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Expeditions: Conquistador is a single-player tactical Role-Playing Game developed by Logic Artists, an independent Denmark-based video game developer. The game was made out of passion, and partially financed through Kickstarter. The game was released in 2013.

The story takes place in 1517, and you take control of a conquistador, and set up a team of your own choosing, for an expedition to mainland Mexico. On the way however, the ship is brought in on Hispaniola, and forced to complete tasks for the local governor. After completing a certain amount of tasks for the governor, the conquistador can continue his route to Mexico, and experience further adventures there. As one would expect, the path is riddled by obstacles, you have to secure food, medicine, keep up morale, and above all, keep your troops alive, as several random obstacles and story-based quests block your way.

On May 20th 2015, it was officially confirmed that a sequel named Expeditions: Viking, in a setting with Horny Vikings, was in development. The sequel was eventually released in April 2017. Another sequel, Expeditions: Rome, dedicated to the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean Basin and the end of the Republic was released in January of 2022.


Tropes found in Expeditions: Conquistador:

  • Action Girl: Half the recruitable characters are women, meaning they will be fighting, hunting, and trekking through jungle and swamp. Several of the characters you encounter count as well, such as Leandra Vizcaina, the Amazons, and Anacaona.
  • Alliance Meter: Downplayed. Only reflected in the prices merchants of different factions offer you, based on which missions you preform and the choices you make during them. Until the climax, you can work for and trade with all factions freely.
  • Alternate History: The game explicitly states that your expedition to Mexico means that Hernan Cortes will never make his. This leaves the fate of early Spanish colonisation attempts, as well as that of the Aztec Empire, in the hands of the player.
  • Amazon Brigade: The Amazons appear in Mexico, and you can ally with them against the Aztecs. If you play as a male, their leader Citlalli can even become your Love Interest.
  • Arbitrary Headcount Limit: You can never field more than six characters in a single battle, even when it makes no logical sense, such as when you're defending your fort. The computer has no such limitations, however, and will regularly outnumber you, sometimes fielding 12 or even more characters.
  • Artificial Stupidity: The enemy AI isn't completely braindead, but often enough will make incredibly stupid decisions, such as running and standing in a fire when there are better, safer paths available. The AI tends to rush you no matter what the scenario is, leading to situations where they've set up traps and barricade and immediately leave them behind so they can go on the offensive. It makes the optimum strategy in almost every case a matter of finding choke points and placing traps and soldiers there and just letting the enemy come to you.
  • Artistic License – History:
    • The game is very accurate in many parts of depicting the world, but notably, the issue of gender equality defies from reality, as Gender Is No Object, and half of the hunters and soldiers are female, while in reality, very few women travelled to the New World.
    • Many Spanish soldiers are shown wearing the morion helmet. Despite its popular association with conquistadors, it was not used in Mexico until well after Cortez had conquered the Aztec Empire — it was only the later conquistadors, such as Coronado and de Soto, who supplied them to their men in the 1540s.
  • The Atoner: At the beginning of the expedition, you can hire characters to join your team. One of them was a man who murdered his loving wife after getting drunk out of his mind and hearing a baseless rumor of her cheating on him. He was banished to the new world.
  • The Bad Guys Win: If you fail to defeat Leandra in the final battle for Santo Domingo, then she takes over the island and murders its governor (telling the king he was a traitor so she can get a promotion). She lets you live and continue on to Mexico, if you don't tell anyone about her plot.
  • Bald of Evil: Depending on how you view Esteban Gallego, the rebel against the Hispaniolan government. According to Manzanado and Noriega, he is merely working out of greed and lust for power, according to him fighting for the liberty of the Tainos. Regardless, he's got quite a shiny dome.
  • Be as Unhelpful as Possible: Governor Manzanado of Hispaniola. He withholds your ship, preventing you from starting your journey to Hispaniola, and forces you to help him with all his problems, without ever aiding you the least. Though he is still your ally.
    • This is subverted after you win the final battle against the rebels. He not only thanks you, but he also gives you the ENTIRE treasury of Santo Domingo.
  • Big Bad: In Mexico, you can completely choose your own path, but if you choose to aid La Résistance, Moctezuma becomes this.
  • Big Bad Duumvirate: At Hispaniola, Esteban Gallego and Leandra Vizcaina.
  • Cannibal Tribe: The Caribs at Hispaniola.
  • Captured by Cannibals: One of the main missions at Hispaniola, The Sacrifice, features an expedition member getting kidnapped for a Human Sacrifice by the Cannibal Tribe Caribs.
  • City of Gold: El Dorado is featured as a hidden mission in Mexico, though it is somewhat more realistic than an outright City of Gold. It is instead a very wealthy city full of valuables, with a central temple filled with warriors. Defeating the warriors will provide access to the temple itself, where you can encounter the god Xipe Totec.
  • Child by Rape: Isabella.
  • Cold-Blooded Torture: At one point, Isabella gets kidnapped by Esteban and he gives her to the Caribs to sacrifice. If you get there fast enough to rescue her, than you will walk in on an argument he is having with the Caribs; the dialogue shows that he is pissed at them for their excessively cruel treatment of Isabella. The dialogue does not clarify whether it was torture or something worse, but if you are able to rescue Isabella than she has the trait 'traumatized'.
  • Cycle of Hurting: Surviving missions/having a string of bad luck/making poor decisions where your best people are incapacitated, leaving you still going but with several days of recovery time at best before they can do their jobs again. This can leave you without your best hunters/soldiers/scouts, which in turn leaves you open to food shortages or lack of guards. Lack of Guards leaves you open for a night ambush, which are hard enough when your best people can respond, but are downright brutal, if not impossible when it's whoever is available with daggers against a fully armed band of raiders at night, and if you manage to survive that, you likely have even more people with injuries that need treatment. Welcome to the death spiral.
  • Da Chief: Governor Manzanado.
  • Dashing Hispanic
  • Diabolus ex Machina: Some of the random events can come off as these if they come at a really bad time. For instance, if you have only one available doctor, and s/he is suddenly wounded in an alligator attack.
  • Easily Forgiven: After you defeat Esteban, one of the options available to you is to offer him a chance to join your team. Remember, this is SECONDS after you foiled his attempt to ritually sacrifice one of your friends.
  • The Emperor: Moctezuma of the Aztecs.
  • Ethical Slut: At the beginning of the game, you can hire characters for your team. One of them is a scout who has a habit of sleeping around a lot. However, you can throw out the 'ethical' part by ordering her to massacre a native village.
  • The Empire: The Aztecs.
  • Evil Gloating: Moctezuma is prone to this, even if you ally with him. If you lose the final battle against him, he takes it up to eleven.
  • Evil Is Not a Toy: Gallego tried allying with the Caribs. If you lose the battle with them, they betray him and kill his men, and perform their sacrifice in a blood rush.
  • Evil Overlord: Moctezuma of the Aztec Empire is presented as this. The missions he gives you include nice things such as murdering peace diplomats, razing opposing cities, and murdering civilians. It is not strange that his subjugated cities has risen against him.
  • Fed to the Beast: The Temple of Doom features "savage", possibly quasi-mythological dogs attacking the player.
  • Fountain of Youth: Featured as one of the hidden things you can uncover in Mexico.
  • Gameplay and Story Segregation: All followers who join you in-game start with the lowest experience level, whether they're described as a 14 year old girl, a grizzled mercenary or an elite captain.
  • Good Girls Avoid Abortion: In the beginning of the game, you can hire people to be in your party. One of them is a former prostitute with a past that just screams The Woobie. Her backstory includes her getting an abortion and coming very close to dying as a result.
  • Gender Is No Object: The game features equal female and male expeditions members, and their gender only becomes an issue very rarely. Leandra Vizcaina, one of the Big Bads of the Hispaniola part, is also a woman.
  • Hell Hound: In the Temple of Doom, one room involves savage dogs attacking and wounding your men. Also, in the volcano area, an Easter Egg allows you to meet Xolotl, the dog-headed Psychopomp of the Aztecs.
  • Historical Domain Character: Despite how close to history the game is, this is notably averted. All characters are fictional, except the Aztec emperor, Moctezuma, probably because he is so famous that replacing him with a fictional one would become too obvious. However, all other characters are entirely fictional.
  • Hypocritical Humor: When you meet the Amazons, one of the dialogue options is "A woman warrior? What is this?". This option seems out of place when half of your team is women, and it seems even more out of place when you make your character a woman.
  • Human Sacrifice: The The Sacrifice mission. Also appears three times in Mexico, in Tenochtitlan you can choose to sacrifice your own soldiers to the Aztec gods for valuables and favor, and encountering the two gods Xipe Totec and Xolotl also gives an opportunity for a sacrifce.
  • Karma Houdini: You can massacre every village you come across in the new world, executing women and children remorselessly, and betray your allies in their moment of triumph. Even if you jump on every opportunity to Kick the Dog, you still get to retire peacefully when you return to Spain.
  • La Résistance: Most missions on Hispaniola centers on the rebellion led by Gallego and Vizcaine, purpotedly fighting for the freedom of the Taino. Also, in Mexico the Totonac people rebel against Moctezuma and the Aztecs, and you must choose which one of them you want to aid. However, it is also possible to keep aiding both, without antagonizing the other.
  • Mayincatec: Ruins in Mayincatec style are found on Hispaniola, and that's not even starting on the Mexico part.
  • Money Grinding: If you want the wealth aspect for the best ending, be prepared to do a lot of this. That requires 50,000 valuables, and there is no way to get that from playing the game normally, even if you do all the optional content. So once all the quests are done and you're ready to sail back to Spain, you can first look forward to many hours of wandering around aimlessly to looking for treasure and cranking out rations to sell.
  • Multiple Endings: The ending you receive is based on how many followers you kept, how much wealth you accumulated and if and how you resolved the main conflict. Appropriately for an expedition, the game only ends when you choose to return to the motherland.
  • A Mythology Is True: In two optional quests in Mexico, you can meet actual Aztec Physical Gods and gain possession of their artefacts.
  • Never Smile at a Crocodile. An event features the hunters getting attacked by an alligator, and if you do not treat it immediately, it can cause fatal lacerations.
  • Noble Savage: The Taino, and most of the Mexican natives.
  • Noble Bigot: Many of the characters you can recruit have the 'racist' trait. However, unless you are a Villain Protagonist, your racist followers will still help you in doing good and noble deeds.
  • Noodle Incident: An Easter Egg in the Mexican jungle features a ship stuck in the treetops. No explanation is ever provided of how ti got there. Entering it will cause you to get attacked by snake, and flee.
  • Nubile Savage: In the Mexico campaign, you meet not one but two of these. The first one (if your character is male) is the Pearl Fisher, whom you can marry. The second one is the Amazon leader, whom (if your character is male) you can start a romantic relationship with.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: There is one instance when you come across a shaman living in the jungle. He sees your cart and demands you give him all your valuables 'as tribute to his god'. This is obviously Blatant Lies, and one of your followers suggests you kill him. Several other followers, including ones who are peaceful or compassionate, also agree you should kill him.
  • Panthera Awesome: A side mission in Mexico enables to rescue a giant jaguar, and tame it. It will grant you an achievement. Later, you can unleash it ona native village to create a disturbance before attacking.
  • Physical God: An Easter Egg in the volcano area in Mexico involves the incarnation of Xolotl, the Psychopomp of the Aztecs. You can sacrifice one of your men for his valuables. In El Dorado, you encounter Xipe Totec, again with the option of sacrificing soldiers.
  • Post Humous Character: Guitierrez, the leader of a previous expedition to Mexico. Remnants of his expedition are repeatedly found, including his camp, and graves of his soldiers, as well as native testimonies, but its clear that he himself is long gone. A goal is called Guitierrez' Fate, and invovles finding his body in the jungle, which you can bury.
  • Rank Up: You can promote characters after gaining enough experience points. The senior leadership ranks only have a limited number of slots, so you have to be very selective about who you promote.
  • Rape, Pillage, and Burn: On some occasions, you have the option to sack native towns or cities when you encounter them.
  • Rebel Leader: Esteban Gallego and Leandra Vizcaina at Hispaniola, Tepictopocon in Mexico.
  • The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: Despite claiming to oppose slavery, the rebels of Hispaniola are actually brutal monsters who slaughter civilians remorselessly. If does not help their case that Esteban actually tries to ritually sacrifice one of your teammates in order to get the support of the Caribs. In the final battle, Leandra outright states that she's trying to overthrow the spanish and is instead trying to frame the governor for treason.
  • Retired Badass: The Mexico Campaign ends when you decide to sail back to Spain. After you do this, you will get a nice estate on a hill. If your expedition returns with 50,000 gold or more, you will get rewarded with huge swaths of land near the Capitol AND all your team members will also get land and title.
    • Retired Monster: Getting that 50,000 gold requires to left no dog unkicked and no crisis exploited. It is flat-out impossible to get that much money on any higher difficulty than the easiest one without sacking villages, gunning down your way through any resistance and looting graves, while often forcing your expedition to go on empty stomach, as everyone is busy guarding that huge pile of gold rather than hunting for food.
  • Sacrificial Lion: Depending on your success in battle, one of your teammates, or Governor Manzanado, can end up this. If you fail The Sacrifice mission, one of your teammates is sacrificed, and if you lose the battle for the governor, Vizcaina will kill him.
  • The Savage Indian: The Caribs.
  • Shoot the Medic First: During battles, it can be a worthwhile strategy to shoot the enemy doctor first, as s/he can heal the soldiers, and especially if its a stand-off, where a lot of shooting from a distance is taking place, a doctor can win a battle.
  • Shout-Out: The tavern of the stronghold is called "El Pollo Diablo". Also, the Temple of Death featured in Mexico is filled with Indiana Jones style deathtraps, and the achievement for completing it is called Raiders Of The Lost Temple. Arguably the ship in the tree is a one to Aguirre, the Wrath of God and one of the Surnames you can pick during character creation is Aguirre.
  • Shown Their Work: To be expected. The best example of this is probably the riddle to enter El Dorado, which involves learning a huge amount of authentic information about Aztec Mythology to solve a riddle. The answer is the pictures connecting tyo each of the previous four Aztec worlds. The jaguar, the snake, the raincloud and the waves, in that order.
  • Snake Pit: In the Temple of Doom, this is one of the rooms.
  • Spiders Are Scary: An event involves one of your hunters getting bit by a venomous spider.
  • Stone Wall: The Soldier class has the greatest defensive capabilities in the game, and can also wear the most armour, making them even harder to hurt. Their abilities are all defence-oriented, as well: one makes them forego their attack for increased defence, another protects adjacent allies, and the last one stuns an opponent, making them lose their turn and giving you time to reposition without provoking attacks of opportunity. Soldiers armed with shields also have a chance to further reduce incoming damage.
  • Temple of Doom: The aptly named Temple of Death in Mexico. It contains all sorts of Indiana Jones style Death Traps, such as a Fed to the Beast scenario, a Snake Pit, and even the classical Raiders of the Lost Ark room with retracting tiles on the floor, activating poisonous darts. If you keep pressing into the room, your men will gradually be wounded, even a fatal poisoning, but you will be rewarded with a huge amount of valuables.
  • Video Game Caring Potential: You get a lot of opportunities to Pet the Dog, namely by acting nice to your expedition members, and giving medicine to random natives in need. .
  • Video Game Cruelty Potential: However, you can also Kick the Dog repeatedly, and murder hundreds of innocents.
  • Villain Protagonist: Depending on how you play. You get the option of doing morally very dubious things, such as burning down innocent unarmed native villages and executing all slaves after a slave revolt, even the innocent ones. On the other hand, you can also Pet the Dog, and release your slaves, encourage your men, and avoid battles.
  • Wacky Wayside Tribe: To an extent, the entirety of Hispaniola can be considered this, as the main events are to be found in Mexico.
  • Warrior Prince: The Aztec emperor Moctezuma is a mighty warrior in his own right.
  • Weak Boss, Strong Underlings: Unlike Moctezuma, Tepictoton, the ruler of the Totonac, is far weaker than his guards — the game treats him as a mere Civilian, meaning he has pathetic stats and equipment, no special skills, and will usually try to run and hide rather than fighting.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: The rebels on Hispaniola.
    • Half of them at least. The other half are just making a power grab
  • What the Hell, Player?: If you do something evil, the dialogue will read in such a way that makes you feel guilty.

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