Expedition into the Breach - A Review of Expeditions

                                                Scything Through Expectations

It's no secret to anyone who's been reading this blog for some time that I'm not a fan of Scythe.

I originally had the game really hyped up for me by a good friend who claimed that it would change my view of board games and what I thought of them. At that time, I had really only just started my journey into the realm of board games and what they had to offer, so I didn't really know what to expect from the game. It looked incredible and I thought that there was no way that I wouldn't enjoy it.

That led to one of the biggest disappointments in my gaming career. I had this game that had been spoken of extremely highly and yet when I played the game, I just couldn't get behind the mechanics. I felt as if every single thing that I tried to do was blocked by other people and I found myself getting more and more frustrated with the game as I played on. Ultimately I lost to my friend, which was no surprise as he had played a significant number of games and knew how best to strategize, but the impotence I felt really stuck with me.

I knew how pretty the game was and I really wanted to like it, but I just couldn't get over that feeling of frustration that came with the inability to do anything that I wanted with my pieces. I even purchased the digital version of the game and attempted to try it again to see if it was a one time issue, but found that I had the same frustrations with the digital game: it looked amazing but I felt like I couldn't do anything as the bots would block me turn after turn.

As I developed my taste for games, I began to realize that my frustration really came from the Area Control mechanic that was present in the game. I enjoyed competitive games, especially ones where there can be a "take that" mechanic to it, but area control is one that I am not a fan of, even if it is one of the more popular mechanics. I'll have to see how that plays out in Arcs as I know it's a big part of the game and I have a review of the game coming soon, but from what I've seen, it plays a bit differently.

I've become a big fan of Stonemaier Games and the games that they publish. I have a copy of Apiary and Wyrmspan on my shelves at home that I personally picked up and I'm really excited about Vantage since that seems to be right up my alley for games that I like to play. Plus I appreciate Jamey Stegmaier and his approach not only to game design, but also running his business, with the transparency that he offers with his company's production of games and how they run things. While all of their games might not be my tastes, I will say that I appreciate the open honesty that they have with their games.

So when Jamey posted an article about the Stonemaier Approach to Board Game Reviews and Content Creators, I was curious to see what it said. At that time, I was a fairly new blogger here on BGG and I didn't really feel like I had the reach to apply for their content creator program, so I filed that information away in the back of my mind for future use.

Fast forward a few months and I had been seeing some nice numbers on my blog with subscribers (thank you!) and regular interaction with some of my readers (again, thank you for commenting!) so I felt like I had an opportunity to start requesting review copies of games. I filled out the form (along with many others) and promptly forgot about it, completely expecting my little blog to not have enough reach to warrant interest from Stonemaier Games until I got bigger.

That's when the email from Stonemaier came to me, offering a review copy of several games, which made me extremely excited. I suffer from quite a bit of imposter syndrome and often think that I'm not really good enough to warrant having someone send me a game to review, especially with my smaller numbers. But that email from Stonemeier Games in my inbox for my blog email set something ablaze. I had been chosen by a company and a designer that I really appreciated to look at one of their games and offer my thoughts and feelings on it.

Without getting too deep into the dark realms of my mind, I spent a ton of time thinking about what I'd like to review from Stonemeier Games as I wanted to give a (mostly) unbiased opinion of the game that I reviewed. I knew that I was going to bring in personal bias to the game review as does everyone who reviews games, so I had to be thoughtful about what I chose to review.

Ultimately, I settled on Expeditions for a few reasons:

1) I knew with my history of Scythe, I would come into the review with a slightly negative overall opinion of the game because it was tied into that universe. I tend to be a bit more positive about games that I really like and rate them higher on my initial play rather than taking time to really think about how I feel about them. I was hoping that negative outlook of the series would help color my thoughts on the game.

2) I really loved the theming and mechanical concept of Expeditions and was really intrigued to play the game to see what it offered. I knew that it was different enough from the original game to warrant a try and I hadn't had the opportunity yet to play it. This was a perfect opportunity to do so.

3) None of the other games really spoke to me, or required a base game that I didn't own. I appreciate Stonemaier's way of offering review content by giving options to choose an expansion for a game, but unfortunately the ones that were offered were not contained within my own or a friend's collection, so this was one of the only feasible options.

All that being said, I do want to preface this review by noting that a copy has been provided by Stonemeier Games for the sake of both the review and additional photos that I will be taking and sharing. My opinions are my own on the game and have not been influenced in any way by the publisher for the sake of this review.

Onto the review:

Exploring the Box and It's Contents

Look at this towering beauty!

Game Name: Expeditions
Year Released: 2023
Designer: Jamey Stegmaier
Artist: Jakub Rozalski
Publisher: Stonemaier Games

What initially struck me about the box was how big it was. I had other boxes in my collection that were big (like the Everdell: The Complete Collection) but none were as tall as Expeditions. The game width and depth weren't overly large and while it did fit into my Kallax shelving unit, I was surprised at how long the game box was. The cover of the box featured the amazing artwork by Jakub Rozalski, which heralded the deep dive into an alternative history 1920's Soviet Russia. Steampunk mechs on the left midpoint of the box weren't the most striking part of the cover as the central motif of the entire piece was a large metallic mountain of scrap that had meteorites falling around it.

The game oozed mystery and curiosity to me and I was immediately hooked. I didn't know what was going to be in the box itself, but from what I saw from the cover, it seemed to be a game about the exploration of the unknown; fitting for the title of the game. I am a big fan of alternate history games and this box cover absolutely encouraged that expectation of the game. This was going to be different and I was excited to see what treasures the box beheld.

The insert is not only functional, but also has room for extra pieces, which is absolutely fantastic.

When I opened the box itself and saw the internal components, that made significantly more sense as within the box was a cleverly designed insert that was made not only with a cover to prevent the pieces from going everywhere when the box was moved, but also with room for additional expansion mechs and pieces.
Everything was nestled well into the box and I could tell, even with the cover on the insert, that this was an insert that was designed with functionality and ease of setup in mind. As readers of this blog know, I'm a big insert guy, so finding a well-crafted insert upon initial opening of a box always makes me appreciate the game more.

The rulebooks and cards both have the great linen finish to them.

Everything within the box felt premium as well. From the linen-finish rule books (both standard and solo rulebooks have a linen finish), to the linen-finish cards, to the mechs that had a surprising amount of detail to them, as well as the mech boards, base board, and hex boards that would make up the variable map that you would set up on the table whenever the game was played. There were also a set of small circles that could be snapped onto the bottom of the mechs to indicate player color, as well as numerous wooden meeples, stars and cubes for tracking on the player boards and cards.

The game also came with a set of mech board riser stickers which could be placed on the corners of the mech boards to allow for an easier time sliding the cards under the mechs. The rules even warn that this was a permanent change to the boards and to only add the risers if needed after the first game. I decided to add the stickers myself before the first game as I prefer to have an easier time sliding cards under immediately.

The insert also features a small removable tray that has three separate spaces in it that I have utilized for the meeples, coins and exploration tokens found in the game. It's a nice little addition that I appreciate as it allows me to far easily set up the game and I don't have to worry about pulling items out of bags during setup. An additional note that I would like to add is that all bags found within the game use (what I think is) a biodegradable ziploc material to reduce the plastic used in creating the game. It's a nice little touch and I appreciate Stonemeier's approach to sustainability with that gesture.

Mechs look absolutely incredible and I love the detail that they feature.

I do also want to note here that the mechs and coins contained within the base game of Expeditions are plastic and cardboard respectively. There is a significant level of detail that can be found on both and I appreciate the time and energy that went into making them look like accurate representations of that time period and location. There is a version of the game that comes with metal mechs and metal coins that are available on the Stonemeier website.

There is also an expansion for Expeditions, titled Gears of Corruption that is also available through the Stonemaier Website that comes in both the base plastic version and the upgraded Ironclad Edition with the metal mechs. I have not yet had a chance to play this yet, but I have heard that it is one of the better expansions for games in general and helps to add a few more elements that speed up the base game.

Meteoric Rise and Falls in Gameplay

Overview of the board setup and mech board (with associated mech).

Game Category: Exploration
Game Mechanics: Worker Placement, Multi-Use Cards, Deck, Bag, and Pool Building, Grid Movement, Variable Player Powers

The game board is set up with the hexes composing three separate regions: the south, which are flipped over and immediately visible to players; the center, which are played face down for players to discover and contain "either/or" locations which players will have to choose what action to take; and the north, which are also face down, but feature "both/and" tiles, but also greater corruption before players are able to take both actions listed on the hex.

Players are assigned mechs randomly as well as the character and companion cards randomly (although there is a randomizer available through the Stonmaier website) and choose their respective color for the mechs, tracking cubes and achievement stars. As noted above, each color has a small circular base that can be snapped onto the mechs to show the player controlling it.

Starting in from the first player (who is determined randomly by player preferred method), players take their tracking cube and move it from the "refresh" position on the top right of their mech, to the first open square space. Arrows on the mech board show the direction that the cube can move, making it easy to determine where to place it.

A journey into the corrupted North begins.

Player then proceed to perform one of the three following actions, in any order on their first turn:

1) Move - Players can move their mech up to three spaces on the board over any discovered hexes. If a player moves onto a face down hex, they take the compass token and flip the hex face up, ending their movement on the newly discovered hex. If a new hex is discovered, players add in the corruption tokens from the cloth bag until it meets or exceeds the indicated number on the hex. Mechs may not stop on the same hex as another mech and must move off of their starting tile during this action unless no valid location is available.

2) Play - Players may play a card from their "Hand" (cards on the left side of the mech board) into their "Active" area, gaining the resource (power represented by a fist, or guile represented by the brain) listed on the top left corner of the card. Additionally, players may also choose to utilize a worker on their mech mat to activate the card's ability to perform either a one-time action or ongoing effect, depending on the card type.

3) Gather - Either on the starting hex, or on the hex that movement concludes on, players may activate one of the icons on the hex if an "either/or" symbol is present (/) or both icons if no symbol is present. As there are quite a few icons available to do during the action, I'll mention only a few here. They could be actions such as taking one face up card available in the spaces between the hexes, upgrading your mech with an item card from your active area or hand, or activating an adjacent tile.

Once a player concludes their turn, play passes to the next player who performs the available actions in turn. On the next player turn, the active player must move their action cube to one of the three actions, covering the action up with the cube. This results in players having to choose two of three actions available on their turn, meaning that strategic planning is important. If at any time players would like to "Refresh," they can take their turn to reset the cube back to the "Refresh" location on the mech board, return all cards from the Active area to their Hand, and return all placed workers on the card to their mech board.

Base tile showing setup, scoring criteria, and tracking achievements.

At any time, when a player has achieved one of the goals listed on the base tile, they can choose to take the "boast" action, which then allows them to place one of their achievement stars on the respective location on the board. Goals for the game are as follows:

- 4 Quests - Players can complete a card quest by going to a certain location listed on it, activating a card that lets them complete the quest, and paying the resources to then tuck the card above their mech, gaining the resource in the top left of the card. Upon completing another quest, players regain the resources listed on any tucked quest cards as well. At four completed quests, players can place a star.
- 4 Melded Cards - Players may "meld" a meteorite to their mech by utilizing the action, which then allows them to earn additional coins based on the criteria listed on the meteorite card. Upon each meld, that bonus is reactivated for additional coins. At four melded cards, players can place a star.
- 4 Upgrades - Players may upgrade their mech with an item card by using the respective action to tuck the card under the right side of their mech mat, which then provides an ongoing bonus. Upon upgrading four times, a star may be placed.
- 20 Point Corruption Token - A specific location houses a 20-point corruption tile that must be eliminated by using 10 Power and 10 Guile. Once this has been accomplished by a player, that tile is then placed onto the mech mat and the player may claim the achievement.
- 7 Corruption Tokens - The Central and Northern locations contain corruption that must be cleared by playing a card and spending the respective resources based on the token. Once a player has cleared 7 tokens from the hexes, they may claim this achievement.
- 8 Controlled Cards - Certain actions allow players to pick up cards and add them to their hand or active row. Once players have obtained 8 cards that are contained in both locations in total, they may claim this achievement.
- 7 Workers/5 Exploration Tokens - Like the previous achievement, once players have obtained seven workers or 5 exploration tokens, they may claim this achievement. Exploration tokens can be obtained from moving into an unexplored hex and through several other means.

Once a player has obtained 4 achievements total, the game concludes and is then scored. Players earn points for items tucked under their mech board, money obtained, points per star (which increase depending on the number of quests completed), and two points per corruption token. Once all points are totaled, the player with the highest score earns the win.

Mechanical Cleverness

The Achievement sheet. A surprisingly clever and inventive inclusion into the game.

I want to start off my thoughts and feelings about this game with first mentioning how much I appreciate the inclusion of the Achievement Sheet that allows players to track various items across the plays of the game. From being the first player to win in a certain year, to being the first player to win with a specific set of characters or mech, to being the first player to gain a certain number of corruption tokens. It's a really great way to promote longevity of the game and it's really fun to look at the history of what has occurred in the game as it's been played over the years. I love that it's over the course of multiple years and not just a single set of objectives, to really push for the longevity aspect.

But then the question becomes: "Is this a game that will last long enough to have those entries filled in year over year."

The cards are so unique and interesting. I really want more of them.

I want to first note that the game has a randomized setup with the hexes, so that helps give the game additional longevity. Additionally, with the inclusion of the five separate mechs that each play uniquely (seven with expansion), and the six different character and companion combinations, there's quite a bit of potential for variability between games. That's also not taking into account the 133 cards that are contained in the base game that can be played throughout the game.

The gameplay is also very unique and rather than rewarding constant accrual of more and more resources, workers and cards, it has players working towards different goals of upgrading their mech, solving problems in the world, and removing corruption. While a player could go for a goal of only completing the non-upgrade goals, the way that the card structures and usage promotes players working towards a mix of the seven goals available, often in varying ways.

While in my first game, I played with a friend who spent most of his time collecting cards and workers, which looked very flashy when he was taking his turns as he could activate three or four cards at a time with the various cards he had collected, but it ultimately ended with him in third place out of three players. "Why was he last place with that many cards?" you might ask? Because he didn't remember to look at the end scoring that was available at any time to review and focused on accumulation. What turned out to be a really flashy setup, ended up hurting him because he didn't complete many quests and he only upgraded his mech once with two melds. That resulted in him receiving an overall lower score than the rest of us due to not taking actions that would allow him to score final points.

I love the push and pull feel of having to choose which actions to take at the sacrifice of the other action. If I have an action that I want to perform on the hex that I'm on or a nearby hex, I will have to choose the "Gather" and "Move" action, but I will lose the "Play" action, which might allow me to play a card that would be beneficial for that hex. Or, I could choose to "Move" and "Play" in order to complete a quest, but lose out on the potential of what that hex might provide me if I used the "Gather" action on the hex. Or, I could choose to "Reset" my mech board, losing all potential to do any actions that turn, but regain all my workers and cards back to my hand to be reused the next turn where I can choose all three actions. It's a balancing act that is extremely well done and feels like you're never out of control of.

The visibility of the large mechs on the board is fantastic as it allows you to see what other players are doing and the inclusion of the stars on the base tile allow everyone present to know how close the game is to finishing. If you see that an opponent has three stars to your two, that might spur you to take several actions that would increase your chances of getting another star and increasing your final overall score. There's so much flexibility in the game and both the cards and mech abilities often result in strategies that grow and develop over the game.

Mech and board and box.

The item cards for example have a bonus effect when using a worker on them that is paired with an ongoing effect when the worker remains on the card. However, if the card is used to "Upgrade" your mech, it gets tucked under the right side of the board and the worker symbol, along with the extra bonus effect, are then covered, with the item card providing an ongoing effect, and points for the end of the game. I found myself often wanting the ongoing effect of an item card and have another free worker, but potentially losing out on the bonus effect of the card at the cost of a worker.

Solo Exploration

Solo Automa rules are contained within a separate booklet.

As someone who often plays games solo, having options for a game with a solo mode is a must for me, but even with that, I do have some criteria for what I want with the solo mode:

- The game must have a well-thought out solo mode. Nothing tacked on or underdeveloped to add in the "1-X # of Players" on the box cover
- Solo mode must at least feel similar to playing with another player. I want my solo opponent to feel like another player who's making decisions in a somewhat rational manner and reacts to what I'm doing, rather than rolling a dice and making a choice.
- The solo mode doesn't necessarily have to have this, but having multiple difficulties is nice.

Expeditions checks off all three of those boxes for me and, like all of Stonemeier's games, has a very robust and clever way of implementing a solo opponent. With the included deck of solo cards, there are two mechs that move through the central and northern quadrants of the game board, simulating the movement of other players and making hexes inaccessible for the solo player. The included automa deck is well thought out and although it has a slow start, does crank up quickly with how many actions are available to the automa bot.

I played against the Level 2 opponent with my solo game (which was the recommended difficulty) and I found myself increasingly worried about how many tokens and chits my opponent was getting on the mech mat. There was a very real sense of urgency that I felt with each star that was achieved by the automa, forcing me to be clever with my decisions and having to end the game quicker rather than letting it draw out. I do appreciate that about the solo automa as it becomes a race to see how fast you can complete your goals, while also attempting to get as many points as possible. In a multiplayer game, that could potentially be drawn out longer based on player choice, but with the solo mode, there is a tipping point where the solo automa will score more and more points based on how long it takes for it to get going.

While the cards don't have the same decision-making skills as a real human being, the upkeep for them is minimal and the iconography is very easy to understand and follow once players are more familiar with the game. The multiple levels of bot see the automa opponent increase the star level quicker with each level increase, resulting in games that will need to be tighter and better played by the solo player. I'm definitely looking forward to increasing the difficulty and learning how best to beat my mechanical opponent.

Returning To Base

I loved the theming of Expeditions and the mechanical and strategic depth of the game astounded me. The variable setup and player powers were also a big draw for me liking the game so much, and the emphasis on exploration was really what struck me the most about Expeditions. While I can see it taking a bit to learn the strategic depth of the game, and that being something that might be a turn-off for players, I personally loved how much there was that came with the box and I found myself wanting to play the game immediately again after finishing my first game.

There was so much that I wanted to try, but within the boundaries of what the game offered, there was so much that I didn't have the opportunity to play, either because cards were discarded, or because I was focused on other goals with my game. I wanted to know more about what was hidden away in the depths of the cards as the artwork gave snippets of an overarching story, but left much to the players imagination.

That's where I think that Expeditions shines the most: the theme is well integrated into the game and even not knowing the full backstory of Scythe, I was able to immerse myself into this alternate history that was presented by Expeditions. Each mechanical choice felt like part of the theme and integrated each portion of the theme into the game itself. Not only was the deployment of workers from the mech to the cards indication of how each player would utilize the workers on hand to perform actions as they left the mech in the game world, but clearing of corruption on the hex tiles allowed for more actions to be performed on the northern hexes, mirroring what the game was about. The corruption in the northern hexes is also significantly higher, mirroring the theme of the meteorite strike in the northern realms, where the corruption seeps from.

It's a masterful integration of both mechanics and theme and really pushes this game over the top for me. While I do want to note that the expansion for Expeditions does solve the "slow start" of the game and offers a few more mechs and cards, I think that the base game is still an excellent addition to any collection that seeks to marry both theme and mechanics in a deeply strategic game.

The iconography does take some getting used to, but the included in-game reference sheets helped to offset some of the confusion that we had while playing the game. Additionally, players that are used to building up an engine of multiple cards and workers will find themselves flummoxed by players who "remember the essence of the game" and play cards or perform actions that allow them to build up their end-game point totals. New players would do best to remember that quantity does not trump quality in this clever strategic game.

Overall, after giving this game some significant thought, I'd have to award it an 89/100. I want to play this again and again, but I don't know how much that it will hold onto in the minds of friends. I still have yet to play this with Sarah, but I find myself wanting to go back again to the realm of Expeditions to dive into the secrets that it holds. There's so much to unpack here and I love the alternate thinking I have to take with my strategy with Expeditions.

Final Thoughts

I am so thankful for the opportunity to review Expeditions. It's been an incredible experience being able to dive into the realm of the world and I'm really excited to explore more of the strategic depth of the game. I'm probably going to be getting the expansion for the game as well, fairly soon, as I've been told that it helps to iron out some of the kinks of the game.

Being able to provide unfiltered reviews for games that I've been provided by the publisher is still a bit of a shock to me. I know that there are hundreds of reviewers out there looking to get a copy of a game to promote their channel or blog or whatever, but I want to review games for the love of games and to play them more. A little bit of my imposter syndrome pokes out every once in a while saying that I'm "not good enough to do this", but every once in a while, opportunity comes knocking and I fling the door open wide to allow it to come in.

This was one of those opportunities that arose for me and I'm so glad that I didn't judge Expeditions by its ties to Scythe. They are two completely separate games and while they might share some common DNA, they are different enough to warrant players including Expeditions in their collections if they are a fan of the series, or Stonemeier in general.

Again, this was a review where a copy of the game was provided for purposes of this review, but my thoughts on it are all my own. I hope you enjoyed it and my thoughts after giving the game a go and I appreciate your comments.

As always, thank you so much for checking out this blog. If you liked it, please hit the green thumb  at the top of the page and feel free to leave a comment on the post. I appreciate all interactions and will respond to everything that I can. If you really liked the post and want more ramblings, feel free to subscribe and get new posts every Monday/Wednesday/Friday.

*Originally posted on BoardGameGeek on 6/9/2024*