The Lost Treasure of Sid Meier's Pirates
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
Sid Meier's Pirates! is a genre-defying classic whose design logic has been largely forgotten.
The article argues that Sid Meier's Pirates! (1987) resists genre classification, blending sword-fighting, sailing, trade, and family rescue into a game whose mechanics are hewn directly from pirate tropes rather than existing conventions. The author notes its influence on Microprose's identity and contrasts it with modern design's reliance on established tropes. The article itself is partially behind a signup wall, cutting off before its conclusion.
What commenters are saying
Top commenters fondly recall playing Pirates! on the C64 and Amiga, praising its uniqueness and the difficulty of sailing against the wind. One commenter compares it to Mount & Blade as a spiritual successor. Several commenters express frustration with the article's signup wall, calling it disrespectful and deceptive. A minor debate arises over whether the artillery game Worms or Gorillas.bas inspired Worms.