First Expedition

First Expedition, published by Interstel Corporation in 1987, is one of the strangest nautical games of the DOS era. It is not a naval combat game and not a trading strategy either: you get a ship, an alien world covered by ocean, and a quest to recover three sun spheres stolen from the island of Shandola. That sounds like a fairy tale, yet the game itself is a dry, earnest simulation of sailing.

Navigation is the heart of it. You plot courses, watch the wind and the weather, and estimate your position from speed and elapsed time, because the ocean is vast and landmarks are scarce. A surprising number of seafaring details are modelled, from handling the sails to storms that can push you far off your intended track. On top of that sits a light role-playing layer: islands are inhabited by natives you can negotiate with, and occasionally things come to a fight.

The realism cuts both ways. Voyages are long, events are rare, and between islands there are stretches where almost nothing happens. Critics at the time were merciless: Computer Gaming World recommended it only to players genuinely interested in intricate navigational techniques, and Jerry Pournelle famously wrote that it faithfully simulates all the boring parts of sailing. Nothing about that has changed since 1987.

And yet the game has a real pull. If the idea of keeping a logbook, working out a course and finally sighting the island you have hunted for hours sounds rewarding, First Expedition delivers a kind of satisfaction faster games cannot. It is strictly for the patient; everyone else will be bored, and it is only fair to say so.

You can try it on oldgame.cz straight from your browser, with no installation.