers will take significantly more time and luck to complete. Most players will likely get at least 10-15 hours of play from the game, perhaps more, depending on how many historical figures one wants to unlock.
Combat involves rolling some dice for each member of the party, making combinations, and using them to attack and defend against the enemy.
With its focus on a sort of pseudo-19th-Century exploration and adventure, Curious Expedition definitely brings a different take to the roguelike genre than most other games. How enjoyable it feels may come down to how much players enjoy the roguelike genre in general. Some runs just feel doomed from the start, while it’s also certainly possible to have an expedition wrecked later in the game by either poor choices or a really wonky map. Three levels of difficulty (Easy, Normal, and Hard) ensure that pretty much everyone can at least complete an expedition.
Curious Expedition is available now for Microsoft Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Sony PlayStation®4, and PCs via Steam. A digital review copy of the Xbox One version game was provided to Marooners’ Rock for this review. More information can be found on the official website.
For more roguelike reviews, check out Alex’s thoughts on One Step From Eden, a game that revives the battle system of the Mega Man Battle Network series. Joseph also recently covered the Switch port of Exit the Gungeon.
