BENGALURU: There is a well-known listlessness associated with the onset of a Sunday noon — Douglas Adams calls it the ‘Long Dark Tea-time of the soul’. For short, let us call it a brain groan. This groan lasts a few hours. It may even push along the night and inhabit your dreams and stay with you till Monday morning.
Sometimes the groan afflicts us at unsuitable hours. Maybe on a Tuesday evening, or a Wednesday morning. Maybe on your birthday even. We have our different ways to shoo the groan away. I find that this cute videogame called ‘Pilgrims’ helps with brain groan a lot more than any other game, and I have identified the reasons.
‘Pilgrims’ isn’t your typical hit-you-in-the-face platformer with multiple controls or a first-person-shooter which goes out of its way to prove that it’s a real entertaining thriller of a videogame. It is a simple point-and-click adventure, not even trying too hard to pull you in. It just has everything comforting in a videogame that you never thought you would need. Aesthetic artwork, joyous music, cute puzzles are key elements that make the game seem like a fairy-tale,but it is not enough words enough that explain how Pilgrims feels in its entirety.
Pilgrims works through playing the right cards at the right moment in the game. You first click on a location of interest on the map to travel there. The puzzles are based on conversations with non-playable characters, and interactions with items in the game — all done visually, there is hardly a word on screen that needs to be read. Instinctively, you understand what needs to be done to progress in the game. The game does not punish you for not figuring it out instantly, it continues to entertain despite the wrong cards being played.
Pilgrims is the latest release by Amanita Designs, the indie developer that also created other hand-drawn point-and-click adventure games like Samorost, Machinarium and Chuchel. The game lasts over two hours if you want to explore every scenario, and it charms you and makes you smile a lot in this time. I rate it tea out of ten for the comfort aesthetic.
Anusha Ganapathi
@quaffle_waffle
(This economics graduate spends her leisure time preparing for the zombie apocalypse)