I have now beaten A Monster’s Expedition. Here are some extra challenges:
It is possible to ride a raft off of the map.
It is possible (at least at the time I did it) to put logs in a configuration that the game does not know how to handle and crash the game. This will also make the game unplayable (even for other save files) unless you go in and edit your save file.
The reset mechanic seems necessary to make the game playable in practice, but it seems very unsatisfying. It is unclear how you’d make it work in a principled way; the actual implementation seems extremely confusing, seems to depend on invisible information about the environment, and has some weird behaviors that I think are probably bugs. Unfortunately, it currently seems possible that probing the weirdest behaviors of resetting (e.g. breaking conservation-of-trees) could be the only way to access some places. It’s also possible that mundane applications of resetting are essential but you aren’t intended to explore weird edge cases, which would be the least satisfying outcome of all.
So two questions:
1. Is it possible to beat the game without resetting? Can I safely ignore it as a mechanic? This is my current default assumption and it’s working fine so far.
2. Is the reset mechanic actually lawful/reasonable and I just need to think harder?
(Given the quality of the game I’m hoping that at least one of those is “yes.” If “no answer” seems like the best way to enjoy the game I’m open to that as well.)
My brother is the developer, so I passed this on to him. More spoilers:
Most of the inconsistencies in the reset behaviour are to prevent players getting stuck in a fail state with no way to escape (especially players who aren’t trying to break things).
You can get to the ending without resetting. You cannot hit 100% without resetting.
This depends on where you draw the line between reasonable/unreasonable. If I’ve done my job right, you shouldn’t need to do anything that feels like a bug.
I totally understand why resetting had to be kind of complicated / ad hoc, and I think that this was a reasonable compromise. I don’t think uncertainty about resetting matters much in the scheme of things, it’s a great game.
Meta for people: the comment above primarily discusses game mechanics, which lets you know about the genre of game and some little bits of the mechanics. It does not contain spoilers for any particular things in the game.
(This is spoiler’ed as per this post’s spoiler policy, but it’s designed to provide a rules clarification relevant to the parent and to be read before finishing the game.)
Here’s a simplified model of resetting: the game tracks the most recent landmass you’ve stepped on. When you reset, all trees from that landmass are returned to their initial state. You are moved to the location where you first stepped foot on that landmass.
That model isn’t exactly right (since it would make it way too easy for the player to get stuck), but every puzzle is solvable under that model. I had a single solution that would have worked under that model but didn’t work under the actual behavior of resetting, which was a tiny bit frustrating but not a big deal.
If you reset half of a raft then it becomes a lone log (this makes it possible to split a long log in two or to rotate a log by integrating it into a raft then resetting). If you reset something that’s holding another log up, the other log will fall down. I think there are some tricky corner cases but you never need to deal with any more complicated than those two basics and you can just pretend that you automatically lose if you create a tricky situation (e.g. if you reset when a tree’s starting position is occupied).
Brief reply. I have reach the end of the main game. No need to read my comment before finishing the game.
This is roughly the same model as my own. I assumed this was mostly true and should probably ignore weird edge cases.
I have also had a single puzzle that would’ve worked had this rule been correct, but what actually happened is that sometimes when a log is part of a raft in water, and that log did not come from the island where it turned into a raft, sometimes it moved in slightly unusual ways to where I think the game ‘expected’ it had entered the water. (This ended up being for me the single most complicated puzzle in the game, involving about three wholly separate insights to complete.)
Partial answer to my question (significantly more spoilers):
You can get to the credits without resetting. Extra puzzles appear to require resetting but maybe not in a very subtle way. I don’t know if resetting has a simple description. It definitely depends on invisible facts about the map.
A Monster’s Expedition came out a couple weeks ago, and letting people know about that game is part of what inspired me to make this post.
I have now beaten A Monster’s Expedition. Here are some extra challenges:
It is possible to ride a raft off of the map.
It is possible (at least at the time I did it) to put logs in a configuration that the game does not know how to handle and crash the game. This will also make the game unplayable (even for other save files) unless you go in and edit your save file.
Question about Monster’s Expedition:
The reset mechanic seems necessary to make the game playable in practice, but it seems very unsatisfying. It is unclear how you’d make it work in a principled way; the actual implementation seems extremely confusing, seems to depend on invisible information about the environment, and has some weird behaviors that I think are probably bugs. Unfortunately, it currently seems possible that probing the weirdest behaviors of resetting (e.g. breaking conservation-of-trees) could be the only way to access some places. It’s also possible that mundane applications of resetting are essential but you aren’t intended to explore weird edge cases, which would be the least satisfying outcome of all.
So two questions:
1. Is it possible to beat the game without resetting? Can I safely ignore it as a mechanic? This is my current default assumption and it’s working fine so far.
2. Is the reset mechanic actually lawful/reasonable and I just need to think harder?
(Given the quality of the game I’m hoping that at least one of those is “yes.” If “no answer” seems like the best way to enjoy the game I’m open to that as well.)
My brother is the developer, so I passed this on to him. More spoilers:
Very cool that your brother is the developer. It’s a great game.
Thanks! Reply:
I totally understand why resetting had to be kind of complicated / ad hoc, and I think that this was a reasonable compromise. I don’t think uncertainty about resetting matters much in the scheme of things, it’s a great game.
Meta for people: the comment above primarily discusses game mechanics, which lets you know about the genre of game and some little bits of the mechanics. It does not contain spoilers for any particular things in the game.
Follow-up now that I’ve finished.
(This is spoiler’ed as per this post’s spoiler policy, but it’s designed to provide a rules clarification relevant to the parent and to be read before finishing the game.)
Here’s a simplified model of resetting: the game tracks the most recent landmass you’ve stepped on. When you reset, all trees from that landmass are returned to their initial state. You are moved to the location where you first stepped foot on that landmass.
That model isn’t exactly right (since it would make it way too easy for the player to get stuck), but every puzzle is solvable under that model. I had a single solution that would have worked under that model but didn’t work under the actual behavior of resetting, which was a tiny bit frustrating but not a big deal.
If you reset half of a raft then it becomes a lone log (this makes it possible to split a long log in two or to rotate a log by integrating it into a raft then resetting). If you reset something that’s holding another log up, the other log will fall down. I think there are some tricky corner cases but you never need to deal with any more complicated than those two basics and you can just pretend that you automatically lose if you create a tricky situation (e.g. if you reset when a tree’s starting position is occupied).
Brief reply. I have reach the end of the main game. No need to read my comment before finishing the game.
This is roughly the same model as my own. I assumed this was mostly true and should probably ignore weird edge cases.
I have also had a single puzzle that would’ve worked had this rule been correct, but what actually happened is that sometimes when a log is part of a raft in water, and that log did not come from the island where it turned into a raft, sometimes it moved in slightly unusual ways to where I think the game ‘expected’ it had entered the water. (This ended up being for me the single most complicated puzzle in the game, involving about three wholly separate insights to complete.)
So tempted to read this, but I will finish first myself.
It’s meant to be read before playing, added a comment clarifying.
Partial answer to my question (significantly more spoilers):
You can get to the credits without resetting. Extra puzzles appear to require resetting but maybe not in a very subtle way. I don’t know if resetting has a simple description. It definitely depends on invisible facts about the map.