Review: Puzzle Pirates

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By Ravenhawk | October 14, 2006

Puzzle Pirates is a game made by Three Rings Design which defies typical Massively Multiplayer Online games in that it doesn’t revolve clicking, and then going and getting yourself a sandwich while your alter-ego slays a monster. In a way, it created its own genre as the first Massively Multiplayer Online Puzzle Game. As strange as the genre sounds, it works out surprisingly well, creating a solidly fun game.

Grind: 8
Level grinding is Puzzle Pirates, unlike most MMOGs, is nearly nonexistent. Players don’t have levels, but instead have two ratings for each of the games which they can take part in. The first rating is, basically, how much they’ve done the puzzle, and that is rated from Novice to Sublime. The other is how good they are at it, which is rated from able to Ultimate.
Experience has little effect on the playing of the game. Some crews require you to have certain Experience or Rating ro be able to get promoted to different ranks and getting the broad rating on puzzles allows one to get new puzzles with the Navy. When you have a higher rating you can get more difficult boards for the puzzles. For instance, a high ranked Gunner has faster moving pieces than a low ranked one.
Some would say there is a money grind in the game, but even that is rather minor. If you hope to purchase some extremely expensive item, then expect to need to save up, but overall, money is not too hard to come by.

Graphics: 8
The game’s low graphics may turn off some gamers as not being good enough. Personally I find them to be quite fitting. The have a nice cartoony charm to them, which rings back to a time when Graphics weren’t all that important. Also, due to the simple nature of the game, because its a collection of Puzzles, complicated graphics would be unfitting. One of the few valid beefs that have come up is your inability to move your camera while you’re moving, but that is a minor detail.

Sound: 6
Puzzle Pirates has very little in the way of sound. There is the occasional ocean sound when you’re on a boat but there is no music of any sort. They do have sound effects in all the puzzles and while they’re good sounds, which depending on the puzzle, can be quite helpful, if you’re looking a game with a totally sweet sound track, or a soundtrack at all, this isn’t it.

Community: 9
The community is somewhere Puzzle Pirates really shines. The people are generally pretty cool. The crew system makes it really easy to find others to play with, Crew members are encouraged to pillage together in order to raise their ratings. Eventually this allows them to create or join a flag, which is a group of Crews. The ultimate goal of a flag is to take part in blockades and control their own island. Crew and flags can be left at any time by those in them, if they feel they’d like to search for something better.
Any player can create a tournament for their fellow pirates to compete in for various puzzles while on land. And you can throw “parties” in your house or shop, inviting anyone to come over and chat.
The economy of the game is completely player driven and is actually one of the best economies I’ve ever seen in an online game. Money is pretty easy to come by, but items deteriorate over time, so you eventually need to buy new ones. Only ships, houses and shops don’t deteriorate. Although most of the things you’re spending your money on only have an aesthetic value, there is something about standing in your big new painted house wearing matching clothes, surrounded by expensive furniture that definitely makes you feel good about yourself.

Fun: 9
Unless you’re not a fan of Puzzle games, Puzzle Pirates can be a load of fun. There are a large variety of different puzzles to try your hand at, most of which resemble super popular puzzle games which are out there, with their own piratey twist. Everything from Tetris to Puzzle Bobble style games are available. Its usually pretty easy to find someone to challenge to a sword fight or rumble. And if you find yourself not in the mood for puzzles, you can go relax in the inn, and talk or play Poker, Hearts, or Spades with your fellow pirates.

Overall: 8
Puzzle Pirates is a load of fun. It’s great community and awesome economy mean that, unlike a lot of mmos, you’ll actually want to interact with other players, not just go out on your own and kill stuff for the sake of gather those last few gold to get your uberweapon. With its emphasis on fun, not leveling its a good game to play to relax rather that stressing about being the best. For those who’re competitive, however, the rating system for individuals, as well as crews and flags, gives plenty to strive for.
Giving it another step up on most online games, you don’t have to pay real money to enjoy the game to fullest. If you play on a dubloon ocean, there is no monthly fee. You can pay real money to get dubloons, but you can also use the dubloon exchange to purchase dubloons off other players; there is nothing that someone who buys dubloons can get that players who don’t can’t.
It’s definitely worth checking out, at least for a short play, unless you hate puzzle games. The game is free for download at their website and takes up under 100 megs of space on the hard drive. There is also a retail version which can be bought, but the only advantage I’ve seen to getting it is to gain the coveted Backsword, a pretty nice sword that doesn’t deteriorate.
To check it out, you can head over to puzzlepirates.com or you could always click that handy link I have on the sidebar. If you did that, you’d start with a little extra money, but you’d also be starting in my crew and, oh the horror, be giving me money too. Some people have a problem with doing that. But regardless of how you get there, you should check it out.