A lot of incredibly clever things could be said about Maschinen-Mensch's first title, The Curious Expedition: how it successfully blends roguelike and exploratory strategy game, how it acts as subtle commentary on colonialism or the tendency to reduce important female characters to mere footnotes in history books, or how it allows you to ride dinosaurs and giant crustaceans.

However, the game's biggest accomplishment might be the stories. Not necessarily the ones told by the game, but the tales you make up in your head. Here's the thing: The Curious Expedition tells you what's happening, but it lets your mind fill in the blanks.

I still remember my very first expedition. Searching for the legendary golden pyramid, my valiant groupt of explorers - beaten, bruised, and going slightly mad - had lost most of its human members to... something lurking in the jungle, probably. The only remaining members of my trek were my human protagonist and two animals, a mule and an ox. Everyone's nerves were strained, and they started to develop certain character traits.
And so it happened that I eventually made camp, with my lousy ragtag band of mostly animal explorers sitting around the campfire. My mule was depressive. My ox had become paranoid. They were sitting there in awkward silence, just staring at each other and feeling uncomfortable and suspicious.

What an absurdly hilarious scene! Did it really happen that way" I don't know. Probably not. The game gave me so...