A Monsters Expedition

About

A Monsters Expedition is a single player open world puzzle game with a post-apocalyptic theme. It was developed by Benjamin Davis and was released on September 10, 2020. It received positive reviews from critics and very positive reviews from players.

A Monster’s Expedition (Through Puzzling Exhibitions) is a brand new adventure tour for monsters who love to learn about humans! Learn the ancient art of pushing trees over* and fashion your own pathways with our easy-build bridges. Then immerse yourself in human culture with all-new exhibits from our "Human Englandland" dig site, each accompanied with expert insights**! *Trees have been pre-weak…

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95%

Audience ScoreBased on 905 reviews

gameplay66 positive mentions

grinding11 negative mentions

Ingenious and elegant puzzle design using simple log pushing mechanics with deep and surprising interactions.
Large interconnected open-world map allowing non-linear exploration and multiple puzzle solutions.
Charming art style, relaxing ambient music, and humorous in-game museum exhibits enhance the overall experience.

The open-world structure and lack of explicit guidance can lead to confusion, making progression and locating puzzles frustrating.
Some late-game and optional puzzles are extremely difficult and obscure, potentially requiring external guides.
Certain gameplay and UI elements, like limited map visibility and occasional softlocks, can cause player frustration.

gameplay
344 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
79%
2%
The gameplay of "A Monster's Expedition" centers on a single, elegantly simple mechanic of pushing and rolling logs to create bridges between islands, which is explored with surprising depth and creativity throughout the game. Puzzles gradually increase in complexity, introducing new nuanced interactions without overwhelming the player, and the open-world design encourages exploration and discovery of mechanics naturally rather than through explicit tutorials. While some find the repetitive nature and limited variety of mechanics less engaging in the long run, most praise the game's clever puzzle design, smooth flow, and satisfying learning curve that together provide a rewarding and relaxing puzzle experience.
- “The gameplay thrives on experimentation and discovering new ways that the mechanics interact.”
- “Every puzzle-solving mechanic is available from the very start, but you aren't told about any of them; instead, you organically stumble on the "hidden" mechanics as you go, which leads to an incredible sense of discovery.”
- “With a very tiny set of gameplay elements, very deep interactions and consequences can be found across its long gameplay length.”
- “Somewhere mid-game, when all of the puzzle elements and mechanics are already introduced, it abruptly switches from curiously exploring the exhibition - which in terms of humour is just the right thing for the game, as it puts a silly smile on your face while the brain is fuming trying to solve another puzzle - to a literal roadblock.”
- “The game's refusal to talk to the player about mechanics was a terrible design decision. This applies to nearly all mechanics in the game. While you don't have to shout at the player what every mechanic is, you do need some way of ensuring the player can naturally figure them out. There are times you will get stuck on a puzzle where you know there is a mechanic you are missing, and if you knew what the mechanic was, you could solve it, but you don't so you're forced to do blind guessing.”
- “Eventually the mechanics wear thin and I kinda just wanted it to be over.”
humor
101 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
98%
2%
The humor in the game is generally praised for its charming, quirky, and witty take on human artifacts seen through the confused and often amusing perspective of monster archaeologists, adding depth and delight to the experience. While many find the exhibit descriptions and flavor text genuinely funny and a motivating, entertaining complement to the puzzles, a minority feel the humor can be forced, repetitive, or hit-or-miss, leaning toward dry, subtle, or dad-joke styles. Overall, the humor enhances the game's whimsical and relaxing atmosphere, making exploration and puzzle-solving more enjoyable.
- “The sense of discovery lies not only in solving puzzles but in understanding the world and the quiet humor embedded in its exhibits—each island a museum piece from humanity’s forgotten past, humorously misinterpreted by monster archaeologists.”
- “The humor in the exhibits you encounter along the way is quirky and charming and the scenery is serene, with plenty of opportunities to stop and just soak it all in.”
- “The colorful graphics, the soothing music and the funny twists of human stuff described by monsters are what make an already great game a true masterpiece.”
- “These texts are dreadfully unfunny and boring.”
- “I came to see monsters and do fun puzzles, but it's just unfunny jokes after a puzzle.”
graphics
92 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
49%
48%
3%
The graphics of "A Monster's Expedition" feature a charming, simple, and stylized art style that is clean, colorful, and soothing, effectively creating a warm, peaceful, and whimsical atmosphere. While the visuals may lack variety and feel somewhat minimalist, the combination of pleasant animations, diverse biomes, and engaging museum exhibits enriches the experience. Overall, the graphics complement the relaxing puzzle gameplay by being unobtrusive yet delightful, enhancing immersion without distracting from the puzzles.
- “The clean, minimalist art style conveys warmth and clarity, ensuring that each element in the environment serves a purpose.”
- “The graphics and music are absolutely delightful, and they create a warm and inviting atmosphere that is hard not to love.”
- “The colorful graphics, the soothing music and the funny twists of human stuff described by monsters are what make an already great game a true masterpiece.”
- “After a while it's just a grind through a long series of puzzles, without enough mechanical, aesthetic, or narrative variety to keep it interesting.”
- “Some of the solutions look highly complex, which is a bit of a contrast with the childlike graphics and humour.”
- “Unfortunately my computer crashed several times when trying to play, likely due to a somewhat busted graphics card, but setting the resolution to 800x600 fixed that.”
music
86 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
49%
48%
3%
The music in the game is consistently praised for its calming, ambient, and dynamic qualities that perfectly complement the tranquil, cozy atmosphere and clever puzzle design. While generally subtle and unobtrusive, the soundtrack and sound effects are noted for their interactive integration with gameplay actions, enhancing immersion without becoming distracting. Although some mention a desire for more variety, the overall sound design is considered charming, soothing, and a key factor in making the experience relaxing and enjoyable.
- “The sound design reinforces this tranquil atmosphere: the gentle rustle of trees, the splash of water, and the subdued ambient soundtrack all work together to create an almost meditative rhythm.”
- “I love how every action you take in the game makes a little musical sound effect that blends in with the soundtrack – it’s a really cute touch, while still being subtle enough that it never got annoying or distracting.”
- “This is an incredible game, not only because the puzzles are delightfully smart, the art colorfully excellent, the music melodiously soothing and the writing consistently hilarious, nor because all these elements combine harmoniously and with personality; but because the whole game pushes the sokoban-like genre further in a unique way, opening the door to all sort of different skilled players to a single experience, that drags everyone who tries it into the powerful tide of awe.”
- “Although the music/musical sound effects could use more variety.”
- “I'm really disappointed there wasn’t more of a soundtrack.”
- “But otherwise there’s really no music.”
atmosphere
40 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
42%
8%
The atmosphere is consistently praised for its relaxing, tranquil, and cozy vibe, enhanced by gentle sound design, pleasant music, and charming writing. This serene ambiance creates an inviting, contemplative environment that complements the puzzle-solving experience, making the game easy to lose oneself in while maintaining a no-pressure, thoughtful mood. Overall, the atmosphere is a standout feature that significantly enhances enjoyment and immersion.
- “The sound design reinforces this tranquil atmosphere: the gentle rustle of trees, the splash of water, and the subdued ambient soundtrack all work together to create an almost meditative rhythm.”
- “And then there's this game, with its relaxing atmosphere and its small yet mechanically deep puzzles, with a whole world built on puzzles that flow one to the next in a way that makes it really difficult to stop playing.”
- “The graphics and music are absolutely delightful, and they create a warm and inviting atmosphere that is hard not to love.”
- “The atmosphere did immediately grab me, but for an atmosphere alone to sell a game it needs to be shorter.”
- “Again, the atmosphere, even combined with some flavour text, isn't enough to sell this game.”
- “The atmosphere keeps it from being too repetitive.”
story
33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
73%
9%
The story is minimal and largely conveyed through brief, often humorous exhibit descriptions and worldbuilding rather than traditional narrative or dialogue. While some find the humor hit-or-miss and the thematic content somewhat thin, others appreciate the charming, quiet humor and whimsical tone that complement the clever puzzle design. Overall, the game prioritizes puzzles, with the story serving as a light, atmospheric bonus rather than a compelling driving force.
- “The puzzles were difficult (in a good way) and I thought it was interesting to see the progression of learning new physics and mechanics as you progress through the story.”
- “The main story — a monster visiting a museum about humans who needs to roll logs to proceed through different islands — is full of challenges and humour (some puns are absolutely brilliant).”
- “The musical score is gorgeous, and the story is quietly humorous without being overpowering.”
- “The biggest downside for me was the underlying story and theming, which, although cute, were mostly uninteresting.”
- “Only "meh" for me: the "story" / context / attempts at humor sprinkled on museum plaques fell flat for me; they quickly felt repetitive and uninspired.”
- “There's no story, or character dialogue.”
grinding
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in "A Monster's Expedition" is often seen as tedious and repetitive, with many players finding the puzzle-solving process frustrating rather than engaging. While some puzzles can be enjoyable, the lack of new content and slow progression leads to a stale experience, especially toward the end and when aiming for 100% completion.
- “Usually in games, you grind in order to level up or get a special item or something that gives you progress... not in this game, tedious brain teasers all the way through with an abrupt unsatisfying end.”
- “But it becomes grinding really quick as there is no new puzzle type or any real content added during gameplay.”
- “But by the time I was grinding out the last parts with the guide, it had grown kind of stale.”
emotional
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game excels at creating an emotional connection through its subtle humor, elegant design, and wholesome atmosphere, enhanced by pleasing visuals and sound. Its clever puzzle mechanics evoke moments of awe and self-reflection, making players feel genuinely challenged rather than simply clever. Overall, it delivers a heartwarming and thoughtful experience that resonates deeply with players.
- “Through its humor, elegance, and emotional subtlety, it creates a sense of connection between player and world that few games achieve.”
- “On top of the wonderful mechanics, the world is lovely and the added humor is heartwarming.”
- “While these interactions really serve no point, they make the game feel wholesome, which is helped by the pleasing visuals and the light background music.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game offers moderate replayability, with additional puzzles available to complete after finishing the main story, encouraging players to continue exploring beyond the initial playthrough.
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game offers a well-balanced system and settings menu that allows players to customize performance options effectively. Overall, optimization is smooth, providing stable gameplay across a variety of hardware configurations.
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is problematic, with several noticeable glitches such as logs overlapping or floating unrealistically over water, including monsters. These issues detract from the overall experience.
- “I experienced several kinds of obvious glitches with logs stuck in overlap, logs floating over water, even the monster floating over water.”

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85%Critics’ scoreBased on 4 critic reviews

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12h Median play time

11h Average play time

9h Main story

33h Completionist

5-18h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 5 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

A Monsters Expedition is a open world puzzle game with post-apocalyptic theme.

A Monsters Expedition is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Steam Deck and others.

The main story can be completed in around 9 hours, while the entire game is estimated to take about 33 hours to finish. On average players spend around 11 hours playing A Monsters Expedition.

A Monsters Expedition was released on September 10, 2020.

A Monsters Expedition was developed by Benjamin Davis.

A Monsters Expedition has received positive reviews from players and positive reviews from critics. Most players liked A Monsters Expedition for its gameplay but disliked it for its grinding.

A Monsters Expedition is a single player game.

Similar games include Patrick's Parabox, Akurra, Stephen's Sausage Roll, Bonfire Peaks, Baba Is You and others.

A Monsters Expedition

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