[b]november 2022 edit:[/b] captain backwater is free now if you absolutely want to try it, one less reason to buy this, as if there weren't enough already.
[b]pirate's gold[/b] should've been called [b]captain backwater remastered[/b] because that's what it is. it's not even a sequel, same levels, same everything except slightly better graphics and a downgrade in most other ways, so I'll use [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/dohi64/recommended/695830]my backwater review[/url] as a base. didn't need to change it much...
it's a sliding game with a pirate theme and a matching element. the goal isn't to reach the exit but to bump two (sometimes more) of the same items together. not for upgrade purposes like in [b]2048[/b]-likes, but to make them disappear. [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/dohi64/recommended/1070250/]notes[/url] is an example that comes to mind, but I'm sure there are others.
[b]100 levels[/b] unlocked one by one, and besides the sliding action there are a bunch of mechanics. arrows, dynamite and bombs to clear treasure faster, various means of changing treasure color, spikes activated after moving over them (they just block, don't cause game over), the occasional rapier to destroy any tile, etc. [b]teleporters aren't great[/b], their animation is slow and part of the puzzle is unfortunately figuring out which leads where.
[b]collectibles got improved, surprisingly.[/b] bananas are no more and coins are marked now, which is a minor and major improvement at the same time. no need to sashay around aimlessly until you find which tiles hide them, but [b]still have to mouseover each quickly before they disappear[/b]. also, collectibles aren't used to unlock the final 20 levels anymore, so they're a lot less mandatory, but it'd still be preferable to make them puzzly, not some arcade ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. and [b]level select still doesn't show where you have some left[/b].
[b]undo is available but it counts as a move.[/b] good enough to simply solve levels and since there [b]still isn't a par for the levels[/b], it doesn't matter at all. I kept moving things around, finished a 2-move level with 15 moves, still got 3 stars. what's the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ point then? no on-screen timer but completion time is shown on the level complete screen, along with the number of moves taken and found and total coins. not sure if undo still messes up collectibles, like it does in the original.
[b]controls are mouse-only[/b], no hotkeys besides esc bringing up the pause menu. since you're not controlling a single entity, it's fine, but undo and reset should still have their keys. [b]I tried pressing 'r' for reset, but it skipped to the next level.[/b] they don't get unlocked on the map even if you solve them, must be some debug thing left in after the minutes of testing the game must've had. [b]the cursor is a gigantic sword, really in the way[/b], much worse than in backwater and [b]no way to change it to something else, unlike in the original[/b].
widescreen graphics this time, slightly better-looking than before, the usual casual-colorful kind. same exact audio, [b]music is surprisingly good if very repetitive, but the same annoying soundbites all over the place are incredibly grating and 5 years weren't enough to add a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ speech slider.[/b] there are separate sliders for music and sound and a full screen toggle for a non-resizable window. [b]don't bother with alt+enter for a quick switch, as it only produces a black screen[/b] when going from windowed to full screen or vice versa.
still english and german languages supposedly, can't change it manually anymore though, must be an auto-detect thing, another step in the wrong direction. no more 'high-quality visuals' toggle either to remove some unnecessary effects. [b]not being able to go back to the map from a level is still a thing.[/b] the high score list is yet another omission (I'm sure nobody's gonna miss it), so no need to close that first, but quitting goes back to the main menu, gotta click play there again to be able to choose another level. oh, and can't have multiple profiles anymore either.
[b]core gameplay would be fine, shame about everything else, including missing features even compared to the original.[/b] you don't even get the same experience for double the price, let alone a better one, just some slightly different graphics. they even broke the ability to take screenshots. avoid at all costs.
it should've been a free update, not sold for twice the then-price of backwater, which isn't even mentioned on the store page. pretty scummy, just like the backwater pricing shenanigans over the years. they're not denying the connection, even offering owners of backwater a free key on discord, but then why not release it as backwater remastered or a simple patch? even if it's a trademark or similar issue, they should be able to mention it on the store page, like every half-assed first-person puzzler does with the witness and portal.
