One Hour: L’Expédition Maudite

I wasn’t sure exactly what type of expedition this was, other than “a cursed one”; the answer is that it’s an archaeological expedition, where the previous team of explorers have failed to return from a trip down a mineshaft. Our host explained, in a long and entertaining intro, that he was far too sensible to follow in their footsteps himself, but he’d be happy to support us by walkie talkie from the surface.

I thought the entry into the game, complete with mining hard hats, was unusually effective in its immersion. (You aren’t required to keep the hats on, but mine definitely saved me from injury at least once.) The theming starts out quite modern day, and increasingly gains shades of Indiana Jones, with added peril. This is not a fear game but it has a mildly scary side in places, in a way that’s intended to build atmosphere and story not terrify the players.

Cursed Expedition also has a points mechanism, based on the quantity of treasure you’re able to bring out with you. Some of the treasure is there for the taking in the normal course of play. There are two specific other places where you can gain extra treasure, one that essentially involves solving bonus puzzles and one that requires speed under limited time. In both cases we were slow in realising the nature of the challenge, and were too focused on moving forward with the main flow of the game; if you’re the sort to try to get a maximum score, you’ll want to stay alert for when the opportunities for bonus points come up.

It might sound like this is a game that’s trying to do too many things at once, and it does combine quite a variety of different elements: different parts of the game seem like two different genres, and it mixes quite a few different styles of play. However, I only really noticed that after the fact – at the time it felt like a cohesive adventure.

I think that’s what made it feel like such a satisfying game for me – that it’s a highly effective balance of many different elements, making an adventure that really should have something for everyone. Although I guess it might also be something to do with the logical puzzles, the funny and immersive hosting, the top quality set design, and also a few spectacular moments that I’m not going to spoil in this review. In a weekend of remarkable Paris escape rooms, it’s hard to pick a single favourite but Cursed Exhibition is I think the leading contender.