Sid Meier’s Pirates! - On this day

Pirate-themed video games have always been popular, but for a long time, one title was considered the ruler of that theme. It was Pirates! directed by Sid Meier, otherwise the creator of the Civilization series. That game came out back in 1987, but Meier modernized it through a remake that came out on this day 17 years ago.

The gameplay in the remake remained mostly true to the original, which meant that it was mostly based on sailing the Caribbean islands. The player led his pirate into battles that were divided into ship skirmishes and personal duels against opposing captains. These duels were performed so that the player had control over his character's moves, but did not directly control his movements. There was also a part with land battles, and that was performed on moves.

When cities were not plundered and occupied, various goods could be transported between the islands in Pirates and sold at a profit. Some new things have also been added, such as seducing the governor’s daughters and mini-dancing games. Pirate life was presented in 3D form, almost arcade style.

Sid Meier’s Pirates initially appeared as an exclusive for the PC platform, but a year later it has already been transferred to the Xbox. The Pirates subsequently received versions for the X360, PSP, and Wii consoles, and since 2012 they also have had a mobile version for iOS and Windows Phone. Today, the game is available in digital edition on Steam and GOG. The game is also playable on current Xbox consoles.