If you have always wanted to visit beautiful places of pilgrimage, such as the church of Panagia Evangelistra in Greece or the Hagia Sophia in Turkey, but simply did not have the time (and money) to do so, should purchase Pilgrimage (from Just Entertainment) as an alternative?
As one of the four characters, you go in search of twelve shells. I am aware that this does not sound very exciting yet, but hang on! The first to find twelve shells wins the game (really, it gets better). The characters are successively: the Endurer, the Mountain Climber, the Photographer and the Archaeologist. Each character has its own characteristic that can be useful during the game. The quest is played on a large game board, with an artistic sketch of the map of Europe (and a bit of Israel) nicely displayed. But the twenty landmarks that can be found in various countries require a hefty table top in order not to escape the adventurer’s sight.
With your miniature character you move around the map and step from place to place. You do this by taking a step card from your hand. These step cards vary from 1 to 5 steps. If you want to end up on a specific spot, you have to place a step card with exactly that number of steps. Going back in the same turn is not allowed!
Where can I find the shells, I hear you think. Shells can be earned by placing a series of landmarks (in the game: route tokens) on your route map and collecting artefacts.
As mentioned, there are twenty route tokens to earn, but not all of them are available at the same time. Only four route tokens are shown in the route token zone, which means that at any point in the game, players can’t visit more than four spots to earn a route token. If a player receives a route token, a new route token from the covered stack is placed in the zone. After a player has arrived at his destination (and a number of memorable pictures have been taken), the route token is placed in the route card. Note: the lines indicated on the route tokens must be able to connect to each other. Is this not possible? Unfortunately the route token can’t be placed in the route map. Therefore you also need to make sure that you don’t close too many lines.
In addition to the route tokens, there are six artifacts that are scattered all over the game board, mainly in the corners. If, for example, you are looking for the Wooden Cross, you really have to go through the Scandinavian cold, and for the Golden Monstrance you have to brave the waters. The shells on the artefacts will give you immediate points and can be placed next to your route map.
If you want to take advantage of some shortcuts, you can do so by inserting a boat or plane card. Be careful, though, as the game board not only has its beautiful spots, but also its tricky spots where players can take away boat or plane cards from other players. In practice, this means that a player is forced to trade with the other player.
Unfortunately, that is one of the few ways in which you can get in each other’s way, but let’s face it, such a journey through Europe is tough enough and (almost) all of it on foot!
