Apple Arcade: Pilgrims is a spry treat Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Apple Arcade: Pilgrims is a spry treat Fetch quest. Feature by Christian Donlan Features Editor Updated on 14 Nov 2019 9 comments One of the things I'm already learning about Apple Arcade is that it's quite hard to stay on top of it. The service launched with enough stuff to make it a bit of a challenge to pick through everything, and as of last week - maybe this week? - there's now 100 games available. This means that it's easy to miss something special - and when that something is a new game by Amanita Design, that's a bit of a tragedy. Amanita Design is the team behind Samorost and Machinarium. Pilgrims is the studio's latest offering, and it's out now on Apple Arcade and PC. It's an adventure game that's built around trading. You explore a bucolic map, moving from point to point, meeting people and bartering for the stuff they need with the stuff you've picked up. A bandit in the woods won't let you pass before you've found some potatoes and cooked them for him. A demon thing living in a hole wants some rope - but for what?! Everything leads to something else, and while the story is pretty short, it's wonderfully compact and stuffed with promise. Watch on YouTube There are two things that make this super cool, I think. The first is that it's all so simplified. Inventory - and the gang of fellow travellers you collect along the way - are all handled as cards, which means you just drop a card into a situation to see what it does. Someone wants money? Give them the card with the coin on it. But what happens if you give them the card with the acorn on it instead? This is the second thing. Pilgrims may be short but it's designed around replayability. Most objectives have multiple solutions, and then there are the little bits of playful animation that are waiting to be found by doing the wrong thing at the right time. It's less a linear path to the end and more a web of possibilities and things to see. As such, it seems to be one of those games that really understands its genre. Adventure games were always the games about seeing what was possible - what the developer had foreseen the player doing for no real reason and reacting to that. This was the genre of putting the hamster in the microwave. Decades after that storied occasion, that kind of thinking is still alive and well. Pilgrims is a delight. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More Features Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. 14 Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Feature What games get wrong about horses And what they could do about it. 34 Feature Shout out to all the Overwatch supports - where would we be without you? Merci. 55 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Sennheiser's legendary HD 599 open-back headphones are just £70 at Amazon in the Prime Early Access Sale Comfortable with neutral sound and a wide sound stage. Preview Football Manager's new Console edition is the best you'll get without a PC Getting Touch-right. 1 Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 61 Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store