King of Seas

The Long John Silver of pirate games! Fit out your ship like a character in an RPG, with a huge variety of skills to use in battle. Challenging at the start, it's best to steer clear of combat in the early game. Each ship has its own role and the game is loads of fun once you have the right boat! So... hoist the mainsail!

With its cutesy graphics, King Of Seas is a top-down action-RPG set in time when pirates ruled the seas, and you'll be out to board and sink both merchant and Royal Navy vessels. At the start of the game, you pilot a small boat that can be upgraded through five classes: sloop, brig, flute, frigate, and galleon.

And because this is an RPG, you can call in to every port to upgrade, repair, sell, and buy ships as your progress through the story, which goes like this: you play as either Marylou or Lucky (you're free to choose, although it has no effect on the story), one of the two children of a king who will soon be assassinated, and who have made a career at sea. You find yourself accused of regicide and sunk along with all of your crew, and just when you have accepted your fate, you are plucked from the seas by pirates who take you under their wing. With their help, you will set off you discover exactly who was plotting against you and your father.

And as you're now a pirate, there will definitely be some fighting along the way. This takes the form of naval combat, but you have cannons at your disposal, adding more guns as you upgrade your ship. The combat places the focus on strategy rather than brute force, and battles can be against one or more ships, depending on the alliances in play.

Our tip: beyond just cannons, the game also lets you unlock special abilities that add a whole new dimension to the combat. Take the "flaming tide", for example. It burns any ship within range ahead of the bow, progressively damaging their sails and hulls. Other abilities come in useful with navigation or defence. "Ethereal navigation", for example, illuminates the whole ship in green, affording temporary invincibility.

We liked the exploration, which is probably King of Seas' greatest strength, with its procedurally generated map. And travel is central to the adventure.

Between battles you'll be sailing the seas (the world map is huge!) and visiting ports where you can sell booty to earn gold. Rum, wood, sails... you can sell anything, but prices vary with the demand in each port.

Our advice? Don't be in a hurry to fight at the start of the game, and try it on Sailor difficulty first. There are three levels of difficulty that you can choose at the start of the game: Sailor, Gunner, and Captain. The difficulty you choose will have a huge impact on health points and damage. You unlock two more game modes when you complete the game... but we'll let you discover those for yourself.

King of Seas' other big strength is its accessibility, and it would make a great introduction to RPG gaming for younger gamers. The gameplay is straightforward, even the trading system, and it’s easy to upgrade both your ship and your captain (via the skills tree).

Our favourite part? How behind its cute, childlike graphics can be found a huge variety of quests, each as engaging as the next, and all accompanied by plenty of humour and some polished naval combat.

Appearances can be deceptive!

Whether you're more Jack Sparrow, Captain Pugwash, or Treasure Island, you're in for a treat here! So... prepare to board!