Note: This reflects build as of Dec 2025. Will update as the game does.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3616487038
[h1]Summary[/h1]
Early Access, janky, slightly buggy, but unique first person age of sail simulation combining elements no other game I've found yet quite does. Hands-on sail trimming, real world locations instead of fictional, merchant contracts, crew orders (very simple so far, but functional,) no combat (so far,) and genuinely scary storms and waves. I normally don't review in Early Access, but this one has immense potential. I invite the dev to see the "CONS" section below for feedback.
[h1]Who might it be for?[/h1]
People for whom just getting from point A to point B with great difficulty and mooring your ship somewhere successfully is satisfying.
People who enjoy adjusting halyards and sheets and pumping bilge, or who can put up with very simple AI crew you can order to adjust and pump for you (you still have to furl and deploy them yourself via the halyards so far.)
People who want an age of sail simulator game that isn't combat focused (so far it's just sailing and trading.)
People who want the challenge of either having to use local noon or (if simplified mode is enabled) auto-updating lat and long to figure out where you are, via a map.
People who love the idea of doing all of this during intense storms and trying not to go to the bottom.
People who want semi-realistic tradewinds and current locations.
People who literally just want to sail, trade, try to survive, and nothing else.
[h1]Who is it not for?[/h1]
Anyone who doesn't enjoy tedious simulation style hands-on micromanagement.
Anyone who wants a story, RPG elements, fleshed out towns, lots of NPCs, character interactions, slice of life, etc. This, again, is *just* sailing and trading. That's it.
Anyone who wants combat (not added yet.)
Anyone with low tolerance for jank, bugs, or very clearly Early Access games.
Anyone who really needs seamless full controller support (see CONS.)
Anyone who would find long stretches of just sailing boring or uninteresting.
Anyone who dislikes learning curves and lack of tutorialization.
[h1]PROS:[/h1]
[list]
[*]The only sailing simulation style game I could find that combines: being set in the age of sail, being just about sailing, transport/merchant contracts, having any kind of implemented AI crew to give orders to, and being based on the real world instead of being fictional.
[*]Has a large map rather than being limited to the Caribbean or similar.
[*]Although still glitchy and early, the wind and sail simulation elements are very nice (let out sails going over and catching the wind, getting stuck in irons, etc.)
[*]The water, while also still visually glitchy and early, is genuinely scary and a sight to behold during storms.
[*]The process of actually getting anywhere while being sufficiently provisioned with food and water is arduous and satisfying.
[*]Nice ship models, which lean realistically.
[*]Immersive sound design.
[*]You can take on merchant contracts, or just buy low and sell high.
[*]Simple AI crew that follows (some) orders has been implemented.
[*]Anchors, including kedging with a winch/windlass.
[/list]
[h1]CONS:[/h1]
[list]
[*]Ships start unmoored and drift, mooring is finicky. Planks would be nice.
[*]No visible damage model. As a result, the repair functionality feels unclear.
[*]Controller support exists, but critically, settings do not save between sessions and must be re-implemented every time you load. And they do not appear to work inside trade or orders menus yet.
[*]Physics bugs: kedging or shortening mooring lines too much can lead to collision and ships spinning and glitching out, sail cloths may occasionally pop and jerk, and loading saves can cause spawn related physics issues momentarily.
[*]Weather bugs: clouds have been added now and when working storms will roll in beautifully and ominously, but sometimes it will rain and clearly a storm is underway but no clouds appear at all. Storms will also spontaneously start when loading saves where there had been calm before.
[*]AI crew limitations and bugs: As long as you have enough crew for both watches assigned they usually work, but will sometimes despawn until you swap them around again in the ship's log in your cabin. You can order them to let out or take in sails via the orders menu, as well as have them hold a heading and pump bilge, but there are no orders to deploy or furl sails up, requiring the player to do this.
[*]Time acceleration issues: Sleeping forces 30x speed. It says we can adjust it, but unlike in normal camera mode where I can, the inputs do nothing for me. This conflicts with the need to sleep to refill the rest meter, as lengthy sleep prevents proper navigation and can lead to disaster if not exited fast enough. Yet we are told by the game we must sleep for long periods frequently to fill the meter. (Meters don't appear to have significant effects when emptied, either, to be fair.)
[*]Water clipping: The water is beautiful and you can pump bilge when taking on water. But the water also clips through the leaning edges of ship models and doesn't appear to represent the actual taking on of water visually. This both creates confusion as to whether we're actually taking on water, and just doesn't model water behavior well.
[*]You start with very limited money and to actually manage to get somewhere to fulfill a contract, can easily put you in the red.
[*]Ports are simple and largely empty, and locating traders and other interactive NPCs could be made clearer.
[*]No tutorial. There's a simple handbook, but you're basically thrown into the sea.
[*]Occasional stutter.
[/list]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3616486930
[h1]General Thoughts[/h1]
Despite these shortcomings and rough edges, this game provides an experience I've been searching for. It fills an unserved niche in sailing video games.
I've been looking high and low for a game that allows me to cross the real world's oceans in the age of sail, has AI crew delegation, isn't combat-focused, isn't an Akela-style Sea-Dogs-like, isn't a Sid Meier's Pirates-like, isn't a naval combat or tactics sim, isn't an MMO, isn't an action game like Black Flag, isn't in a fictional setting but rather uses real world locations, allows trade, has at least somewhat realistic seamanship involved, isn't a management sim, and has epic storms and waves. Basically, something like a trucking simulator but set in the age of sail.
If you've looked for that specific combination like I have, then you know it's essentially nonexistent. This one is very barebones and still early/janky, but really is the only one I've found thus far that ticks all those boxes.
It's difficult, tedious, and extremely rough. My first attempt it glitched out forcing a restart. In my second, I failed due to the 30x time speed during sleep and sinking. But in my third, it was satisfying to limp along from London to Marseille while constantly checking my position and praying I don't sink in huge swells or go off course too badly. Seeing the weather and wind change. Adjusting sail as needed. And using the spyglass to inspect the horizon. It becomes genuinely meditative (if at times scary.)
There are more polished and feature-rich sailing sims (if not for the fictional setting and total lack of any crew mechanism, a game like Sailwind or Following Seas might better scratch this itch for some,) but to me this is the closest thing I've found to what I want. This is a huge hole in the market in my opinion, and this is the only game that currently fills it, rough though it be.
If the issues mentioned in the CONS section of this review are addressed, and if it gets even slightly fleshed out and given a few QoL passes, it could be a truly unique game. It already is in several respects. Not for everyone, but it gave me the very specific thing I was after.
