Pirate Game

Pirate Game is a top-down sailing adventure where you captain a cartoon ship across an island sea. Use the wind to pick up speed, follow treasure-map clues to buried chests, trade goods between ports, upgrade your ship and win broadside cannon battles against rival ships. You can play this pirate game online free in your browser on a computer or phone.

How to play

Every new voyage builds a fresh archipelago of about a dozen islands, four of them with ports. You start beside the pier at Gullhaven with 100 gold, a two-gun ship and the first of three treasure maps.

• Steer and set your sails: turn with the arrow keys or A and D, or drag the steering wheel. Raise and lower the sails with Up and Down, W and S, or the sail slider. Lowering them all the way stops the ship.
• Read the wind: the blue arrow on the compass shows where the wind is blowing, and it shifts slowly as you play. The bottom-left panel names your point of sail.
• Dock at a port: sail into the dotted ring around a pier and press Space or the Dock button. Docking saves your game.
• Fire broadsides: your cannons point out of the sides of the ship, not the front. Q (or the left Fire button) fires the port side, and E (or the right Fire button) fires the starboard side. Each side reloads separately.

Wind and points of sail

The game uses a simple version of how real sailing works. You cannot sail within about 45 degrees of straight into the wind. Point the bow there and the ship drifts to a stop, which sailors call being in irons. Close-hauled, just outside that zone, is slow. A beam reach, with the wind coming straight across the side of the ship, is the fastest point of sail. A broad reach is a little slower, and running straight downwind is slower still. To reach a port upwind, zigzag across the wind.

Treasure maps

Press M or the Map button to open your treasure map. Each clue names a port and gives a compass bearing and a distance, for example “From Saltmarsh, sail bearing 75 degrees (east-north-east) about 475 yards.” Below the clue is a sketch of the island’s outline, with north at the top and an X on one shore. Sail the bearing from that port, find the island that matches the sketch and bring your ship close to the named shore. Then slow down and press Space or Dig. The three chests hold 300, 500 and 800 gold, and each of the first two holds the next map. Find all three to become Treasure Master.

Trading and upgrades

Each port buys and sells fish, cloth, tea and spice at its own prices, and every good is cheap in one port and dear in another. Buy where the price is low, sail to a port that pays more and sell. Your hold starts with room for 20 crates.

The shipwright sells three upgrades, each up to level 3, for 200, 400 and 700 gold. Sails add 15 percent top speed per level. Hull adds 30 hull points and 10 cargo space. Cannons add one gun a side and reload faster. Repairs cost 1 gold per hull point.

Cannon battles

Rival ships with red flags roam the sea. When you get close, they turn side-on and fire their broadsides at you. Get alongside them and fire back. A rival takes six hits to sink. It slips under the waves, its crew swims safely to the nearest beach, waving as they go, and a floating chest of gold is left behind for you to collect. A new rival appears some time after each sinking. If your own hull drops to zero you are shipwrecked: your crew swims ashore, you lose your cargo and a quarter of your gold, and a new ship waits at the last port you docked at.

FAQ

Is Pirate Game free?

Yes. It is free to play with no account and nothing to install.

Does it save my progress?

Yes. Your voyage saves in your browser when you dock, when you dig, when you pause and every 15 seconds while you sail. Press Continue voyage to pick up where you left off, or New voyage to start a fresh sea.

Does it work on phones and tablets?

Yes. On a touch screen, drag the steering wheel to turn, drag the sail slider to set your speed and tap the Fire and Dock or Dig buttons.

Is it suitable for kids?

Yes. It is a cartoon game with no gore. Sunk ships simply slip under the water, and every crew swims safely to shore.

Like naval battles? Try Battleship for a classic grid game against the computer, or head out on the water in Fishing.