Best Pirate games

Too many choices for your liking? Narrow down your search by viewing our personal list of the best pirate games. 

Why are video games about pirates so popular?

Games with pirates more often feature not only the perks and quirks of living on a ship/boat/any other water transport. What’s tempting is seeing how a proper sea dog would organize his or her daily routines. As these often involve drinking, gambling, or romance, you can see the appeal. It’s the book's example of how one can lead an improper life. As long as it stays in the realm of imagination, it’s just so much fun.

Naturally, the setting is not everything that makes a title good. With pirate video games, you also need to know that you can fence freely and shoot with no difficulty. It would be nice to understand how the ship works and what you can do when the time for battle comes, too. The precision of controls, along with a constant atmosphere of adventure, is crucial for a great pirate title. Now, which game authors managed to combine these elements and don’t deserve to be called landlubbers? 

What are the best pirate games?

Authors who put sea dogs in their titles can sleep soundly, as there are a bunch of games that deliver in terms of both the “spirit” and gameplay. The best pirate games just immerse so intensely that you start to forget that you’re not on your own boat, but still in front of the screen. 

The first title that makes you forget about the world is Risen 2: Dark Waters. The title is even more impressive, considering that the first game in the series was much more similar to the studio’s previous game series called Gothic. The sequel to Risen takes the risk of changing the tone of the franchise completely, which resulted in a very solid journey. Aye, it was fairly short if you focused only on the main story, and the fighting system wasn’t all that fantastic, yet the atmosphere was impeccable. Sometimes, the best game doesn’t have to necessarily be the best gameplay-wise. It’s the overall experience that matters.

We can say a lot about the somewhat repetitive nature of titles in this Ubisoft series, although there’s no denying that Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag exceeds all of the good expectations and presents itself as one of the top-quality games about pirates. Take all the usual elements known from the AC franchise, add a lot of new elements that suit the life of a true sea dog (ship battles!), and you have a recipe for an innovative and fun title instead of a bit rusty formula of older games from the series. 

These were only two examples of outstanding utilization of grog-drinking sea criminal themes. There are titles like the licensed Pirates of the Caribbean games or fairly recent Sea of Thieves that are also worth discovering, along with many other productions we haven’t mentioned. Like an actual sea dog, you should go on a big adventure, grab yourself some titles from the pirate games list, and see where the treasure really is: better, set sail as soon as possible.