Wouter & Ymke 
In Pilgrims: Curious Adventures, you don’t really set out with a big plan. You just… start walking. You pick things up, meet strange characters, and somehow end up with a group that makes very little sense together. One game we had a priest, a bandit, and a sheep herder traveling together. I mean, I don’t know what kind of story that is, but it worked.
That’s kind of the charm here. It’s not about building some grand strategy from the start. It’s more like reacting to what the game throws at you and making the best out of it. Some turns feel great, some feel a bit messy, but it always feels like you’re on a little journey rather than solving a puzzle in isolation.
👥 1-4 players, ages 10+
⌛ Playing time: 45+ minutes
📝 Designer: Radim Jurda
🎨 Artwork: Radim Jurda
🏢 Publisher: Pink Troubadour (review copy provided)
Gameplay Overview
The game is played over four rounds. Each round, you get three turns, tied to your movement tokens. Once everyone has used all three, the round ends and you move on. On your turn, you always go through the same steps: move, activate, adventure, and then refill the board.
Movement is where things already get a bit interesting. You don’t just walk wherever you want. You choose one of the movement patterns on your board and follow that shape. At first it feels a bit restrictive, but after a few turns you start seeing how to use it better. You take a card from the space first, then move your figure there.
Most spaces give you item cards, while campfires give you companions. If a space is empty or someone is already there, you draw from the deck instead. So yeah, sometimes your perfect plan just disappears because someone got there first. It happens, and you just deal with it.
You build a small group during the game, with your leader and up to three companions. Each companion has an ability, and you trigger those by spending item cards with matching symbols. The catch is that space is tight. You’ll regularly have to replace or even retire companions, and yes, sometimes you’ll get rid of someone you actually liked. It feels a bit rude, but also kind of funny.
In the activation step, you either activate one character or take a clover token. Just one. You’re not chaining five actions together here. The abilities are useful, but you don’t get to do everything at once, so you have to pick your moment.
Then there’s the adventure step, which is optional. You can complete an adventure or sign up for a public quest. Adventures are your main way to score points. They ask for certain companion types and item symbols, and sometimes they also make you retire companions, so you’re constantly using what you built and then letting it go again.
Public quests are shared goals with limited spots, and getting in early gives more points. There’s always that moment where you think “I’ll grab this next turn,” and then someone else takes it before you. That part felt very real at our table.
At the end of your turn, the board refills. Except for spaces with players on them, those stay empty. After four rounds, the game ends and you count points from adventures, quests, and leftover clover tokens. Every three clovers is one point, so don’t expect that to carry your score.
Artwork, Components, and Visual Design
This is one of those games where the look really stands out, but not in a flashy way. It’s all hand-drawn, a bit rough around the edges, and honestly a bit weird, in a good way. It feels like a sketchbook that turned into a game.
The characters have a lot of personality. Some look friendly, others look like they might steal your shoes if you look away for a second. It all fits together though. Nothing feels out of place, even when it probably should.
The cards do most of the work visually. Items are easy to read, companions are fun to look at, and the adventures feel like small scenes rather than just icons. Not in a deep story sense, but enough to give a bit of flavour while you play.
Component-wise, it’s solid. Wooden pieces, clear layout, nothing complicated. The map fills up with cards as you go, which makes it easy to see what’s happening at a glance. It’s practical more than impressive, and that works well here.
Our Experience
The game is quite tactical. You’re constantly looking at the board and adjusting. What you wanted to do one turn ago might already be impossible now. Sometimes that’s fun, sometimes it’s a bit frustrating. I guess it depends on how much you like adapting on the fly.
Turns move quickly, which helps a lot. You’re not sitting around waiting forever, and when something works out, it feels satisfying. Those turns where everything lines up… yeah, those are great. You move, pick up exactly what you need, activate something useful, and complete an adventure in one go. It doesn’t always happen, but when it does, it feels good.
Movement stood out to us more than we expected. Those patterns force you to think differently. You can’t just go where you want, so you start planning routes in a different way and looking at the board differently.
At the same time, the game can feel tight. You only get one activation, limited movement, and not much room in your party. And then the game asks you to throw parts of that away to score points. It works, but it can also be a bit annoying. You finally get something going, and then you have to let it go again.
Interaction is there, but indirect. You’re mostly in each other’s way. Taking cards, blocking spaces, grabbing quest spots early. No direct conflict, but you definitely notice what others are doing.
Sometimes everything lines up nicely, and sometimes it really doesn’t. That swing is part of the experience, for better or worse. Clover tokens help a bit, but they don’t solve everything.
Our Thoughts
This is a game about making the best out of what you get, not about building something perfect. It mixes a few familiar ideas, movement, collecting cards, completing objectives, but the way they come together feels a bit different. Mostly because nothing really sticks long-term. You don’t build something that keeps growing the whole game.
That’s interesting, but I can see it not working for everyone. If you like building something over time and watching it grow, this might feel a bit unsatisfying. Here, it’s more temporary. Like setting up a tent, using it, and packing it up again.
Clover tokens are kind of the safety net. They let you adjust things, fix small problems, and make difficult turns a bit better. You’ll probably rely on them more than you expect.
So yeah, we liked it. Not in a “this is amazing” way, but in a “this is interesting and fun to explore” way. It’s a bit quirky, and sometimes slightly frustrating, but it has character.
And honestly, any game where a goblin and a priest end up on a road trip together… I mean, that’s already doing something right.
📝 We received a copy of the game from Pink Troubadour.
