Quests are bonus activities primarily offered to the player immediately before sailing from London. Only one quest is proposed prior to each expedition, and each quest can only be offered once per game. The player can choose to reject the quest with no negative effect. After Expedition 5, the player is offered a treasure map in place of a quest at the cost of 20 Funds. This will also happen on earlier expeditions if there are no valid quests available (normally happens only if you choose a prehistoric world).
Possible results for most standard quests:
- Revealed locations on the map and awarded Exploration Points for "discovering" them.
- Completion reward at London, a random amount of Funds:
- 56% chance of 80 Funds,
- 33% chance of 100 Funds,
- 11% chance of 120 Funds.
- Penalty of -50 Fame for failing a quest upon return to London.
Standard Quests[]
Icon | Title | Description | Conditions | Requirements | Rewards | Failure |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arctic Claim | "Erect 4 flags in your arctic expedition area." | Arctic world, Expedition 2-5 |
Travel to the 4 pre-revealed X claim hexes and use the given flags to place 1 on each spot. | Funds | -50 Fame | |
Escort Missionary | "Escort the missionary to the native village." | Expedition 1, no Missionary in starting party | Keep the missionary alive as a companion in your party and escort them to the marked native village, where they will stay. | Revealed shrine location. 2 standing |
No penalty (the Missionary will remain in your party) | |
Deliver Letter | "Deliver the letter to the native village." | Expedition 1 | Go to the marked village and deliver the letter . | Revealed shrine location. +2 standing |
No penalty | |
Find the Missing Husband | "Find the missing husband and return him home." | non-arctic world, Expedition 2-5 |
Find the Former Adventurer in an old camp. Keep him alive as a companion in your party until you complete the expedition. | Funds | -50 Fame | |
Obtain Idol | "Obtain an idol from a native village." | non-prehistoric world, Expedition 2-5 |
Find the stone idol in a village and steal it when resting overnight (requires successful roll). A klepto companion may steal it instead, at which point you can take it from them for -1 Loyalty. Keep the idol in your inventory, and do not exchange it for fame/funds upon returning to London. | Funds | -50 Fame | |
Kill Hyena | "Kill a rare, black hyena and return its pelt." | non-prehistoric world, Expedition 2-5 |
Find, fight and kill the evil hyena Snarfrattle and the accompanying 2-3 hyenas. Loot and keep the Pelt of Snarfrattle in your inventory | Funds | -50 Fame | |
Find the mysterious box | "A scientist has tasked us to dig up a mysterious box that is said to be buried at the location marked on a map he gave us." | non-prehistoric world, Expedition 2-5 |
Use the given map to find the location of the mysterious box, dig it up with a shovel, and finish the expedition with it in your inventory (not at a mission or station). Note: Opening the box will make you fail the quest, but earn an achievement. |
Funds | -50 Fame | |
Find an instrument | "Finish the expedition with an instrument in your possession." | non-prehistoric world, Expedition 2-5 |
Barter with any traders to collect at least one horn flute and/or drums. Have them in your inventory when you complete the expedition. | 25 Funds for each instrument | -50 Fame | |
Find Deserter | "Find the fugitive in a native village." | Expedition 2-5 | Find and confront Lt. Konrad in a native village. Fight and kill him, and have his military decoration in your inventory when you complete the expedition. | 2 standing upon kill. +Funds | -50 Fame | |
80 Days | "Complete the expedition within 80 days." | non-prehistoric world, Expedition 2-3 |
Find and enter the golden pyramid within 80 days. | Funds | -50 Fame | |
Escort Villager to London | "Escort the villager back to London." | Expedition 1 | Travel to the marked native village and recruit the foreigner's wife. Keep her alive as a companion in your party until completing the expedition. | 2 standing with wife recruited. +Funds | -50 Fame |
Special Quests[]
These quests are not offered in London, but during an expedition.
Icon | Title | Description | Conditions | Requirements | Rewards | Failure |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Keep your promise | "I was asked to look after a spouse on my return." | A non-native humanoid companion dies from an infected wound. Before dying, they ask you to provide a pension for their spouse in London. | Upon returning to London, offer a pension of 20 Funds to your late companion's spouse. | None | Companions lose Loyalty (-1) | |
(none) | Kill the Monsters | "Hunt down the monsters for a magical reward." | When you rest overnight in the open, Native Ghosts may ask you for help. | Avenge their deaths by fighting and killing 3 giant spiders in the marked cave. | 8 spider legs, 9 raw meat, Pumpkin Lantern | No penalty |
(none) | Return Amulet | "Return family amulet" | If a homesick native companion dies from an infected wound, they may ask you to bring their family amulet back to a nearby village. | Return the amulet to the native's home village. Unscrupulous explorers may instead sell it for 30 Value. | 2 Standing or sell for 30 Value | No penalty |
Tips[]
- Key items obtained for a quest must be in the player's possession upon completing an expedition, and cannot be sold, traded or donated at any point.
- Completing quests does not directly affect your place in the competition, though they can ease your journey with Funds for purchasing supplies, location marking and/or increasing your local Standing.
Trivia[]
- For the "Kill Hyena" quest, the devs asked for suggestions for naming the black hyena. At the end, it was Stephan Hövelbrinks, the developer of the indie rpg game Death Trash, who finally give it the memorable name of Snarfrattle. Also, the hunter who asks the player to kill Snarfrattle is the real English explorer John Hanning Speke. Contrary to what is said on the game, he wasn't maimed, and he hadn't a vengeful quest against a hyena. The closest thing woul be an entry on his Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile, in which Speke writes: "At night a hyena came into my hut, and carried off one of my goats that was tied to a log between two of my sleeping men."
- The "Find the mysterious box" quest is a direct reference to the thought experiment Schrödinger's Cat.
- In the "Find Deserter" quest, both the story and the name of that NPC are likely references to the 1899 book by Joseph Conrad, titled Heart of Darkness, and its 1979 movie adaptation, Apocalypse Now.
- The "80 Days" quest is a clear reference to the Jules Verne's novel Around the World in Eighty Days.
- In the "Escort Villager to London" quest, the NPC who asks the player to bring his wife to England is named Sir Dair Ilimejd, which is Riad Djemili, one of the main developers of the game, but reversed.
- The "Kill the Monsters" quest was added on October 29, 2015 in the 20th Update of the Early Access. It was a Halloween event that included new content like the explorer H.P. Lovecraft, enemies like Mummies and Giant Spiders, items like Spider Legs and the Pumpkin Lantern and locations like the Altar.
- The game code - and common sense - seems to suggest that Snarfrattle is not supposed to appear in arctic worlds, but he still can.