|| REVIEW || A Monster's Expedition (PC)

 

Developed By : Draknek & Friends                                        Published By : Draknek
Category : Adventure, Indie, Puzzle, Strategy
Release Date : September 10, 2020

A lot of people spend time speculating about the future. What we'll find, where we'll go, all things big and small whether they relate to ourselves personally, or the world as a whole. Some people, though, wonder about how things from today will look in the future. Will people understand what things are, and what purposes they served? Or will the proper answers and explanations get lost in the gaps of time that bass between now and then? 

A Monster's Expedition takes just one perspective to look at this, from the point of view of a monster. You have arrived at a massive outdoor exhibit dedicated to the culture from "Human Englandland". Here, you'll get up close and personal with a wide range of artifacts that have been recovered from the big dig site. The only problem is, if you want to explore the museum you'll need to put your navigation skills to the test. Why? Because the entire museum is a massive, open-world puzzle, just itching to be solved. 

The museum of Englandland is made up of a series of...a lot of islands. Believe me when I say a lot. Each one presents a small, mini puzzle for you to solve. There are trees which you'll need to knock down and move around into the water to create paths to neighboring islands. Once knocked down, the trees can be moved one of two ways. From it's side, you can shove the log so it will roll either into the water or until it hits something solid. Or, you can stand it and lay it from the end to try and adjust it's position on your current island. 

As you progress to different islands, you'll encounter different "themes" to the puzzles to give you a new hurdle to overcome. Initially the trees you have to deal with are short and able to be flip flopped around. Eventually you'll run into taller trees that can only be nudged from the end instead of stood back up. You can push two trees into the same water spot and they'll bind together to make a raft, and if you can stand on this and push off of something you'll sail off into a new direction. 

Movement in the game is grid-based, and if you've made a mistake you can undo your moves one at a time. Some of the islands you come to will have multiple solutions, creating forking paths to send you off in different directions. Getting back to these isn't a problem though since the museum has different mailboxes you can use to send yourself back and forth. Entire islands can be reset too, so if you re-visit one of these forks you can reset it and try for the alternate solutions. 

A Monster's Expedition is hands-down an absolutely incredible game, and is beyond perfect for any lover of puzzle games. I don't even accurately know exactly how many islands are in this game, because from where I am I'm not even sure this game ends. I mean...it probably does, but the fact that it even feels so endless is a dream come true. At least for me. But believe me when I say if you're a fan of puzzles, this game needs to be in your library immediately. 

Game Rating : 10/10

Pick up the game HERE on Steam

 

A code for this game was graciously provided

to the site for the purpose of a review