A Monster’s Expedition

Difficulty : 2.5/5 for the adventure (A bit Hard)
4.5/5 for the 100% (Extremely Hard)
Global : 4.5/5 (Great)
Curator page : Anokturnus
After having built his snowmen and driven aliens to every corners of the galaxies, our little Draknek monster protagonist embarks on a journey through islands and archipelagoes, a giant museum containing items and "knowledge" about the human culture.
A Monster's Expedition is a sokoban puzzle game : if you've played A Good Snowman is Hard to Build, well this game is really similar but in a much more ambitious and well done way.
The game has no explicit goal (though there is an end), you follow the paths you discover and learn about those human artifacts. All the exhibitions are funny and show the misunderstandings of the monsters, there's nothing serious and you'll actually laugh reading them.
Each island is a puzzle. There are trees on them that you can flip, push, roll etc and you need to create a path to the next island with them. Each archipelago usually has two paths you can take : an easy one and a normal one. The first puzzle of the easy path is a pure tutorial and teaches you what the special mechanic of the archipelago is going to be. That's very casual-friendly, you can just enjoy the adventure and the relaxing atmosphere if you want.
Sometimes you can build rafts that let you travel to other areas, and that's how you progress.
Considering the tiny size of the islands, their number and the simplicity of the mechanics, the game does a very good job in keeping you interested.
The world is indeed huge, with hundreds of islands and dozens of exhibitions. It's also very open with various paths you can take, the game isn't linear.
However, some people might have trouble with that : if you're not methodical, you can get confused and lost I guess. The gigantic number of islands also means that puzzles are not always unique and it can feel a bit redundant.
So yes this game is very good, but why did I give it such a high rating? From what I've written until now, it clearly doesn't deserve a 4.5/5.
Well let's talk about the other side of the game. Once again, if you've played A Good Snowman is Hard to Build, you know what to expect once the adventure is finished.
You see, during your adventure everything is shrouded in fog, and the fog is lifted once you discover a path or an island. The fog covering the unreachable areas of the map is also lifted once you reach the end, and that's where the true game begins.
Even the most methodical people like me will be stunned to see how many paths and islands they completely missed during their adventure. And that's totally normal.
Those islands you will probably miss all have a snowman on them that you can hug : the hell of the 60 meta puzzles can begin.
To reach the snowmen, you need to study the map and the islands around it. Then you have to bring trunks from an island onto another, build rafts using trunks from several islands etc... I didn't use any hints but there is an option to show you which islands need to be used in order to solve those meta puzzles if you really need it.
You'll probably get a few of the snowmen during the adventure but a lot of them are very hard and clever. Some of them are amongst the hardest puzzles I've solved in any game, true nightmares. The worst is the fact that you need to solve very hard puzzles and can't even confirm where those puzzles really are.
I make it sound like it's impossible but the level design is actually really clever and you often know what to do. I only had real, real trouble with 4 or 5 of them.
The adventure takes between 10 and 20 hours depending on whether you take all the paths available to you or not.
Doing all the snowmen is a minimum of 20-30 more hours I think, depending on whether you use hints or not.
So it's a very long game, the price can seem exaggerated but it's absolutely not.
I think I covered everything. A Monster's Expedition is one of the very, very few games that play with and master the "out of the box" type of puzzles. It's very refreshing to see that, thanks Draknek!
Highly, highly recommended.

There is nothing complex from start to finish, only simple controls. However, the exquisite game design that gradually introduces new techniques and mechanisms is so amazing that it leaves a lasting impression. This remarkable game seamlessly blends the quality, quantity, and difficulty of puzzles. The whole world is a puzzle!
온 세상이 퍼즐로 가득해.

Less truly is more.
While most games these days can't go 10 minutes without introducing a new mechanic thrown on top of a bloated pile, here comes a masterstroke of minimalist design that blows your mind without ever uttering a single word about how the game works.
A Monster's Expedition is a game with, essentially, a single mechanic. You push trees.
30 hours in you'll still be finding new stuff you can do with said trees but nevertheless you'll still just be pushing trees.
Pros:
* Offers a relatively easy main path and a brutally challenging set of completionist challenges.
* A gradual learning curve that also rewards you for figuring stuff out ahead of time.
* The nuance way the game teaches you how it functions is brilliant.
* Calming and soothing audio and visuals that relieve the stress of being stuck.
Cons:
* Not for everyone both in gameplay and its comedy. (I genuinely can't think of anything negative to say that isn't just a nitpick.)
Nitpicks:
* No built-in editor or official workshop support for those who want more. (Although a fan-made one is available.)
* Solving puzzles is fun, not knowing where they are isn't. Quite a few bonus challenges mostly ended up being a frustrating guessing game of where to even start solving them. Some form of indicator on the start island, like a tile of flowers that resemble the snowman you're trying to reach would have been much appreciated.
* Lacks a bit of pomp and circumstance on the 100% completion... the prevailing feeling will probably be one of relief that the whole thing's finally over which arguably sours the experience a tad bit.
Overall, the game is incredible. It's a very slow and methodical puzzle game with very few moving parts but close to infinite complexity on how those parts interact. Best taken in small doses. Forcing yourself to bruteforce all possible solutions out of frustration just for the sake of progression is a rather slippery slope so if you feel yourself drifting down that path just put down the controller and come back when your mind is clear.

Mixed feelings. It's a great game throughout, but fizzles at the end, instead of providing a satisfying finale. Basically, after the main game is over it hints at a bunch of remaining puzzles, but trying to 100% this is very hard. Most people will simply give up, and that's not a great way to end.
Besides that, it's memorable, sweet and very much in the style of "a good snowman", though more mature and deep. Still recommend it, I just wish it didn't leave me feeling like the game is incomplete.

Another cool, cosy puzzle game. There is a lot of islands and it will take a while to solve them all. Although mechanics are pretty simple and it kinda gets repetitive, it's perfect for when you have little time to spare on a game. I just solve a few islands over my 15 mins brake and I can come back for the rest whenever I want. I also love the hint system. It doesn't show you the solution, it gives you a general idea of where you need to go. So I feel comfortable using it, since it doesn't spoil much. But the difficulty of the game is not too high, so a lot of the time you can solve everything on your own.

a delight for simple puzzle game enjoyers.

Monster Expedition is a sokoban-like delight, seamlessly blending brilliant puzzles with polished art, soothing sounds, and ingenious level design. Prepare to be amazed at the countless ways a few tree trunks can dance!