Expeditions
Expeditions is a card-driven engine-building exploration game set in Siberia. Pilot a mech, uncover meteorite sites, solve quests, remove corruption, and turn completed objectives into glory while building the wealthiest expedition.
Expeditions supports 1–5 players; community best: 3 players; playing time: 60–90 minutes. A WANGO browser trial has not been confirmed.
Background & introduction
Expeditions takes place after the conflicts of Scythe, when Europe has returned to a fragile peace and attention shifts east to Siberia. A meteorite has crashed near the Tunguska River and awakened an ancient corruption. Dr. Tarkovsky leads an expedition into the taiga to investigate, but months pass without a reliable report. A rescue mission also disappears, prompting former war heroes to fund their own journeys north in exploration mechs. Their goal is to find evidence, artifacts, and glory while learning what happened to the missing teams.
Each player commands a different expedition made up of a character, a companion, workers, and a mech with its own ability. The map unfolds a location at a time. Revealing a site can expose new card opportunities and resources, but also places corruption tokens over some of its benefits. Players decide whether to pursue a quest, strengthen the mech with items and meteorites, collect workers, or spend Power and Guile removing the corruption that blocks a location.
The game is competitive, but it does not reproduce Scythe’s combat system. Players build their own card engine and race for public locations, useful cards, and glory categories. The action token creates a changing rhythm: most turns include two of Move, Play, and Gather, while a turn that begins from Refresh can include all three. Eventually, players must recover cards and workers or let their active engine run thin, so planning the timing of a refresh matters as much as choosing the next location.
Glory is a visible race rather than an automatic reward. Players must reach an objective and use a Boast benefit to place a star at Basecamp. Objectives include solving quests, upgrading items, melding meteorites, gaining corruption, and collecting particular groups of cards or workers. The fourth star placed by any player sets the end in motion, but a final turn gives everyone a chance to convert their engine into money. The richest expedition wins, so a player’s success depends on balancing immediate income, long-term upgrades, and a timely push for glory.
Core rules & scoring
Objective and scope: Players lead competing expeditions, gather coins, complete glory categories, and improve their mechs. Stonemaier Games lists the core box for 1–5 players and about 60–90 minutes, with an Automa solo mode in the box. This summary covers the base game and does not include Gears of Corruption expansion modules.
Setup: Place Basecamp and the player mechs, then divide location tiles into South, Central, and North groups. The six South sites begin face-up; seven Central and seven North sites begin face-down with map tokens. Shuffle item, meteorite, and quest cards into one deck and set out the face-up card supply. Prepare workers, coins, and the corruption bag; reserve the value-20 corruption for location 20. Each player takes a character, companion, mech mat, workers, ability tracks, and four glory tokens.
Action token and turns: At the start of a turn, shift the action token on your mech mat. Usually cover one of Move, Play, or Gather, then perform both exposed actions that you are able to, in either order. If the token begins the turn on Refresh, you must perform all three actions you are able to, in any order. A Refresh turn returns workers from active cards to your mat and all active cards to your hand. You can choose Refresh only when the token began the turn covering one of the three main actions.
Move: The default movement range is one to three locations. Your mech must end at a different unoccupied location, but it may pass through locations containing other mechs. It cannot return to Basecamp or stop on a face-up card between sites. When it moves to a face-down location, movement ends: take that site’s map token, reveal the tile, and draw corruption tokens until their combined value meets or exceeds its printed corruption threshold.
Play: Play one card from your hand into your active row and gain the core value printed near its upper-left corner. You may then place one available worker matching the card’s lower-left color to activate its ability. Abilities may give resources, enable another action, or provide an ongoing benefit while the card remains active with a worker. Active cards stay in the order they entered the row; upgraded and melded cards have moved to the mech mat and follow separate rules.
Gather: Gain exposed benefits at your mech’s location. Sites can provide coins, Power, Guile, workers, cards, or maps. Corruption tokens cover some location benefits; once the final token is removed, the site may reveal an Upgrade, Meld, or Boast benefit. Some card or location abilities allow a player to use a benefit from an adjacent location or a nearby face-up card, following the printed icon and text.
Quests and corruption: A Solve ability requires your mech to be at a location named on a quest you control. Pay the quest’s cost, take its benefit, and tuck the quest above your mech mat; the site may still contain corruption. A Vanquish ability pays Power for orange corruption or Guile for turquoise corruption, then takes the top token. The same Vanquish may continue in order if the player can afford more tokens. Removing the last token reveals the location’s covered benefit.
Upgrades and glory: Upgrade tucks an item beside the mech mat and activates its ongoing ability; its printed coin value scores at the end. Meld tucks a meteorite under the mat and immediately resolves bonuses from all melded meteorites. The default limit is four solved quests, upgraded items, and melded meteorites. A Boast benefit places one star on an achieved category without an existing star from that player. Categories include quests, meteorites, items, corruption, cards, workers or maps, and location 20.
End game, scoring, and solo: When a player places a fourth glory token, the triggering player completes their current turn and each player then takes one final turn. Score coins collected during play, glory tokens (whose value rises with the number of solved quests), upgraded item values, and $2 for each corruption token. The wealthiest player wins; ties compare total progress across all glory categories, then share the victory if still tied. The core box includes an Automa solo mode; use its separate rules for the automated opponent.
Rules & gameplay questions
Is Expeditions an expansion to Scythe?
No. Stonemaier Games describes it as a new adventure after Scythe and shares the fictional setting, but Expeditions has its own mech map, card engine, and corruption system. The core box is a stand-alone game and does not require Scythe. Gears of Corruption is the separately sold expansion that requires the base game.
How many players can play, and is there a solo mode?
The publisher currently lists the core game for one to five players and about 60–90 minutes. The box includes an Automa solo mode with separate rules for its automated opponent. Multiplayer games are competitive; the expansion’s sixth-player components are not part of the base player count.
Do I always get three actions on a turn?
No. Most turns cover one of Move, Play, or Gather with your action token, leaving the other two available to resolve in either order. You may take all three actions only when your token starts the turn on Refresh. Refresh returns workers from active cards and brings those cards back to your hand, but it uses the entire turn.
How do I explore a face-down location?
Move your mech to an unoccupied face-down location within range. The move ends there: take its map token, turn the tile face up, then draw corruption tokens until their combined value reaches or exceeds the threshold printed on that location. The map token contributes to one glory objective and may also be used by specific cards.
How do Power and Guile remove corruption?
A Vanquish ability lets you pay the cost of the top corruption token at your mech’s location and take that token onto your mech mat. Orange corruption costs Power and turquoise corruption costs Guile. If the ability permits and you can pay, continue to the next token. Removing the final corruption reveals a Gather benefit underneath, and corruption itself is a glory category.
What is the difference between quests, items, and meteorites?
A quest asks you to reach its named location and pay its printed cost, then you claim the reward and tuck the quest above your mech mat. Solved quests improve glory scoring. Upgrading an item makes its ongoing ability permanent and its printed coin value scores at the end. Melding a meteorite tucks it under the mat and immediately activates the bonuses of all melded meteorites.
How do I place a glory token with Boast?
Use a Boast benefit to choose a category whose objective you have achieved and where you do not already have a star. Place one glory token on that Basecamp category. Objectives include solving quests, melding meteorites, upgrading items, gaining corruption, controlling cards, having workers or maps, and clearing location 20. In most categories, you can claim only one star.
Does the fourth glory token end the game immediately?
The fourth token triggers the end, but the triggering player completes their current turn first. Every player then receives one final turn. Score coins collected during play, the value of each glory token, the printed values of upgraded items, and $2 for each corruption. More solved quests increase the value of every glory token; the player with the most wealth wins.
Rules & introduction sources
- Edition
- This entry follows the Stonemaier Games core box multiplayer rules and its included Automa solo mode; the base game is listed for 1–5 players and about 60–90 minutes. Gears of Corruption, including its sixth-player pieces, corrupted mech, and map bonuses, is excluded. Detailed rules were checked against a publisher-copyrighted r30 rulebook copy; the designer’s r31 post reports only wording clarifications.
- Rule references
- Introduction source
- BoardGameGeek
WANGO editorial
| Parameter | Recorded value |
|---|---|
| BGG overall rank (snapshot) | #381 |
| Complexity Weight | 3.06 / 5 |
| Best player count (community) | 3 |
| Player range | 1–5 |
| Playing time (minutes) | 60–90 |
| Core mechanisms | Action Retrieval · Deck, Bag, and Pool Building · Grid Movement · Hand Management · Melding and Splaying · Modular Board · Multi-Use Cards · Solo / Solitaire Game · Tags · Variable Player Powers · Variable Set-up · Victory Points as a Resource · Worker Placement, Different Worker Types |
| Chinese publication | Unconfirmed |
| WANGO browser play | No confirmed WANGO trial |
| Year published | 2023 |
| Suggested age | 14+ |
BGG statistics are stored snapshots, not live rankings. Source checked：2026-09-26
Player questions
What is the best player count for Expeditions, and can I play online?
Expeditions supports 1–5 players; community best: 3 players; playing time: 60–90 minutes. A WANGO browser trial has not been confirmed. Recorded mechanism tags: Solo / Solitaire Game.
How complex is Expeditions, and which mechanisms does it use?
Weight: 3.06 / 5. Mechanisms: Action Retrieval · Deck, Bag, and Pool Building · Grid Movement · Hand Management · Melding and Splaying · Modular Board · Multi-Use Cards · Solo / Solitaire Game · Tags · Variable Player Powers · Variable Set-up · Victory Points as a Resource · Worker Placement, Different Worker Types. Chinese publication: Unconfirmed.
Where can I learn Expeditions?
No rule guide, strategy article or WANGO trial has been confirmed for this record.