Funnily, Matt and I don’t always enjoy the same kind of games. In a nutshell, he’s a much more discriminating gamer than I am, whereas I’m more temperamental when it comes to video games when I’m not saddled with the fact that first person shooter games give me motion sickness very easily.
That said, apart from MMOs, there’s one game theme that we both really enjoy – and that’d be pirate-y games. One such was an unusual title of sorts, and called Pirate Cove. Many strategy games have you managing medieval or modern cities. Pirate Cove had you managing, well, a hideout for pirates, and you have to figure out how to keep them happy!
The game came from 2003, and was one of several games that was packed into my luggage to Perth. Basically, you construct a village then a small town on a unnamed Carribean island, and soon enough, you’ll have pirates stopping by little bay for Rest & Recreation. How do you keep them happy and keep them returning? By meeting all their needs, i.e. a continuous supply of cigars, beer and wenches LOL.
If things were only that simple though. Beers are sold in Taverns, must be manufactured from corps, and you have to grow corps. You’ll also need labor, accommodation for your labor, and overseers when your labor conscripts aren’t willing. The whole game is a balance of sorts: trying to keep your pirates happy, but your bottom line in the black, i.e. a profitable enterprise for yourself.
So if you’re thinking that this must be a morally irreprehensible game of questionable ethics, it’s nothing such. Everything is tongue in cheek. There’s no blood, no violence beyond those implied when ships get sunk, and heck no buxom nudity – very PG-safe. You just need to be ready to laugh at the extreme situations you get into to keep your pirates happy, returning, and your slave labor compliant.
The game hasn’t aged very well, but for those of us who’re in the know, this game’s a rarity and a gem for its unique theme.:)
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