Apple’s game service added a few new faces
Now that we’re nearing the one-month mark for Apple Arcade, I’ve begun checking the App Store more regularly to see if there are any new games to play before I figure out the fate of my subscription. A few more titles just popped up recently, and one, in particular, struck me as worthy of an insta-download.
Samorost and Machinarium developer Amanita Design has a charming adventure game called Pilgrims out on Apple Arcade and PC storefronts like Steam, GOG, and Itch.io. If you go for mobile, it’s included in your monthly Arcade subscription; if you take the latter route, it’s $4.99 to outright buy the game.
Pilgrims is a pictograph-filled folktale presented as a super streamlined adventure game. It has the humor and interactivity we’ve come to expect from Amanita, and I also sense a dash of Roald Dahl.
In the game, you start off as a lone traveler who explores a lovingly illustrated map, picking up new companions and items along the way. Each location is its own little single-screen scene, and every item and character is represented in your inventory as a playing card. The fun of Pilgrims is determining which items go together in which scene and with which characters. There’s plenty of room for experimentation, both in terms of seeing funny outcomes when you screw up, and also in terms of optional achievements, which encourage you to “break the rules” in the first place. It’s light and fun.
After poking around for a bit, Pilgrims seems to be on the shorter side for Amanita Design, but it’s just as delightful as the studio’s other adventures. It’s worth a look during a coffee break. And if you’re wondering about the other recent Apple Arcade games, they are: Redout: Space Assault, The Bradwell Conspiracy, and Nightmare Farm. That last one comes from the Neko Atsume people, by the way.