Because the only graded component to beating the game is fame, there are many different ways of accomplishing victory. This being said, there are a few primary strategies that help in winning:
AGGRESSION STRATEGIES -- HUNTER vs. PACIFIST
The Hunter route embraces combat. The player will fight whatever enemies they can to reap rewards of the kill. The most common loot from successful kills are teeth, which don't cost inventory slots and are valuable for trading. They can even be exchanged with a Beastmaster for your choice of a combat animal addition to your party. Killing animals also yields skins and tusks, which can be exchanged for fame/funds.
Combat and weapons are complex mechanics in the game. Study these concepts thoroughly to ensure that you understand how dice effect your fights.
Choose the right explorer and companions to set yourself up for fighting success. Select Darwin to start with the useful shotgun, or select either Selous or Stark to start with the powerful hunting rifle. Select companions that have complimenting dice to your weapon. This will maximize both your defenses and your potential attacks.
You may have the opportunity to purchase a new gun in London, between expeditions. But remember that all weapons have different dice and different attacks!
A Pacifist avoids combat at all costs. Without weapons or amunition, a pacifist player will have more inventory space for treasure and navigating tools. Forgoing combat-oriented companions also opens opportunity for more inventory (with pack animals) and can save more fame/funds with non-combat perks (with an artist, translator, trader, or missionary).
While the player can easily choose paths that avoid enemies early in the game, it is nearly impossible to find routes that go around an animal's territory later on. Take care to toggle over an animal to check it's aggro chance. Never trek straight into a beast. You can stop mid-walk if you see that an animal is approaching your party's marked route. This allows for some careful redirection to avoid being noticed by wildlife.
Nests and graveyards often spawn an aggroed animal when looted. Take care when exploring these locations!
Some items help in avoiding combat. Fireworks will distract nearby enemies as long as they are not already aggroed. If an animal is aggroed, you can use a horn flute to put it to sleep for a number of days.
It is possible to successfully run from an aggroed beast, if you don't allow your paths to cross. You can still safely rest in villages and nature locations with an aggroed animal following you. Check an animal to see how long it has until it loses its aggro.
If all else fails and you are forced into combat, flee. This can potentially cost you treasure, health, sanity and even companions... but is still better than being slaughtered.
TIME STRATEGIES -- COMPLETIONIST vs. SPEEDRUNNER
In the Completionist route, the player takes the time to explore as much of the map as possible. Instead of racing to the golden pyramid, the explorer focuses on discovering more locations and gathering exponentially more loot than competitors.
Though finishing the map last will yield no place bonus, there is no penalty for spending more time on an expedition.
Inventory is a challenge, as there are far more treasures on any given map than you'll have space for. Choosing pack animals over companions will grant you more inventory slots. Upgrade your animals whenever possible to gain even more space.
There are useful detours you can make to stash treasure. Missions and polar stations have 3 stash slots, in which they will store items for free and even ship them to London for you. This is incredibly convenient, as you won't have to come back for items in order to get credit for them. You can also revisit your ship, where you can drop off loot in its large cargo hold and rest aboard for free before continuing to explore.
Challenges with this strategy are primarily curses after raiding a shrine, as these typically have permanent and expanding reach on the map. Voids and winters will even destroy your ship if it lands in its radius. The player may be forced to abandon the expedition early to avoid losing stored treasures. Your hot air balloon is the easiest escape when a curse corners you.
Another challenge is the inevitable loss of standing by raiding all possible shrines. Very low standing can make villages a threat - the player won't be able to trade, recruit or even rest there - and instead potentially aggravate natives to take action against you. Once standing is in the negatives, natives may even start chasing after the player to get their things back. Giving away items to villagers in exchange for standing early in the expedition can help avoid this problem.
The Speed Runner route prioritizes finding the golden pyramid first. This means the player will forgo exploring unnecessary locations in order to guarantee maximum place bonuses at the completion of each expedition.
The Tim Timster companion is useful for this route, as he provides a percentage fame bonus at the end of every expedition based on your racing place. At maximum upgrade, you'll receive a hearty 20% extra fame.
Choosing sanity-restoring items over resting whenever possible allows the player to travel much faster.
If you find the pyramid early, remember that there's no extra placing bonus for how many days you beat competitors by. Consider exploring the area around the pyramid for a few days to get some extra loot before ending the expedition. You can check how many days your competitors have left in their expedition by hovering your mouse over their faces on the progress bar. This can help you estimate just how much you can explore and still successfully end in first place.
While your placing bonuses will be very helpful, it won't get you enough fame to beat the game. Keep in mind that you should still find treasure wherever possible so you don't finish an expedition empty-handed. Remember that the last three expeditions will require Moon Stones if the pyramid is unburied, so you'll still have to explore some shrines to find them and unlock your pyramid.