Great news! Expedition: The New World has been officially released to the public by developers Slashware Interactive for the low low price of absolutely nothing. You can download it right now via the link at the bottom of this article.

But before you do that, you’re probably wondering why you should even spend the time. Well I’ve got three words for you: discovery era roguelike. Expedition: The New World essentially takes the 15-16th century discovery era and turns it into a roguelike where you assemble your ships, crew and supplies and sail off in search of the new world. I’d almost liken it to a sort of “Desktop Dungeons meets Oregon Trail” … make of that what you will.

Here’s the game’s official description:

Expedition is a game about the human sense of wonder and discovery; it’s about taking a group of men and journeying into the unknown, playing inside a detailed sandbox of the XV century where you will be able to roam the world, discover, colonize and trade.

The game takes some elements from the roguelike genre: it’s a single player turn based free form game where no two adventures are the same… each session evolves differently, providing the player with a different challenge every time.

Better yet, if you enjoy what’s already out there, you can help fund development on some really cool extras that is sure to please the inner game developer inside of you. The guys are looking for around $1000 to create what they call the “Externalization Facet” which implements a scenario creation tool so that players can build and design their own units, items, and maps which they can share with others.

If you’re interested, head on over to the 8-Bit Funding link below. Otherwise download the game via the other link.

[8-Bit Funding, Expedition Download]

Gameplay Video