October 23rd, 2007
Like A Pirate!
He did it again.
After all those years he did it again. Not that I doubted in him during that time, but damn.
I’m talking about Sid Meier, creator of Civilization, among other games. Civ was the first game that made me forget about the real world. And sleeping. I was ten or eleven years old at that time.
Yesterday around midnight I installed Sid’s Pirates! and launched it; you know, I just wanted to try it out before sleep. What an obvious mistake. Three hours later I reminded myself about a lecture I had to attend in the morning.
As an absolute fan of the movie “Master and Commander” I really wanted a game about ships ‘n stuff but it appears sea battles are not a popular topic among game developers (or more likely, publishers). I’ve heard about Pirates long time ago but never played it, not even the previous versions. The latest incarnation of the game was released in 2004, so I found it in the budget section of a game store. Ahoy!
After some time spent with the game, I have to say I relly like it. It’s a really simple and fun game. I think I can safely put it in the casual games arena. It has simple mechanics and looks cute (but not Care Bears cute). My favorite part are the sea battles, but other elements of the game (trading, simplified duels and dancing) are interesting and fit really well with each other. And just like Civilization and its “on more turn” phenomenon, Pirates! doesn’t let you go away from the computer so easily.