Seablip is a pixel art pirate ’em up, which promises an open world to sail around, islands to visit, crews to hire, bounties to hunt, and minigames through which to uncover treasure and fish. It looks adorable and it’s out in Early Access now.
The bit that always interests me most in games like these is the crew management, because I like looking after little guys. The sailors in Seablip sound as if they have a fair amount going on: there’s a finite number of them so you’ve an incentive to keep them alive and happy, and they each have skills and attributes that’ll change as they go through fights.
There seems to be quite a few pirate ’em ups that split the game into distinct activities, which I’m assuming is thanks to Sid Meier’s influence, and you can guess the way they link together. Winning fights and chasing down bounties provides resources for hiring crew and upgrading your ship which in turn helps you win fights and you get the idea.
Watching the trailer for Seablip above gave me a full, Ratatouille-like zoom to a memory of playing Puzzle Pirates nearly twenty years ago. Puzzle Pirates is still going, I discovered! It’s a pirate MMO where every activity is a different puzzle game and it was colourful and cosy in a way Seablip seems reminiscent of, in vibe if not substance.
You’ll find Seablip on Steam where it’s £11.51/€13.31/$13.49. It’s aiming for a full release next year.
