Expelled!

About

Expelled! is a single player role playing game with drama, mystery and historical themes. It was developed by inkle Ltd and was released on March 12, 2025. It received overwhelmingly positive reviews from players.

A School Prefect has been pushed out of a window, and everyone's blaming YOU. Can you find the culprit - or someone to take the fall - before you get EXPELLED? Mystery with a wicked twist, from the creators of Overboard! and A Highland Song.

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96%

Audience ScoreBased on 191 reviews

story27 positive mentions

grinding7 negative mentions

The game features a clever, well-written narrative with witty and humorous dialogue that keeps players engaged through multiple playthroughs.
Strong replayability due to a time loop mechanic where knowledge and choices carry over, encouraging experimentation with different strategies and moral decisions.
Distinctive hand-drawn art style and period-appropriate jazz soundtrack enhance the setting and overall immersive experience.

The gameplay can feel slow and repetitive, with occasional frustrating UI limitations and pacing issues during dialogue and choices.
Some story elements feel loosely connected, with a core mystery that may lack depth and coherence, causing occasional confusion or lack of clear direction.
The game’s length and amount of content may not justify its price for all players, especially considering some find completing the main story relatively short.

story
85 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
63%
5%
The story is a cleverly constructed, branching narrative centered on a mystery at a 1920s girls' school, blending dark humor, social themes, and strategic time-based decisions. While praised for its immersive writing, replayability, and gradual unfolding of secrets through multiple loops, some find it shallow or too brief, with certain plot resolutions feeling unsatisfying. Overall, it appeals strongly to fans of interactive fiction and mystery-driven storytelling, though it may lack traditional gameplay elements or extensive length for others.
- “Is an interactive narrative adventure developed and published by inkle ltd, a studio widely recognized for its strong emphasis on branching storytelling and player-driven narratives.”
- “The writing is masterfully done and the story is really good, feeling incredibly immersive with a great balance of strategy and storytelling.”
- “Each playthrough reveals new pieces of information, alternative conversations, and hidden storylines that gradually expose the full truth behind the incident.”
- “However, the new factor soon wears off and players can soon realize the shallow nature of the story and the fact that most of the events are entirely unrelated to the ultimate goal of the game - essentially, not getting expelled.”
- “Additionally, the core story is pretty boring as well, and definitely not long enough to justify the current price.”
- “Aside from its genre issues, the story, crime and characters aren't too interesting or intriguing though.”
gameplay
42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
72%
7%
The gameplay builds on its predecessor by enhancing the time-loop and investigation mechanics, focusing on dialogue-driven choices, social manipulation, and exploration within a tightly woven narrative framework. While praised for its engaging story, replayability, and new morality system, some players found the mechanics too similar to the original and occasionally unclear or under-explained. Overall, it's a satisfying, story-centric experience that may appeal more to fans of interactive fiction than traditional gameplay.
- “Each gameplay loop is relatively short and stays interesting even after a few hours, with new events discovered in every loop.”
- “The core gameplay loop becomes a surprisingly addictive and satisfying question of, 'If I go here, and then do this, and then move here and do this, will that help me or uncover new information?' as you slowly work out how to save yourself from your untimely fate as well as the other mysteries surrounding the school.”
- “Expelled introduces a new mechanic where the information you learn in each iteration is compiled and given to you at the start of a new game, enhancing the gameplay by not requiring you to collect every memory and piece of information again in every loop.”
- “I did not enjoy the frustrating experience, and gave up after several hours of gameplay.”
- “Tldr: the art is good and the story is fine, but a different story doesn't matter much when the mechanics are near identical, either buy overboard or don't buy either unless you loved overboard.”
- “The mechanics of the morality system are a little unclear - I was confused at first as to why this was carrying over across multiple runs.”
humor
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is widely praised for its smart, witty, and dark humor, featuring hilarious, quirky characters and a cleverly constructed narrative that blends suspense with comedy. Its writing is consistently described as top-notch, amusing, and engaging, with clever dialogue and humorous situations that enhance the immersive mystery experience. The humor is a standout aspect, making the game both entertaining and memorable across multiple playthroughs.
- “A strong, witty and dark-humorous narrative game, with a super clever construction and a great rhythm.”
- “The writing is top-notch, and the way it blends humor with suspense is perfect.”
- “But somehow, inkle always manages to nail the funny and witty tone of the characters while drawing up an interesting whodunit.”
replayability
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
43%
19%
Replayability is a core strength of the game, driven by its branching dialogue, multiple story paths, and meaningful player choices that lead to varied outcomes. While it may lack traditional gameplay systems, its narrative replayability, subplots, and secret paths offer fresh experiences each run. The game's short play sessions coupled with diverse routes and consequences make it highly engaging for players who enjoy exploring different story angles.
- “Replayability is built deeply into the game’s structure.”
- “Its clever use of time management, branching dialogue, and replayable storylines allows players to approach the situation from many different angles.”
- “Tons of different choices you can make, realistic consequences to your actions (for the most part), a morality system, a secret evil path, etc., offers a good amount of content and replayability, without overstaying its welcome.”
- “Excels as a narrative experience, its focus on dialogue and replayable story paths may not appeal to players seeking traditional gameplay systems such as combat or complex puzzles.”
- “They are more bite sized, going for replayability and finding different routes rather than having a long story spanning 10+ hours.”
- “There's a lot that the game wants you to find out but the story lacks the excitement and replayability needed to make players want to keep playing on.”
music
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
56%
The music, featuring a full jazz soundtrack inspired by original 1920s recordings, effectively immerses players in the game's historical setting. It adapts to different situations, enhancing both tense investigations and lighter social scenes, and is praised for adding charm and personality alongside the art, writing, and voice acting.
- “The audio design reinforces the game’s historical setting through a soundtrack inspired by the music of the 1920s.”
- “The music shifts depending on the situation, supporting both tense investigative moments and lighter scenes of social interaction.”
- “A puzzle game that never gets old because it always feels like there is more to learn and more threads to chase accompanied by well-chosen music that really makes the setting pop.”
grinding
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game can feel tedious and repetitive, especially when figuring out precise timing and sequences. However, features like scene resets, fast-track options, and objective lists help mitigate excessive grinding and keep replaying somewhat engaging. Some puzzles and mechanics, though, may contribute to the overall sense of tedium.
- “I will admit, at a certain point the loops just felt a bit grindy and I apparently wasn’t quite clever enough to figure everything out, so I had to look up a guide on how to properly finish a winning run.”
- “It can get somewhat tedious when you are trying to figure out the timing and sequence of exactly what you need to do, and picking one option can ruin the whole run if you're not careful.”
- “Tagging off things you've done is a bit confusing and the labyrinth maze puzzle gets tedious rather than being actually engaging as a labyrinth.”
graphics
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The game's graphics feature richly detailed environments with a distinctive cartoon aesthetic that captures the elegance of early twentieth-century British institutions. The unique art style enhances the visual novel experience, complementing the well-written story and immersive setting.
- “The environments of the school are richly detailed, with classrooms, dormitories, gardens, and hidden corners all rendered with an aesthetic that evokes the elegance and formality of early twentieth-century British institutions.”
- “It's a fun visual novel game with a unique setting and art style.”
- “A well-written and adventurous story with nice graphics and a dense plot.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's character portraits showcase expressive animations that effectively convey subtle emotional changes during conversations, enhancing players' ability to interpret reactions and mood shifts. This adds depth to the emotional experience and engagement with the story.
- “Character portraits feature expressive animation that captures subtle emotional changes during conversations, helping players interpret reactions and mood shifts.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's optimization is solid, delivering a smooth experience that complements its charming art, writing, music, and voice performance without technical issues.
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game exhibits some minor scripting bugs due to its larger scale, but these issues are infrequent and do not significantly disrupt immersion or overall stability.