The Fifth Expedition (2016)

It’s the 19th Century in this roguelike expedition simulation game where you will need your wits about you and a strategy to survive perilous expeditions. In Curious Expedition take control of one of history’s most famous characters on a grand quest to the unexplored far reaches of the world. Race around the world against your fellow explorers in a cut-throat competition to gain fame and fortune, all of course in the name of science. Will you strive to raise your reputation by donating your discoveries to the museum or will greed motivate you to sell those discoveries for a fortune?

An adventure Indy Jones would be proud of. While Curious Expedition may not dress to impress, this game’s the real deal when it comes to a fun experience with replay value. Tough but entertaining, it will scratch the itch for folks who like decision-making dilemmas. Like with any roguelike, you’ll fail often and there’s lots to learn—but that’s exactly where the fun is. I would have been glad to pay more than $15 for it.

Despite its flaws, though, Curious Expedition is a fun adventure and a well-crafted experience. With deep gameplay mechanics, lots of characters to choose from, and a high replayability factor, this is worth a look if you like exploration adventures.

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.

Curious Expedition has some good ideas but most of them don’t quite land thanks to the overly repetitive gameplay that gets boring after a few short runs, as well as its terrible combat system. Hopefully the upcoming sequel can improve on these issues, if it ever comes out.