Pirates Outlaws

Review

Ahoy, me hearties! Arrgh … Arrgh! Are you ready to take to the sea, sailors? Arrgh…. But it won’t be easy sailing, let me tell you! There is plenty of gold for the taking, as well as dangerous islands to pass through, and terrifying enemies to defeat.  Locate the largest island, find a way to navigate there and beat the hell out of the big boss. . .  Arrgh! What!? You already beat one! And you think sunbaking on the beach looking like a lobster is a good idea? Get to your ship and ravage all the islands in Pirates Outlaws!   

Pirates Outlaws is a turn-based / casual roguelike card game developed by Fabled Game and published by BlueStacks on the 28 August 2019 on the Steam platform. The game is also available on mobile devices on Google Play and the Apple App Store. However, my review is based solely through the Steam version gameplay.

As you launch the game, you’ll be prompted by a minimal tutorial and then will arrive on the main menu page.

On this screen, you’ll be presented with a few options. First, you can choose which hero you’d like to play. They are nine in total, but at the start of the game, you’ll only be able to select one until you reach a certain number of reputes to unlock the other characters. Each of these characters will have a specific ability (some have a few), health points, ammo (which are yellow spheres, usually three but some have two), and a number of coins they will start the game with. They will also have an exclusive pre-set deck of cards (10) each. There are skins to unlock too, but you must beat the game on each of the game modes to unlock them.

The game modes are the Arena and Navigate. Only the navigate will be available on your first go. There are three maps available for selection, but only one will be accessible at the start. And yes, you need to have a specific number of reputes to unlock the other two. The gameplay is fun and addictive. In this mode, you’ll have two screens; one will be the map (with islands, rocks, markets and taverns) and the other one is the cards turn-based combat.

On the Island map, you’ll have to move your ship either right or left towards the next island, rocks or shipwreck until you reach the top island to face the big boss. Each time you move your ship, it will cost you several moving points; you can track your remaining points below the boat wheel on the bottom left of your screen. If you run out of movement points, your next move will have a 25% chance of your ship sinking, and this will double each turn. So, death will arrive in the next three moves unless you manage to visit a tavern. There, you’ll be able to purchase movement points, health, sell relics or remove one or more unwanted cards from your deck. When you reach a market, you’ll be able to upgrade cards, and/or purchase cards or relics if you have enough coins. If you decide to move toward rocks and shipwrecks it will trigger an event. Most of the events end up with great goodies, but others can cost you many health points, and you might even receive a curse to top it off!

The combat screen is straightforward. Under your character there will be either two or three yellow spheres (depending on the character you selected at the start of the game). That represents your ammo. At the bottom of the screen you’ll have 5 cards which will be randomised at the start of each turn. Some of the cards will have a yellow sphere with a number in it on the top left, which will indicate how much ammo you need in order to use these cards. Cards that don’t have a yellow sphere are basically free to use. At the end of each battle you’ll be rewarded with coins and presented with three cards, from which you must select one. You may have a relic card within the mix, too, and it could be a good one! As you battle your way to the big island, your deck of cards will grow, causing the game to become harder and harder to play along the way.    

The Arena mode is a dual-mode type of gameplay where you will face between one, two or three enemies per round, and the main goal is to win 30 rounds in a row. However, this mode will be locked until you reach a certain number of reputes.  

Charming and polished graphics and the game is fun and addictive. What I like is that each run is randomised in terms of what relics and new cards you collect during that gameplay. It’s even better when you start unlocking new characters. In terms of settings you can select up to 2560 X 1440 in resolution, and the game has been translated into nine languages: German, French, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean and of course English. In terms of controls, you can play this game entirely with a mouse. A robust Early Access.