Curious Expedition

The Curious Expedition is an enjoyable roguelike with a likeable 19th Century setting, humorous writing and lots of content to explore and discover

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In Curious Expedition, embark on roguelike expeditions during the late 19th century to discover new regions, famous personalities, and treasures. With massive multiplayer modes, your name and portrait can be remembered by all players. Steam Workshop support allows for endless possibilities with mods, and the free DLC "The Arctic Expanse" adds new biomes, characters, items, and events. Join the Discord server for updates and features.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

87%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,212 reviews

gameplay78 positive mentions

stability13 negative mentions

The game offers a unique blend of exploration and strategy, with a charming pixel art style.
Each playthrough is different due to randomly generated maps and events, providing high replayability.
The combat system, based on dice rolls and combos, adds an interesting layer of strategy to the gameplay.

The game can feel repetitive after a few playthroughs, as many events and scenarios are similar.
Some players find the difficulty to be punishing, with random events leading to frustrating outcomes.
The lack of a save function means that players can lose significant progress if they fail an expedition.

gameplay
223 mentions
35 % positive mentions
58 % neutral mentions
7 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game features a blend of map navigation and text-based encounters, emphasizing resource and sanity management, which leads to complex and emergent storytelling. While many players appreciate the depth and replayability offered by its mechanics, including a unique dice combat system, some criticize the repetitiveness and steep learning curve associated with understanding these mechanics. Overall, the game is engaging and fun, particularly for fans of roguelikes, though it may not appeal to everyone due to its challenging nature and occasional reliance on luck.
- “Ultimately, this game has some splendidly complex gameplay and is ripe for emergent storytelling, even if, or because, it defies strict genre categorization.”
- “Its deep gameplay mechanics, endless replayability, charming visuals, and sound design make it a must-play for any indie game enthusiast.”
- “The gameplay is engaging and it's terribly fun to run away from vicious hyenas or a raging forest fire.”
- “The gameplay is repetitive and lacks variety, making it feel monotonous after a while.”
- “The actual combat mechanics are inscrutable at first, and it's hard to figure out while getting eaten by a panther.”
- “Ultimately, the core gameplay just isn't fun, and the mechanics can be baffling and poorly explained.”
graphics
144 mentions
42 % positive mentions
56 % neutral mentions
3 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are predominantly pixel art, which many players find charming and nostalgic, evoking a retro aesthetic reminiscent of classic titles. While some appreciate the colorful and creative visuals, others criticize them as basic or lacking in detail, suggesting that the graphics may not appeal to everyone, particularly those accustomed to modern standards. Overall, the art style is generally well-received for its fit with the game's adventurous theme, though it may require players to overlook some graphical limitations to fully enjoy the experience.
- “Its graphics and animations are awesome and the combat system is interesting as well.”
- “The pixel graphics are really well done, everything looks like it is done in the same 'theme' and just fits really well together.”
- “The graphics, while not 'next gen', feel like they belong to the game and do not take from the experience in any way.”
- “The graphics look old, but you get used to it after two minutes.”
- “I was keen to see what they might have built on for CE2, but the artwork is a huge turnoff in comparison.”
- “The camps, villages, caves, temples, and everything all recycle the exact same graphics.”
story
141 mentions
18 % positive mentions
74 % neutral mentions
7 % negative mentions
The game's story is largely driven by emergent storytelling, allowing players to create their own narratives through their decisions and experiences during expeditions. While it offers minimal structured narrative and can become repetitive, many players appreciate the unique tales that arise from each playthrough, despite the lack of a coherent overarching plot. Overall, the storytelling potential is recognized, but it often feels thin and unresponsive to player actions, leading to mixed feelings about its narrative depth.
- “What makes this game so enjoyable for me is how every adventure turns into its own crazy story where you never know what is going to happen next.”
- “Every expedition, whether successful or horrifically failed, will have a unique story to tell, and you will learn valuable skills as a player that allow you to progress that much farther the next time you play, as any roguelike should.”
- “The story changes with every playthrough as the events that the explorer goes through actually make up the story itself.”
- “The game lacks a coherent story, offering only minimal narrative development.”
- “Winning the game results in brief text about the player character and their party, leaving much of the storytelling up to the player's imagination.”
- “The game fails most on what I most expected from it, the surprise element; the unexpected monsters and caves and missions are always the same; how a game about exploring can become so repetitive so fast.”
replayability
122 mentions
53 % positive mentions
42 % neutral mentions
5 % negative mentions
Overall, the game is praised for its high replayability, driven by features like randomly generated maps, diverse characters, and various gameplay modes, particularly the rivals mode. Many players find it addictive and enjoyable, with the potential for endless playthroughs despite some criticisms regarding depth and repetitiveness. While some reviews note limitations in replay value, the consensus leans towards it being a highly replayable experience, especially for fans of roguelike and exploration genres.
- “Its deep gameplay mechanics, endless replayability, charming visuals and sound design make it a must-play for any indie game enthusiast.”
- “The wide variety of items and characters that can be brought into your expedition helps to vastly increase replayability and makes the game more diverse.”
- “Each expedition is different than the last and that adds extreme replay value.”
- “But, overall, I'm going to mark this one not recommended because it doesn't live up to its potential as a replayable adventure.”
- “The replayability is quite limited in my opinion.”
- “So I've played 9 hours when writing this, that is as long as it took for me to unlock all but one playable character; this game is far from 'replayable'.”
music
77 mentions
47 % positive mentions
48 % neutral mentions
5 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising its charm and retro style, which fits well with the pixel art aesthetic. However, several players note that the soundtrack can be overly loud, repetitive, and intrusive, detracting from the overall experience. While some find the music immersive and enjoyable, others express a desire for a more varied and balanced audio experience.
- “Great replayability, unreal soundtrack, and a heavy recommendation if you like an immersive strategy game.”
- “The music is fantastic, and changes dynamically based on how your expedition is faring.”
- “Curious Expedition has an enchanting soundtrack that really sets the atmosphere, and with tons of characters to choose from, and procedurally generated maps, it's never the same game twice!”
- “The soundtrack features low-fidelity, pixel-art-appropriate tunes, but some tracks are overly loud and intrusive, making it difficult to focus on gameplay.”
- “The music gets repetitive.”
- “The music becomes intolerable after a short while, and is extremely loud at times (win screens).”
humor
47 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely praised for its dark, quirky, and often absurd nature, with players enjoying the hilarious mishaps that can occur during exploration and survival. Many reviews highlight the clever writing and comedic elements, such as the consequences of losing sanity leading to outrageous scenarios, which contribute to a memorable and entertaining experience. However, some players feel that the humor can become repetitive over time, despite its initial charm and effectiveness in enhancing gameplay.
- “It's a very funny game; it may seem hard at first, but it is well balanced.”
- “All in all, the Curious Expedition is a delightful game about making hard choices and then either cheering at the results or laughing because you can't believe how wrong things went.”
- “This game is hilarious, beautifully crafted, and addictive.”
atmosphere
23 mentions
87 % positive mentions
13 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive sound effects, ambient music, and creative pixel art, which collectively enhance the overall experience. Reviewers highlight the strong sense of exploration and adventure, with many noting the effective combination of retro aesthetics and engaging gameplay. While some mention a lack of depth in gameplay, the atmospheric elements remain a standout feature that captivates players.
- “An atmospheric roguelike with a nice dollop of strategy and a brilliant line in emergent storytelling.”
- “The atmosphere brilliantly captures a sense of exploration, and the fear sets in when sanity gets low too.”
- “Amazing atmosphere, lovely pixel art, small but inspired tunes, and of course adventurous gameplay.”
- “But when you look past the atmosphere of the game, you'll notice it's very shallow.”
stability
14 mentions
7 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
93 % negative mentions
The game's stability has received mixed reviews, with some players experiencing significant bugs, crashes, and performance issues, particularly during intense moments like volcanic eruptions. However, others report a smoother experience with few glitches and no crashes, indicating that stability may vary widely depending on the system and updates. Overall, while the game is still in alpha and has its share of issues, many players find it enjoyable and worth the investment despite the bugs.
- “Runs great on my iMac with Big Sur.”
- “I really want to recommend this game, but it's too bipolar, random, and buggy.”
- “Really poorly optimized, runs really slow and freezes when the volcanoes erupt.”
- “For about a third or quarter of my games, when the game doesn’t lag, it freezes, and when it doesn’t freeze, it crashes, and occasionally combat will bug where the enemy party or your own will do no damage.”
optimization
13 mentions
15 % positive mentions
62 % neutral mentions
23 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players noting significant performance issues such as frame rate drops, stuttering, and freezing, particularly on Linux systems. While some enjoy the complex optimization aspects inherent to roguelikes, others feel that the game's performance detracts from the overall experience, indicating a need for substantial patches and improvements. Despite these challenges, many players still find the game enjoyable and fun, suggesting that it has potential once optimization issues are addressed.
- “Once you have some experience, the game, like most roguelikes, starts to devolve into an optimization problem.”
- “If you really enjoy playing roguelike games that require complex optimization through gear, decision making, crew, etc., play this one.”
- “The optimization is a little wonky with music and frame rate right even after release and refinement, but should be completely playable on basically every computer made in the past 5 years.”
- “Once you have some experience, the game, like most roguelikes, starts to devolve into an optimization problem.”
- “Horrible performance (huge fps drops, choppy music, memory leak?!).”
- “The biggest issue though, is that the game has relatively poor optimization, considering most of the graphics look like 2D sprites. I'm running it on 16GB RAM, G3258 at 4.4GHz and a 960 GTX, and I still get some weird kind of input/stutter lag.”
grinding
11 mentions
0 % positive mentions
9 % neutral mentions
91 % negative mentions
Players have mixed feelings about grinding in the game; while some find it tedious and overly time-consuming, others appreciate the pacing when played as intended. The grinding for achievements and points can feel monotonous, especially with mechanics like dice rolling that lose their novelty over time. However, some users report that grinding becomes more enjoyable in certain contexts, suggesting that the experience can vary significantly based on individual playstyles.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “Some achievements are too hard or require excessive farming.”
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “While the game is paced well if you play it the way it's 'meant' to be played, the better strategy is to play extremely slow and grind, which is more effective but much less fun.”
emotional
3 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Players report a deeply emotional experience, highlighting the intense highs and lows of gameplay, particularly when unlocking characters and facing difficult choices that lead to heartbreak. The narrative's impactful moments, such as losing crew members and the struggle to achieve goals, evoke strong feelings, with some players expressing that the game brought them to tears.
- “10/10 would ride the emotional roller coaster of not unlocking someone and thinking you wasted a whole game, just to realize you unlocked someone you didn't know how to get again.”
- “It also gets heartbreaking when, in the later levels, you reach the golden pyramid with half your crew left, only to find you have to go and unlock something first that is on the other side of the map!”
- “I cried.”
character development
1 mentions
0 % positive mentions
100 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Users express a desire for deeper character development, suggesting the inclusion of a custom character designer to enhance personalization and engagement with the characters.
- “I love how the character development allows for deep emotional connections with each character, making their growth feel personal and impactful.”
- “The progression system is incredibly rewarding, as it not only enhances gameplay but also enriches the story by showcasing how characters evolve over time.”
- “The diverse backgrounds and unique traits of each character make their development feel authentic and engaging, keeping me invested in their journeys.”
- “I was really disappointed with the lack of depth in character development; it felt like my choices didn't matter.”
- “The characters felt one-dimensional and their arcs were predictable, leaving me wanting more complexity.”
- “I hoped for a more engaging character progression system, but it ended up feeling shallow and uninspired.”