Republic of Pirates combines two aspects of gaming city-building and piracy.
Republic of Pirates is a game that will have players rebuilding the republic of pirates after a betrayal, the player will be required to build and expand as they take on enemies and defend their settlements while meeting the needs and upkeep of a city. The game was developed by Crazy Goat Games, the same creators that brought us games like Worshippers of Cthulhu, the Dragoness: Command of the Flame, and published by PQube.
Starting of Republic of Pirates in campaign mode, the player will be given some brief information about the first location, ranging from available materials, and production conditions, to map characteristics.
Starting with the first mission, the player will start the game with 20000 Doubloons which will be the player’s starting funds, aside from that, demolished building costs will be returned to the player at 100%, further information on the first mission continues to state that paused production buildings upkeep cost will remain at 0%.
Although this information sounds good, it can and will change with the difficulty settings and the different islands the player might open up along the way. Once the player has started Republic of Pirates, the player will be treated to a voiced cutscene, explaining the situation of the world and the people within it talking to the player about their in-game father having been a pirate and having been killed by others corrupted by greed.
Once the cutscene is over and done the player has become acquainted with the three other factions of piracy. The first character they get to meet is John Artley, who gives advice about sticking to the shallows of the seas as it’s too dangerous to continue out in the open, also revealing the first location’s name in the process.
The first location the player will be sailing around will be the Archipelago. Once all interactions are finished, the player will start the tutorial of moving and selecting the ship in which they will be sailing.
Learning to move around, the player will be able to pick up debris from which lumber and other materials can be found. Once the first quarter of the tutorial is done, the player is instructed to get out of the shallows and head to open waters.
However, once the player’s ship makes it out, the enemy’s ship hits some rocks, causing the ship to wreck. Fortunately for the player, this does not mean the end as it is where the next part of Republic of Pirates comes into play – the building aspect.
Getting another message from John Artley, he goes on to state how much of a close call the wreck was and how the Archipelago is now in chaos after the collapse of the republic and further suggests that the player gets to bunkering down on Galley Island and come up with a plan for sailing out the shallows again.
The first building to be built will be the docks, as they will house the player’s collected supplies. In order to get this building, the player will have to tap on the tab located in the bar at the bottom of the screen titled, Infrastructure.
By hovering over a building icon, the player will be able to see finer details about that specific building, explaining its purpose and how much funds along with materials will cost to construct the structure.
Further learning from the tutorial, explains how certain buildings in Republic of Pirates can only be built in certain zones and locations, such as the docks, which can only be built on the waters. Once the player has built the docks, the next step will be hiring plenty of rough men who are ready for a fight.
As the development of the player’s settlement continues, the player will have to take the fight to their enemies. In order to get some ready men, the player will have to build 5 huts which can only be built when connected to the docks using roads, setting the first path into the player’s settlement.
Once the player places four huts around the new road they have built, the player will run out of materials, prompting another suggestion from John Artley. He suggests that the player sails out to nearby waters to look for more debris and driftwood, which the player will get from a shipwreck not too far from the island they are holding up on.
Once the player has collected what they need and completed the hut building mission, the next bit of information given is that of building effects, certain buildings such as brothels and taverns, are used to fulfill the wants of workers in the surrounding areas.
The range of the effect of a building will be indicated by the coloration of nearby roads when placing or selecting the building. Aside from collecting materials from the seas by finding and collecting debris, the player will also be able to get resources from the island as well. When it comes to production buildings such as lumber mills, in order to produce materials, production buildings require monetary upkeep and workers of a specific tier.
Finding people for the production buildings will be displayed at the top of the screen with the worker’s icon, which displays things such as worker counts, the number next to the icon indicates the amount of idle workers available for assignment to any of the production buildings. Some buildings such as the woodcutter’s lodge, require proximity to natural resources to gather material, while others process one material into another.
The more a player provides for their workers, the happier they will be. The happier the workers are, the more they’ll contribute, as it’s elegantly put that even cutthroat pirates have needs too. The next mechanic that is revealed is the needs of the inhabitants and finding out what they need is pretty simple. The player can view the needs using the house selection menu which will display what they need and which provides increased income or additional workers when satisfied.
Alongside viewing the inhabitants, the player will also be able to view their wants such as rum or a brothel for entertainment purposes. Once the needs and wants have been met, the player can see an increase in income and performance.
After doing the first few missions, a new character is introduced. She goes by the name, Mary Connor, a tough old gal who can more than hold her own in a naval battle or a tavern brawl. She will be the next captain to join the player’s new version of the Republic of Pirates.
She arrives in a pretty beat-up ship explaining how she was planning to betray Jack but betrayed herself when he found out about her plans, she further goes on to ask for some help to repair her ship.
Once the repairs are done, the player will be notified of incoming enemies which will encourage the player to use the firepower of the new ship. The next mechanic that is introduced is the tactical map. The icon of the tactical map is located on the left panel and this map allows players a quicker navigation along with a high-level assessment of the current landscapes the player is located in.
Once the new ship wipes out the two enemy boats, the player will obtain a new ally in the battle of the republic. As the player furthers their progression in their settlements, more characters will be made available for use, such as the lovely Isabel Rojas, a cunning, pragmatic, and seductive lady who runs brothels. Each new character that comes along, brings to the table their own unique sets of skills and uses, making it pretty easy to build and obtain new buildings and useful structures.
Republic of Pirates itself is fun to play, the combination of city-building aspects and the piracy aspect of gameplay seems like an odd combination. However, while they work quite well hand in hand with each other, the game itself kind of plays closer to games like The Sims, Railway Empire 2, and other games of building and maintaining a city but with a bunch of pirates.
The controls on the mouse and keyboard are pretty easy to get the hang of, however, the controls for the controller are somewhat of a bit of a learning curve as there are no actual tutorials on which buttons do what they’re supposed to. So, it is suggested to play with the mouse and keyboard over the controller
Overall, Republic of Pirates is amazing and the level of detail along with the artwork for the characters and the story itself are quite unique and fun to explore. The characters have their own unique looks and vibes that just make the game more and more appealing. So go give it a try, it’s definitely worth it, especially if you like to manage cities and battle it out with other cutthroat pirates.
