Archaeological Expeditions is a repeatable adventure unlocked at level 15. You move through six small maps, completing tasks and clearing obstacles to earn tiny shards. These shards are used to restore exhibits in your Archaeological Museum. Along the way, you can find rewards using gold tools like a key, saw, axe, and shovel. Once you finish a map, you move to the next one and cannot return until all maps are completed.

Glossary

  • Location (map): One of the six areas of the expedition. Each location has a clear list of tasks and simple obstacles to remove; finishing tasks gives tiny shards for your museum.
  • Tiny shards: Small pieces you earn by completing tasks on the map; you spend them to restore exhibits in the Archaeological Museum.
  • Artifact Fragment: A special bonus from Club Excavations. When you activate it, it lowers the number of tiny shards you need to restore exhibits in the Archaeological Museum. Be sure to click the fragment to turn it on so the effect starts working.
  • Archaeological Museum: A building in your City where you restore exhibits and arrange expositions; the museum’s earnings grow as you display more exhibits.
  • Exhibit: An item inside the museum that you restore using tiny shards during the expedition’s tasks.
  • Exposition: A themed set of exhibits shown in the museum; a new exposition becomes available with each new expedition.
  • Expedition energy: The resource you spend in locations to clear obstacles.
  • Excavation points: Points you earn as a member of the club to earn a place in the rating among other clubs and get extra rewards.
  • Gold tools: Special tools used to open extra rewards on the map. They include a gold key, a gold saw, a gold axe, and a gold shovel.
  • Helicopter orders: Five simple orders that, when completed, give you a gold key to open a special chest.
  • Special chest: A chest you open with the gold key; it gives you the remaining gold tools (axe, saw, and shovel).
  • Tree-chest: A chest on the map that shows which gold tool it needs; opening it gives expedition energy.
  • Treasury (secret spot): A special place on the map that requires several gold tools. It contains energy, main game coins, and experience.
  • Communication Van: A helper item that opens the Archaeological Museum window instantly so you can manage expositions without returning to the city.
  • Upgrades tab (Museum): A place where, once per location, you can buy expedition energy several times and take each upgrade item once; all these items appear again at the next location.
  • Extra prize (bonus task): A separate icon on the right; if you restore every exhibit in the current exposition before the event ends, you unlock a prize that gives bonuses for 16 days and must be claimed manually.
  • Valuable finds: A side goal visible only in the expedition location; collecting 2,500 valuable finds grants a special building not related to the museum exposition.
  • Club Boom: A side activity where each 1,000 expedition energy spent gives excavation points that help your club reach higher goals; some daily bonus energy requires clicking Claim and follows a daily timer.
  • Clubs’ Tournament: A club competition where clearing obstacles adds club excavation points; the top club receives banners that give bonuses for 16 days.
  • Tiny Shard Accumulation: A side activity where you collect tiny shards to fill a progress bar; after reaching the required amount, you start a waiting period until the expedition ends, then you can claim a random bonus every 8 hours for 7 days.
  • Archaeologists Rally: A timed competition that groups you with other players after you spend some expedition energy; you compete for rewards by continuing normal play.

Who can play and how to start

  • Players level 15 and above can participate in Archaeological Expeditions.
  • To enter the expedition, click on the event icon on the right side of the game screen:

The core loop

  • Each expedition has six maps that repeat in a loop. When you finish one map and move to the next, the objects and resources on the maps appear again. This means you can collect the same items each time you go around the loop.
  • Each map shows a clear list of tasks for you to complete. When you finish these tasks, you receive tiny shards. You then use these shards to repair and display exhibits in your Archaeological Museum. To learn more about how the Museum works, see this guide: Archaeological Museum.

Moving through a location

In every location, you follow a clear list of tasks and clear the obstacles that block your way. Find the list of tasks on the left side of the screen:
 
 
When completing tasks, you will need to remove the obstacles by clicking on them. They usually look like various objects in front of the fog that covers the undiscovered area:
 
 
Removing these obstacles is part of the tasks and gives you what you need to finish them and move forward. 
 
 
These tasks will help you achieve the main goal of the expedition.
 
The main goal is to get as many tiny shards as possible and restore the exhibits in the museum. Exposition profit depends on how many exhibits you have; the total profit of the museum depends on how many exhibits you exhibited and how many exhibits there are in each of them.
 
 
By taking part in your club’s excavations (more on them later), you can receive an Artifact Fragment.
 
 
When this fragment is active, it lowers the number of tiny shards you need to restore exhibits in your Archaeological Museum. After you get a fragment, be sure to click it to turn it on; its effect starts only after activation. You can learn more how to use it in the Archaeological Museum guide.
 
Once you have completed all the tasks in the current location, you will return to the place where you started the location from, and the following message will appear:
 
 
If you want to go to the next location, the following message will appear:
 
 
If you press the green button, you will be taken to the next location of the expedition.
 

After you complete all the tasks in a location and leave it, this location becomes unavailable for a while. You cannot go back to it immediately to collect anything you may have missed. You will be able to enter this location again only after you finish all the other locations and the expedition loop (6 locations) returns to it.

 

Buildings you will always find in expedition locations

  • Field Kitchen

This building automatically turns the nuts and berries you collect on the map into 50 expedition energy. When you have gathered enough ingredients, the game converts them in the background and adds the energy to your total. You do not need to click or open the Field Kitchen—nothing is required from you.

  • Mobile Stand

This is a simple shop on the expedition map where you trade the items you pick up on the map for extra expedition energy. If your Archaeological Museum has not yet been improved to the Upgraded Archaeological Museum or the Expanded Archaeological Museum, you can also buy the museum’s upgrade items here and then apply them in the Museum’s Upgrades tab (learn more about Archaeological Museum here). In each location, you can purchase expedition energy up to six times, and you can buy each upgrade item once; all of these offers become available again when you move to the next location.

  • Communication Van

A helper on the expedition map that opens your Archaeological Museum window right away. This lets you view exhibits, place or remove them, and manage your current exposition without leaving the expedition or returning to the city screen.

Museum exposition

Beauty of Hungary (August 2025)

With a new archaeological expedition, a new exposition becomes available in the Archaeological Museum in your City. You can learn more about the Archaeological Museum here.

Extra prize (bonus task)

During the expedition, you get an extra goal: collect valuable finds that drop when you clear obstacles on the map. If you collect the required amount during the expedition, you receive a special decoration that usually looks like a golden object on a pedestal. This decoration is not part of the Archaeological Museum exhibition and is not needed to finish locations, but it is looks good in your city and brings useful benefits.

Beauty of Hungary (August 2025)

You can also earn a special building that changes with every expedition. This is a side quest that is visible only when you are inside the expedition location, and you will see its icon there on the screen. The icon features the building you will receive, and this building is different for every expedition. 

To receive the reward, collect 2,500 valuable finds during the expedition; your progress adds up as you play and you can check it on the quest icon or in the quest window.

This building is optional and is not part of the Archaeological Museum exhibition, so it is not required to continue the expedition, but it is a nice extra prize for your city.

Side activities you may see 

Please note that not every side activity will necessarily appear in every expedition launch.

1) Gift-Giving Party

A time-limited activity that rewards you for spending expedition energy.

How to play:

Earn Party Tickets by spending game energy. Each time you spend enough energy in the Expedition to fill the progress bar, you receive one Party Ticket. You can see the progress bar on the icon of the activity. It fills automactically each time you spend energy.

The amount of energy needed for the next ticket goes up a little each time, so later tickets take slightly more energy.

A Party Ticket looks like this:

Use your Party Tickets on the reward board. Click on the icon of the Gift-Giving Party activity on the side of the screen:

There, click on the green "Play" button. You will randomly receive one of the rewards on the board.

After you claim all rewards on the current board, you advance to the next level. There are three levels in total. After level 3, a special level opens and you can keep playing there while the activity is running.

Watch for milestone bonuses. When you have claimed 8, 16, 32, and 48 rewards in total, you get extra bonus gifts on top of the normal rewards.

Spend your Party tickets before the activity ends. When the activity finishes, any tickets you did not use are automatically turned into resources. If you want to choose your prizes yourself, spend the tickets in time

2) Rarities Race

A duel versus another player.

How to play:

Click the Rarities Race icon. This will open the window of the activity.

Press the Start button when you are ready. The duel begins immediately, and you have 60 minutes to play and try to win.

Spend expedition energy during this 1-hour period by continuing your normal expedition actions. For every 10 units of expedition energy you spend, you receive 1 Artifact Set. For example, spending 50 energy gives you 5 Artifact Sets.

Artifact set

You will see you current score on the activity icon on thr right side of the main screen:

Your score is on the left, and your opponent's is on the right. You can also check it in the activity window:

Open the Rewards tab on the race screen to claim prizes you earn for your activity during the duel.  Click the green "Claim" button to recevive the reward. You can return to this tab at any time during the hour to pick up rewards as they become available.

Win the duel by collecting more Artifact Sets than your opponent before the 60-minute timer runs out. After the race ends, there is a short 30-second pause, and then you can press Start again to begin a new duel.

Keep winning races in a row to build a win streak. Each consecutive victory increases your reward, so a longer streak gives you better prizes.

3) Gold Rush

It is a side activity where you search for special obstacles in the expedition field and open them using expedition energy. These special obstacles look like wooden crates, and each one hides rewards when you clear it.


 

Each special obstacle needs 5 units of expedition energy to open, and when you clear it, you always receive 15 Gold Goblets.

As you keep collecting goblets, they are added to the progress bar in the activity window. Once the total number of goblets reaches the mark shown on the bar, you can claim the reward displayed at the end of that stage.

This activity is divided into 10 stages, and each stage gives you one reward. In total, you can earn 10 rewards by completing all stages. The game does not show the full list of prizes in advance — you will only see the reward for the current stage and the final main reward at the end of the progress bar.

4) Gift Race

You can access this activity by clicking on its icon on the right side of the screen:

It is a side activity aimed at finding gift boxes in the expedition field and opening them. These gifts looks like purple boxes with a lightning print on them:

     

Each gift box gives you two types of rewards. First, you get some expedition energy back so you can keep clearing the map. Second, you receive several tokens. Tokens are a special resource for this activity; they fill your progress bar and move you closer to the event rewards.

The progress bar is shown inside the activity window. To open this window, click on the activity icon located on the right side of the main game screen. There you can see how many tokens you have already collected and how close you are to your next reward.

If you click on the question mark icon, you will see how many tokens each of the gift boxes will bring.

As soon as you accumulate the number of tokens specified in the progress bar, you will receive a reward shown at the end of the progress bar.

A pop-up window showing you the reward will appear as well:

There are 18 stages in this activity. It means that you will be able to receive 18 rewards in total. You will not see the full list of rewards, only the next reward and the final reward.

5) Tiny Shard Accumulation

You can access this activity by clicking on its icon on the right side of the screen:

This is a side activity where you can earn extra bonuses that are not given right away but will become available after the expedition ends. By taking part during the expedition, you unlock these future rewards, and once the event is over, you will be able to claim them.
 
To take part in this activity, simply continue playing the expedition as you normally do by completing its tasks. Once you complete a task, a "Congratulations" window appears where you will see the tiny shards among the rewards.
 
 
 
Each time you collect tiny shards, they are automatically added to the progress bar in the activity window, moving you closer to the next reward.
 
 
When you collect 24 tiny shards, go to the activity window and press the yellow button. 
 
 
A pop-up with your reward will appear:
 
 
 After you collect the reward, a waiting period begins, and you will need to wait until the expedition ends before the bonus rewards become available. 

You can keep an eye on the timer on the right side of the screen when you return to your City:

 
Once the expedition is over, you can start receiving additional bonuses. A new icon will appear on the right side of the screen:
 
 
Once you click on it, you will see the list of rewards. Click "Claim" to receive one of them.
 
 
You can claim one bonus once every 8 hours for 7 days. The bonuses you get are picked randomly from the list specified in the activity window.
 

6) Archaeologists Rally

Please note that this activity will not necessarily appear in every expedition launch.

You can access this activity by clicking on its icon on the right side of the screen:
 

To take part in the Rally, you just keep playing the expedition and spend expedition energy on your regular tasks. After the Rally begins and you have spent some energy, the game will place you into a group with other players. In this group, you compete to see who can earn the most and win rewards. To be included in the Rally, you first need to collect 5 special points, which are earned automatically as you play.

 

The Rally runs for a little less than one day. During this time, all the expedition energy you spend is turned into Rally points, which are added to your personal score. The more points you collect before the timer ends, the higher you move in the group ranking and the better the prizes you can win.

Besides the group competition, there is also an individual reward track. This means you can keep playing the expedition and receive Rally rewards even if your place in the group ranking is not high. As you collect more Rally points, you unlock rewards step by step in the reward line.

During the Rally, a temporary points multiplier may appear. While it is active, every unit of expedition energy you spend will give you twice as many Rally points, helping you move faster in the ranking and along the reward line.

Club-exclusive activities

You can learn more about the Clubs in the article Country Clubs.

1) Club's excavations

You can access this activity by clicking on its icon on the right side of the screen:
 
 
When you remove obstacles from the map, you get points for the Club's Excavation Plan.

There are two tabs in the Club Excavation Plan:
  • Club Aims: these are your club's aims for the entire expedition
  • Excavation Intensity: updated daily tasks for spending energy by club members
Club Aims: You need to be a club member and have a minimum of 10 points to participate in Club Aims. The more points the participants collect, the more prizes the club will receive: expedition energy, seasonal currency, marathon cards, superbucks, and artifact fragments.
 
Excavation Intensity: You need to be a member of the club and spend expedition energy. The more expedition energy the participants spend, the more bonus energy they will be able to receive from the expedition.
                               
  • The amount of energy that goes towards club goals is limited for each player. If you spend more energy, it will not count.
  • The timer resets daily at 12:00 UTC
  • To get bonus energy, you need to click on the Claim button; energy is not automatically credited to you!

2) Club Boom

This is a side activity allowing you to earn more excavation points.
 
You need to play the expedition as usual and spend expedition energy. Each 1000 units of expedition energy you spend will bring you excavation points and help your club reach higher goals.
 

3) Clubs' Tournament

You can access this activity by clicking on its icon on the right side of the screen:
 
 
By clearing obstacles in the expedition, you also earn club excavation points.

At the end of the competition, members of the club with the most points will receive banners that will bring bonuses for 16 days.

Gold tools

In the expedition, you will find new spots on the map. These spots are full of treasures. You will need special tools to get there: the gold tools (gold key, gold saw, gold axe, and gold shovel). 
 
Gold key
 
 
You can get a gold key by completing 5 orders of the helicopter.
 
Once you receive it, you will be able to use it to open a special chest. It looks like this:
 
 
Opening a special chest brings you gold tools (axe, saw, and shovel).
 
 
You need gold axes, saws, and shovels for two different purposes.
 
1. To open tree-chests
 
 
You will need either a gold axe, a gold saw, or a gold shovel to open a tree-chest. When you click on a specific tree-chest, you will see which tool exactly you will need. 
 
Tree-chests bring you expedition energy.
 
 
2. To open secret spots (treasuries)
 
 
There are several treasuries in the expedition. You can access them using a certain number of gold tools.
 
 
The treasures in gift boxes include expedition energy, main game coins, and experience points.
 
Players cannot join or leave the club 3 days before the end of the Expedition.