Pirates, a naval warfare game inspired by Sid Meier's Pirates

iweczek 235 points 75 comments June 12, 2026
piwodlaiwo.github.io · View on Hacker News

Discussion Highlights (20 comments)

HiroProtagonist

Sid Meier's Pirates on the iPad was a great experience. Bummer it isn't supported in modern iOS.

Apreche

At first I was frustrated because I didn’t know what the controls were. The arrows were moving, but nothing seemed to shoot. Then I realized the space bar was shooting. You just can’t see the bullets because they are tiny black dots on a dark blue background.

monkeywork

Well done - that was a fun little distraction :)

zuzululu

this game is crazy fun

dbingham

That was fun, but the AI and the balance need some work. It's too easy to win as the small boat. You just stay ahead of your opponent and then turn back and strafe periodically. It would be much more challenging if you added wind and realistic sailing dynamics. If wind direction vs sail orientation mattered to your speed and boat characteristics weren't as simple as smaller = faster then I think it would be much better balanced and way more fun/challenging!

ms_menardi

make it multiplayer, I dare ya >:) (if you need this kind of motivation)

k2xl

Fun but should have difficulty levels!

Jeema101

Illustrates the importance of 'crossing the T' in naval warfare before there were turreted guns. :)

hermitcrab

Fun. Maybe you could add some random features for a bit more variety. Shallows, islands, fog banks etc.

ez8

Good but too easy

inasio

Nice job! Sid Meier's Pirates is one of my favorite games, wish they brought it back (I still play it occasionally, can't believe it never got a remake)

alt227

Great game! Reminds me very much of Overboard for the PS1 back in 1997. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71accvNZ0aA

wolttam

Cute but I won first time on all 3 sizes

fabiensanglard

Nothing is moving on the screen for me :/ ! I can't pick the ship. Console shows no error.

JMiao

my kid has 50+ hours in sid meier's pirates and told me they stare at the world map in their classroom and try to locate towns and ports in the caribbean when they're bored. i will show your game to them, though i am certain the first thing they will ask for is chain shot. not to discourage your good work, but here's another project worth checking out if sid meier's pirates is your thing. https://tinywind.io/

mgc8

This is pretty cool as a prototype, nice job! I'd say it needs some progression (one-on one to one-on-multiple, think 1xL against 2xS, etc.), as well as some more map variation (channels, islands, hazards like a giant whirlpool, kraken, the works). As a final shape, multiplayer would be pretty cool, but of course that's quite a bit more difficult... But I for one would be there for it :)

alexpotato

This 100% has the "vibe" of the original game but should include that if you sail "into the wind" it slows you down. Also, I've been trying to make a remix of SMP but with a princess theme for my daughters. Been experimenting with making other games to practice building out game mechanics and stumbled into making a game where you manage a Soviet Tractor Factory [0]. I'm interested to see if developing parts of Game A lead to Game B which in turn lead you back to interesting ideas for Game A (or maybe better Game C). 0 - https://alexpotato.com/games/tractor47/?l=hn

esafak

For me the watercolor imagery and music were half the game (Pirates Gold). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOPdsiOp5R0

contingencies

Love the original. Some key tactics you need to pick up are: use a small ship, because if you are fast with the right technique nobody can hit you, and you can cross vast distances quickly without starving. Keep food stocked and limit large ship acquisition to a phase of the game in which you need large numbers of pirates for town invasions / large ship fights. Always sell extra cannons. Always buy the goodies from the bar. Upgrade ships religiously: you want all upgrades. In swordfighting, prefer rapier (speed with good reach) over larger weapons in most cases. Obtain new letters of marque. Obtain land after performing state-aligned duties by talking to the governors: this builds your long-term wealth. The easiest victim (given all other letters of marque) is the dominant state in the era (different eras have different mixes, but it's usually the Spanish). To catch the military payrolls, sink the escorts then damage to near 'strike their colors' before closing in for swordplay. Change to buck shot to reduce opponent count before swordplay without risking loss of vessel hull. Remake on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3920/Sid_Meiers_Pirates/

supertroop

“the emperor wishes to see you posthaste!” This immediately reminded me of the 1980s Apple game Taipan and of course it is playable online: https://www.taipangame.com/

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