Expelled! is the most fun you can have being accused of attempted murder

My first run in Expelled! was a completely miserable affair for our poor protagonist, Verity Amersham, a scholarship student at Miss Mulligatawney’s School for Promising Girls. The entire playthrough took just a few minutes; I was escorted to Miss Mulligatawney’s office, dressed down, and booted out. This was just my first attempt, and I soon found myself starting the events of the morning over and over again, completely invested in discovering the secrets of the school, my fellow students, and the events of the murder.

Expelled! is a follow-up to Overboard!, a visual novel about murdering your husband and getting away with it. Overboard! is based around moving between the rooms on a ship and interacting with the other patrons aboard on a strict schedule, eliminating evidence as to your guilt or winning allies to vouch for your moral character. Expelled! follows the same format around the academy, but with a new morality mechanic: Certain choices offer evil points, and reaching lower morality ranks opens up new, hurtful options in scenes. 

The game opens with a mysterious meeting between Verity and Louisa Hardcastle, the star of their hockey team and a far more popular girl. She uses Verity’s beat-up hockey stick to smash a treasured and heroic window, then flings herself through it. It’s an attempt to frame Verity for murder, though Louisa survives, and I immediately have to start proving my innocence: removing forensic clues, hiding the hockey stick in a place it won’t be found, and dealing with any witnesses who stumble upon the scene.

My first run was sin-free, and all it earned me was getting hauled up to Miss Mulligatawney’s office and accused of the attempted murder. My cries of innocence only garnered a stern lecture from the headmistress about how a woman can’t make her way in this world without a spine and some gumption. I interpreted this as a challenge and set about being the worst version of Verity possible. You want gumption? I’ve got gumption: I’m shoving my classmates into thorny rose bushes, insulting junior classmates, and leaving my roommate stuck under the bed like a cad.

Veronica, the protagonist of Overboard!, was often an absolute devil in that game. I know that over the course of many playthroughs, I took a special delight in manipulating events so Veronica could chuck nosy old ladies and sobbing waifs alike into the sea. But Verity is a much less powerful protagonist; she’s ultimately beholden to the whims of her class schedule, the school’s staff, and the social caste system. Furthermore, she’s on a scholarship; she’s a lower social class than her peers, which matters very much in 1922. Verity is expected to show up to class, follow directions from her teachers, and follow the school’s rules and regulations. Pissing off a teacher can lead to an early game over, and if I play hooky, I could miss out on a crucial conversation.

Miss Mulligatawney’s School for Promising Girls is packed full of secrets: a talking statue, a hidden labyrinth, mysteriously locked doors, and a medicine cabinet with a vial of cyanide. It’s a much juicier setting to explore than Overboard!’s ship, and the students are equally fascinating. There’s a dark history to this school, and it takes multiple runs to uncover them all. Luckily, Verity keeps a diary full of all the juicy gossip she picks up between playthroughs, and so I start each new cycle well armed with more information and avenues of inquiry.

Some of the mysteries I uncover are benign — is the snooty French student secretly pretending to be Belgian? — and others are grave. How did one of my classmates become pregnant? What’s up with my roommate’s ramblings around violence, death, and calamity? Why are there compasses on one teacher’s wall that look like they could be used as stakes? Each playthrough of Expelled! took about 20 to 40 minutes, but I found myself jumping into one more run when another ended, eager to check a new conversation option or pester a particular peer.

There were a few times where I felt like a piece of information should unlock a new interaction and felt annoyed at the absence of what seemed like an obvious choice. I’d learn a juicy piece of information and hurry over to ask the Latin teacher about it, or intimidate a junior student, only to find that my personal logic didn’t translate into an in-game option. When you’re on a tight schedule, these moments can be frustrating, but there are usually other avenues to explore.

Before long, I’m swaggering up to Miss Mulligatawney’s office and telling her exactly what the situation is, and she begrudgingly admits that Verity makes the perfect fall guy. I can now spend the day finding a better target to frame, a process that’s easier said than done. Not everyone is willing to talk to me, let alone vouch for me. Some girls need to be threatened, blackmailed, or removed from play through surreptitious means. 

By the time I figure out how to avoid getting Expelled!, I feel like I understand the game and I’m in charge around here. Then I get another bad ending, and I’m back to the beginning with a new set of goals. It’s a fantastic mystery, built like a series of Russian nesting dolls. I’ve had a lot of fun just going through Verity’s day again and again, skipping classes to dig through every room and interrogate every student. This is a delightful onion, and each layer is more intriguing than the last.

Expelled! was released March 12 on iOS, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC. The game was reviewed on PC using a code provided by Inkle. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. You can find additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.