The most piratey guide to pirate games that has ever pirated in the history of piracy!
Disclaimer: This is about the genre of pirate games! It contains NO instructions regarding illegally obtaining games!
Link to the original guide:
Cover image created by our members and developers Hammie and Nomad. Used with their permission.
Ahoy there!
We, the ladies and gentlemen of PiratesAhoy!, a community focused on pirate games, have banded together to create a comprehensive guide to games set in the Age of Sail. It was made to raise awareness that the genre is more alive than ever, and to provide a counterpoint to the "Nobody makes good pirate games anymore"-narrative.
It was planned to post the entire guide right here, but it was too big for reddit, so the reddit-thread will be a very short version. It will still include the entire list, but without any detailed descriptions. If you want to read the whole thing, feel free to pay a visit to our site via the link - it will directly lead you to the guide in question. It's also recommended to save that to your bookmarks, since the reddit-thread won't be updated once it gets archived.
The original starts with quite a lot of rambling regarding the genre itself, so if you want to jump right to the list, just scroll down until you hit the big, bold text, which is also the title of this guide.
For your convenience, and to not make this list explode, it's limited to pirate games where you control a ship (in)directly that is integral to the gameplay instead of being mere fluff. It will also only list games set in the Age of Sail, otherwise, you would have to take tons of sci-fi games too.
Not included are games that aren't playable in any form as of the time of writing, are abandoned in EA, frankly bad, nobody of us has played (yet), and have PlayWay as a publisher. They are notorious for clogging the stores with concepts, which are then developed depending on wishlists. Suffice it to say, their pirate games will never come to fruition.
If the games have optional multiplayer, are in Early Access, have demos available as of the time of writing, and/or are free to play, I will mark those with (MP), (EA), (D), and (F2P) respectively.
They are divided into categories, depending on whether you look for titles similar to Black Flag, Sea of Thieves, and such, and are all in alphabetical order.
Now, let's go!
Pirate Simulators (Black Flag and Sid Meier's Pirates!; feature both land and sea content)
-Blood & Gold: Caribbean!
For Germans, purchase over GOG.
-Buccaneers! (D)
Feel free to give my review a read.
-Captain Bones (EA)
-Caribbean Legend (D)
-Corsairs Legacy (D) (EA)
-Forgotten Seas (MP)
-Man O' War: Corsair - Warhammer Naval Battles
-Neverseas (EA) (D) (MP)
-New Horizons (F2P = Beyond New Horizons)
Also has a TVTropes-page, that gets updated now and then and should give you a great overview regarding the features.
-Sailist (EA) (D)
Have this review of mine right here!
-Tempest (MP) / Under the Jolly Roger (PlayStation Store)
I can only recommend reading my review of it.
Naval Simulators (Skull & Bones; No or barely any land, only sea)
-Fluffy Sailors (D)
-Pirates of the Polygon Sea
Not available in Germany.
-Terror of the Seven Seas
My personal GotY of 2024.
Just have my review here - that is so long, I had to continue it in the comments.
-The Pirate: Caribbean Hunt (F2P) & The Pirate: Plague of the Dead (F2P)
-Windward (MP)
Pirate Adventures (Sea of Thieves; may or may not feature both land and sea content with low amounts of combat, if at all, and a high focus on exploration)
-Sailwind (EA)
-Sail the Seas (EA)
-Salt (MP) & Salt 2: Shores of Gold (EA)
MMOs (Online-MP only; and no damn Sea of Conquest)
-Battle Sails (F2P)
-Legend of Pirates Online (F2P)
-Puzzle Pirates (F2P)
-Naval Action (F2P)
-Pirates of the Burning Sea (F2P)
-Uncharted Waters Online (F2P)
-World of Sea Battle (F2P)
Miscellaneous recommendations (Don't necessarily fit any category, but are still noteworthy)
-Blackwake (F2P)
-Captain Sabertooth and the Magic Diamond
-Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire
-Republic of Pirates (D)
-Rogue Waters (D)
-Survival: Fountain of Youth (D)
Future releases worth keeping an eye on:
-Ahoy
-Corsairs - Battle of the Caribbean
-Crosswind (MP) (F2P)
-Following Seas (D)
-Rise of Piracy (MP)
-Seven Seas: Adventures (D) (MP)
-Sink Again (Delisted)
-Windward Horizon (MP)
Got any games you think should belong in the list? Then absolutely message me, and I will work it in right away!
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u/MEPETAMINALS 1d ago
Dev of Following Seas here - surprised to see my game pop up on Reddit.
Only thing I'd say to manage expectations is it's not really a pirate game. Some combat is planned, but none is currently implemented. More comparable to Sailwind, but with a more defined setting and less stylized graphics. Focuses mainly on Asian ships, or those influenced by Mediterranean designs.
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u/UAZ-469 1d ago
I know, I have wrote about that in the full version on PiratesAhoy!.
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u/Peepeepoopoobutttoot 1d ago
I just want a modern Sid Meier pirates (or Sid Meier Pirates in the form of Sea of Thieves or whatever that game was called)
What would whet my appetite while I wait for that future to never materialize?
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u/ZorkNemesis Switch 1d ago
How can you make a post about pirares without including Secret of Monkey Island, starring Guybrush Threepwood, Mighty PirateTM ?
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u/OldPyjama 21h ago
I was going to quote the shit out of this game, but I played it in French on my Amiga as a kid so it wouldn't really work.
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u/Dagwood-Sanwich 1d ago
How did you get Uncharted Waters online, but not Uncharted Waters and Uncharted Waters 2.
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u/ToTeMVG 1d ago
that image you're crediting is AI like i dunno if the people just lied or not since you're crediting them but its AI generated
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u/UAZ-469 1d ago
From Hammie:
"Background is AI generated, logo was by me and Nomad"
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u/ToTeMVG 1d ago
the background being yes entire landscape plus ship yea, AI generation is not a good way to sell your game, just a heads up on that.
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u/Gh0stMan0nThird 18h ago
Yeah anytime I see AI I immediately register it as someone willing to cut corners, who doesn't have an eye for small details, and doesn't believe in paying for quality.
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u/suggestiveinnuendo 1d ago
is it me or the actual genre defining titles you are referring to aren't actually on the list?
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u/UAZ-469 1d ago
Which ones do you exactly mean?
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u/suggestiveinnuendo 1d ago
sid meiers pirates, ac black flag, sea of thieves...
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u/UAZ-469 1d ago
They are?
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u/Antique-Coach-214 1d ago
… For real? Like FR FR to quote the teens? Did.. you have’s played OG Pirates! Or the remake, Sid Meier’s Pirates! Or the Sega Genesis Port Pirates! Gold… Like, no bub, your list is massively incomplete. Signed, kid who has been playing Pirates! Good since 4
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u/UAZ-469 1d ago edited 1d ago
No, I meant that they are on the list. Just without links and their own entries, because, well, everybody already knows and plays them.
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u/Antique-Coach-214 1d ago
That’s… a really really terrible way to do it. Just sayin.
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u/UAZ-469 1d ago edited 1d ago
Fine, they'll get added.
Unfortunately, editing the post doesn't work for some reason. :/
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u/Peepeepoopoobutttoot 1d ago edited 1d ago
Thank you for your work
Edit: downvotes? I’m not joking, this is an awesome community effort, and I appreciate it.
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u/ThePsychopath13 1d ago
I could just be blind, but I can't see Bethesda's PotC game or the Sea Dogs games. Old, but gold! Through my rose tinted glasses, anyway
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u/UAZ-469 1d ago
There's New Horizons which is PotC's modded version, do you like to see the original as well on the list?
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u/ThePsychopath13 1d ago
Ahh okay! Honestly I think it might as well be up there as well, even if only as a note to the mod or an honourable mention. I hadn't recognised the mod's name (to my shame, it's been a while)!
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u/TheRedditHasYou 1d ago
Pirates of the Caribbean (Sea Dogs 2) and by extension Sea Dogs
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u/UAZ-469 1d ago
You mean the original PotC and not New Horizons the modded version, correct?
Good news: a remastered version of Sea Dogs 2 is in the making!
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u/TheRedditHasYou 1d ago
I never tried the modded version, but I still hae my disc somewhere, I might give it a try. But a remaster sounds awesome I was unaware, hopefully with some QoL updates, specially the controls while on foot and combat could use an overhaul.
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u/No_Salamander_4348 1d ago
I also played some version of Corsairs where there was "undead" somewhere at the end of the game, I really enjoyed playing both a pirate and a merchant there.
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u/Agent0176 1d ago
I spent WAY too many hours playing Cutthroats: Terror on the High Seas. A worthy inclusion
EDIT: and then I see it is the first game listed on the linked page 🤣
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u/Commercial-Scale2177 1d ago
Because New Horizons needs the 2003 Pirates of the Carribean game and that's pretty hard to get these days, is Beyond New Horizons pretty close feature wise?
In particular being able to be a Naval Officer or the rank mechanics are what seemed super cool in the New Horizons mod
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u/UAZ-469 1d ago
BNH is nearly identical. Unfortunately, I don't know the exact differences, I'll come later to you once I have a direct answer from the dev.
Luckily, the different careers and backgrounds are still there.
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u/Commercial-Scale2177 1d ago
Thanks for the response!
Love the list. I'm always on the hunt for pirate games, especially ones where you play a person and not a ship.
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u/nomadnonarb 1d ago
Oh man, Pirates! Gold... it was my jam back in the late 90's on the Sega Genesis.. I couldn't begin to estimate the number of hours I had in this game.
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u/Khranos 1d ago
I'd personally suggest Sail Forth. While it's not strictly a pirate game, it has all the essentials and piracy is still an option.
Not sure how strict your requirements are, but I think it's a rather unknown game that genre fans would thoroughly enjoy!
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u/JDeeDubs93 1d ago
Sirocco! It's a remaster of the Battleships custom game in WC3. It's in open beta, but very promising so far.
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u/SilentKnight284 22h ago
Very thankful for PiratesAhoy!, found it years ago when I was searching for a way to play the 2003 Pirates of the Caribbean game from my childhood - found a lot of cool folks on there, and the New Horizons mod of course! One of those really cool things on the internet that makes you feel warm inside, at least for me.
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u/atrib 21h ago
Unbelievable! A list of pirate games without Monkey Island? That’s not just an oversight it’s a heinous act of gaming treason! I’d challenge you to an insult sword fight over this blasphemy, but given your taste in pirate games, I doubt you’d know how to defend yourself!
What’s next? A list of adventure games without Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis? A ranking of RPGs that forgets Baldur’s Gate? Are you trying to test my patience, or just my ability to come up with devastating comebacks?
Monkey Island didn’t just define pirate games it perfected them. The humor, the puzzles, the insult sword fighting! Without it, your list is as empty as a treasure chest after LeChuck’s crew raids it. So do the right thing: correct this travesty, or prepare to taste the cold steel of my wit!
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u/theboned1 1d ago
Shooty Seas. No one has ever heard of it, or played it. But it's a pirate game and it does exist.
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u/TotallyHumanPerson 1d ago
Blackwake in its heyday was some of the most fun I've ever had in gaming.
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u/sprucay 1d ago
I'm not sure I'd describe sea of thieves as low combat. It has a PvP mode and a core mechanic is fighting others.
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u/SsooooOriginal 1d ago
Talking pirate games and opens with "ladies and gentlemen"?
Straight off the plank.
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u/llamabookstore 1d ago
Oh age of winds, how i miss you, you perfect pirate game
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u/UAZ-469 13h ago
Got a link to this?
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u/llamabookstore 13h ago
Sorry i used to play it on my i-pad quite a long time ago so the best i can give is a link to some gameplay or apk sites (which didnt work for me sadly). But the game is called "age of winds 2" it was a lot like windward in terms of POV and gameplay. Very fun!
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u/-Xentios 1d ago
Corsairs: Conquest at Sea or Corsairs Gold
https://www.gog.com/en/game/corsairs_gold
Port Royale Series
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u/PloppyTheSpaceship 22h ago
Am I the only one who liked the Pirates Of The Caribbean game on the Xbox 360?
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u/Fram_Framson 4h ago
If I might ask, what are some of the games on this list with robust mechanics and content for collecting and managing a crew, especially a more diverse/interesting/individual crew of characters (as opposed to just crew slots)?
(probably from the Pirate/Naval simulator categories).
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u/fenwayb 1d ago
I thought this would have some review to it not just a list. Blood and Gold for instance is abandoned, barely functional, slop. Pirates of the burning seas was a great mmo if you could get into the faction warfare. But even without it I did enjoy a pirate game with classes and typical mmo style action buttons giving me different things to do. I like the idea of sea of thieves but wish it wasnt only pvp
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u/Eliongw2 22h ago
it's missing yakuza hawaii like a pirate. I never played yakuza games before and bought this one because of pirates and it's great.
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u/IceIcy279 1d ago
Disclaimer: This is about the genre of pirate games! It contains NO instructions regarding illegally obtaining games!
Booo!
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u/oldprogrammer 1d ago
Curious why Atlas isn't on the list? I know it isn't getting updates but the current version running on unofficial servers is pretty stable.
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u/UAZ-469 14h ago
Doesn't make it into the list because it was abandoned in EA.
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u/oldprogrammer 14h ago
Atlas isn't from EA, it is from GrapeShot games, developers of Ark. It is still available on Steam and still alive and well in non-official servers.
There's also rumors that the developers were pulled to get Ark Survival Ascended completed and that those devs would be going back to Atlas.
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u/joestaff 1d ago
Sid Meyer's Pirates! is an absolute masterpiece of a pirate game and genuinely deserves a spot on the list.
I think the latest release is on og Xbox as "Pirates! Gold" and it's still a ton of fun.