Get stuck up a literal creek without a paddle in Expeditions: A MudRunner Game

My Step 310E semi-truck’s 300-liter fuel tank is almost empty, and I’ve only traveled 1,200 meters. "Juegos De" To put that into context, a 1980 Austin Mini Metro has a fuel capacity of 31 liters, which could take the small car over 700 kilometers. Of course, a Mini Metro wouldn’t move an inch if you loaded it with the heavy seismographic equipment my truck’s carrying. Nor would the tiny Austin, with its wheels built for tarmac and cities, be able to heave itself over the crags and crevasses of the Colorado Desert. Still, that’s a small comfort to me as I desperately try to reach my objective before my truck’s tank runs dry, and I’m left stranded in the arid landscape.

In Expeditions: A MudRunner Game’s predecessor, SnowRunner, running out of fuel wouldn’t be the end of the world. You could hop into a second vehicle and mount a daring rescue mission—driving out to your stranded vehicle and topping off its tank. In fact, that was half the fun. While this is technically possible in Expeditions, human error can prevent it.

It’s me, hi, I’m the human error, it’s me

In Expeditions, you’re part of a research team carrying out work in inhospitable environments. Be it the red rock ravines of Arizona, the dark mudlands of Colorado, or the thick forests of the Carpathian Mountains, your job is to drive vehicles out to remote locations and conduct research, haul equipment, or tow vehicles. 

Unlike SnowRunner, which was an open-world game, Expeditions has a mission structure: You select the job you want, customize your vehicle and equipment, and spawn into the world, only able to leave when you complete or fail the mission.

“We wanted to experiment with the gameplay formula, diverging from the classic cargo hauling and find a new and satisfying game loop,” says Evgeny Sorokin, Senior Producer at developer Saber Interactive, to explain the move away from an open world. 

The impact of that change is a new focus on strategic preparation because you can only rely on the tools you bring with you. For instance, my mission is to drive a seismograph out to different locations in the Colorado Desert and take readings for the scientists. That requires me to take a truck large enough to carry the equipment in the first place. After all, "Juegos de 20" the machine is as large as a caravan. 

Choosing a vehicle is only the start though. You can also load up with specialist tools to help you out of sticky situations. For example, if you take a tumble over a cliff and roll your truck, you can use a jack-screw to flip your vehicle back over. 

The problem, at least for penny-pinching misers like me, is that this additional equipment costs in-game money. So taking these useful tools with you on a mission will eat into your earnings, slowing down your journey to buying the next great truck or those off-road tires you had your eye on. With every mission in Expeditions, you’re trying to find the sweet spot of what you can afford not to take. 

As it turns out, I couldn’t afford not to take extra fuel.

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail

Things started going wrong when my truck got wedged in a recess in the rocks near base camp. It didn’t matter that the pit was shallow; my wheels couldn’t find purchase on the rock shelf that lined the recess, and I could neither drive forward nor reverse out. 

I emptied a good third of my tank trying to drive out of my predicament, the words of Sorokin echoing in my mind. “We strongly recommend that new players carefully read the mission briefing and study the map before venturing into the unknown. If you are not adequately equipped, some paths may lead to dead ends.” I did not consult the map nor pay heed to the loadout advice I was given.

After taking too long to realize that simply rolling my truck forward and back wasn’t going to help, I started to think about the tools in my inventory. Luckily, while I hadn’t stretched to bring a support vehicle on my mission, I had brought an anchor. These are effectively large metal pegs you can hammer into any flat surface and tie your winch cable to. In Expeditions’ predecessors, your winch was only useable if a natural anchor was nearby, such as a tree stump. This new tool opens up new winching possibilities all over the map.

Using the anchor, I was able to heave my truck’s immense weight partially out of the pit, but with my front wheels off the ground, I couldn’t get the grip I needed to leave the trap. This is where a new feature of Expeditions came in: tire pressure.

You can now deflate and repressurize your tires, increasing your wheels’ surface area and friction by letting out a bit of air. “We introduced a lot of new parameters for tire friction with the terrain,” Sorokin explains. What this means in practice is that if you find yourself stuck, letting out a little air in your tire can give you the grip you need to escape. Between the yank of the winch, switching on my truck’s differential lock, and lowering the pressure in my tires, I was finally free from the pit and able to continue my mission. 

Low on fuel and still half a kilometer from my objective, I had to be careful not to become trapped again. If I had brought a support vehicle, I wouldn’t have had half as much trouble getting out of the pit. If I had spent the money on a larger fuel tank, I wouldn’t be running anywhere near as low on gas. And if I had bought a removable anchor instead of the cheap one-use variety, then if I became trapped again, I would be able to use the winch to get myself out again. As things stood, I was in a sorry spot.

I used my drone to scout the terrain ahead and map a path that wouldn’t take me through any more pits. The landscape ahead was unforgiving, so I stuck to low gear, moved slowly, and gradually neared my objective.

To my left were steep cliffs too high to climb, but to my right was a lake that may be deep enough to swallow my truck if I put a wheel wrong. Again, I am reminded of something Sorokin said: “If your mission involves traversing water, selecting a hydrologist for your crew and bringing the echo sounder can greatly increase your chances of success.”

Naturally, crew members who each bring passive buffs, such as negating water damage or increasing the length and strength of your winch, cost money, so, of course, I had chosen to skimp on them and go it alone. 

Currently, going it alone meant moving achingly slowly between the rock on my left and the hard place on my right. 

After 100 meters of crawling, the cliff gave way to a beach, and I was near the last scanning location to complete my mission. My fuel gauge looks to be almost at zero, I consider using the cactuses that line the beach as winch anchors to drag my truck into position without using the engine. After all, he did tell me that “adaptability is crucial, as there is no one-size-fits-all solution for success.” Though I’m not sure that this is what he had in mind. 

With a last push of the gas pedal, I drive my truck into position and activate the seismograph, completing the mission. "Juegos De 2024" I’m given a fat wad of cash for my trouble. I could use the money to buy upgrades to my truck, invest in a new vehicle entirely, or even put money down on a removable anchor for the next mission. More likely than not, though, I’ll convince myself I don’t need it and end up stuck and up a creek without a paddle all over again. 

Except, in Expeditions, you can very well find yourself stuck in a literal creek without a winch anchor.