Storm warning

Every dig in Archeological Expedition ends the same way: the storm takes the site back.

The dig clock only ticks while you work - stop, breathe, plan your next move, and the site waits with you. But every scrape and brushstroke spends it, and if you're digging to the Time Pressure soundtrack, you'll hear it going - the music leans forward as the time runs down, the unmistakable feeling that the day's work is running out. Somewhere under your feet there's still treasure, and there's only so much digging left in the day.

The last find

When the storm finally breaks over the site, it isn't quite over. There's a moment - a heartbeat - where an artifact you've already uncovered is right there, half out of the ground, and you can still grab it before everything disappears under sand or water. Archaeologists who make a habit of this kind of exit earn a reputation (and an achievement: Storm Surfer).

Sand and sea

Not every site drowns the same way. Desert digs like Petra vanish into a sandstorm; coastal and riverside sites go under water. Either way, whatever you didn't carry out stays buried - until the next expedition.

Living with the clock

• The brush saves artifacts beautifully and costs you dearly in time. Every archaeologist eventually learns where the line is - usually the hard way.
• The pickaxe doesn't slow down for anything, including the artifact you forgot was under that rock.
• And there is no shame in packing up early. The finds you leave behind will wait. They've waited this long.

Related

• Journal - where the finds you saved from the storm live forever.
• Tools - your side of the argument with the clock.
• Achievements - for those who cut it close on purpose.