Via Peregrina is a solo, card-driven pilgrimage puzzle in which the player attempts to consecrate seven shrines before becoming over-burdened or exhausting the deck. Each turn, a card from the player’s hand is added to the Journey, forming an ascending or descending route. Matching the direction keeps the path smooth; breaking it incurs burdens, a key loss condition. Resets through high or low values allow the player to bend the route back into compliance, often at the perfect moment to enable shrine patterns.
The deck contains three Road types, Temptations, and Hardships. Roads fuel progress and build the patterns required for shrines. Temptations force immediate tradeoffs: discard cards, gain burdens, or gamble blind from the top of the deck. Hardships increase the pressure through scaling effects that grow as the Journey lengthens. Foresight effects let players inspect, reorder, and tactically discard upcoming cards, creating moments of puzzle-like control.
Shrines are the main objective and the central tension of the game. Each requires a distinct pattern of Roads in the Journey and grants a one-at-a-time blessing that alters rules, mitigates penalties, manipulates the deck, or influences the route direction. Blessings persist until a new shrine is claimed, creating deliberate timing windows in which to push, stabilize, or recover.
Play emphasizes tempo, sequencing, and resource risk: when to commit Roads, when to suffer penalties, when to purge the hand through Temptations, and when to delay or accelerate shrine claims. Success requires balancing short-term costs against long-term position as the deck shrinks and burdens accumulate. Via Peregrina offers a compact solo experience with a rising arc, deterministic information tempered by luck, and meaningful decision points every turn.
