If I could describe all projects by Amanita Design in a short way, I’d probably use the word “cute”. As varied in style as they often are, they always have some “cuteness” to them, some “playfulness”. And a surprise release Pilgrims is no different. It’s short, cute and is a fun, if passable, little title.
The concept of the game uses what I tend to call “Gobliiins-like” approach, where the game has several distinct levels/locations (though you’re not locked into them) and you have several characters with several unique things to them to approach problems with, though you start with just one character. Each item or a character is a playing card that you can “play” on the screen and each of the playable characters has some unique uses for some of the items that some other characters won’t do. It’s simple, it’s less puzzle-like and more freeform, always encouraging you to experiment instead of punishing, and it’s pretty funny at times. The game looks and sounds like a weird Eastern European caricature which reminded me of the late 80s style cartoons from those territories, yet most of the ugliness of that style is still somehow made to be “cute”, as per usual for Amanita.
But it is somewhat underwhelming. It never becomes as entertaining as the previous playful title of the studio – CHUCHEL. And where that game was short and sweet and left you wanting more silliness, this one just kind of happens. If you experiment, you will get some laughs and finish the game under an hour. If you approach it with a very problem-solving-centric mindset, you will probably end the title in 15 minutes. Which won’t really leave you with much aftertaste. If you like Amanita titles, there’s no reason to miss this one out. Same goes for if you like playful adventure titles where you play around and experiment for fun outcomes more than solve problems (though you do solve problems here and often have several options). But even so, this is just a cute thingy from Amanita Design, rather than a title I really liked playing. It was cute.