A pirate world run on puzzles
Puzzle Pirates is a pirate world where every job is a puzzle. Sailing, gunning, hauling treasure, swordfighting, shipbuilding, foraging, digging up buried treasure — each one is its own mini-game, and how well you puzzle decides how well you do. There are more than 20 puzzles and mini-games covering different pirate trades, so you can pick the ones you like and get better at them instead of relying on twitch reflexes. The ocean is a shared world with thousands of other players, and out on it you'll find treasure, Brigand Kings, monsters, the Haunted Seas, and the Cursed Isles.
Playing together with your crew
You can sail with friends aboard your own pirate ship and pillage brigands and merchants together, with each crew member working their station through the relevant puzzle. Crews can band together under a "Pirate Flag," and a crew that works its way up can end up governing a pirate haven. Steam lists both online co-op and online PvP, so there's room for cooperative voyages as well as competing against other players. Beyond sailing, you can hunt Sea Monsters, voyage to lost treasure-filled realms, and explore the living world alongside everyone else.
Building a career beyond the ship
Money earned on voyages turns into booty you can trade. You can run your own shop and produce weapons, ships, and other goods to sell, work toward a trading empire, and eventually become governor of your own island. Your pirate can be customized with a wide range of clothing items and equipment, so your look is yours to build up alongside your skills.
Before you set sail
Puzzle Pirates is free to play with no subscription required to access everything the game offers. It's a 2D massively multiplayer game tagged as casual and strategy as much as RPG and adventure, so expect a slower, thinking pace rather than action-heavy combat. Success comes from puzzling skill, so the first few sessions are mostly about learning which puzzles suit you.