I constantly feel like there’s a game missing out there that I know would be a candidate for the 2024 Game of the Year award. A pirate game with endless potential. I don’t know why it entered our collective consciousness, and I’m sure many players do, it’s what we’re missing. Is the feeling of diving into the sea to steal and do stupid things a human need? Is the idea of swinging to another ship and stabbing the enemy in the back downright exciting? Or is it just the concept of a kind of 17th century GTA with supernatural creatures in the sea that appeals? It all feels a bit like my Roman Empire, and when I picked up Rogue Waters my dreams of a great pirate game came true. Could this be a game that, at least for a few hours, satisfies one’s inner, almost animalistic longing for shameless mischief on the high seas?
Rogue Waters is a turn-based tactical roguelite game set in a pirate world. You play as Captain Cutter, a man who has risen from the dead many years after his former Captain Blackbone figuratively and literally stabbed him in the back following an argument over a (surprise) treasure. And that’s where the story more or less stalls. By recruiting pirates, all of whom look more or less the same, and upgrading your ship with its cannons, you slowly become stronger and ready to take revenge and plunder the seas. You’ll lead your ragtag recruits to hit the waterways on raids and mercilessly board enemy ships in search of coins, jewels and luxury upgrades. Either you reach the dreaded end and have managed to destroy all enemy ships, or you die along the way and rise again in your port as the immortal captain that you are.
Once you’ve cast off the lines and chosen one of the three paths presented to you in the sea, it’s time to take on the unsuspecting scum. Each battle begins with your ship sailing alongside the enemy ship and firing. The duel is viewed from above and I like the way the game designed its fights, although I wish they were longer and more elaborately animated. Three-masted ships armed with side-by-side cannons, what else is needed in this life, I wonder?
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After you’ve done your best to take out the enemy cannons and all the power-ups, it’s time to board the enemy ship. I carefully selected my heroes to dramatically jump onto the enemy deck and engage in isometric combat against the crew, and this is where Rogue Waters really impresses. Strategically placing your pirates is crucial to making the most of their various strengths. Sally Brisk, for example, is something of an ambusher, so I try to get her behind enemy lines so my other fighters can plunge opponents into her dagger. It’s a chess game of life and death unfolding before your eyes.
At this point I find that I’m still a little disappointed by the graphics, which is paradoxical because in many ways it’s visually reminiscent of Dredge, which came out last year and which I love in every way. I suspect it’s the story that can’t make up for the lack of aesthetics. There are also numerous loading scenes that break me out of my thoughts from time to time, and it’s surprising how frequently they occur considering how little power the game actually seems to require.
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Once the raid is over, I return to my underground haven either as a resurrected victor or simply as a resurrected one. There I can upgrade my ship, rest my crew, or recruit new morally dubious people at the local tavern. A base like this provides a certain level of calm between attacks, which I really appreciate, as you can swap crew members and modify ships to make the next attack even sharper.
Despite the relatively flat graphics, I quickly realized how easy it is to get stuck in the gameplay loop. My short hour before bed turns into almost three hours of a kind of masochistic race in which I die and die, getting more tired with each new race. Five hours until I have to get up with the little ones. Sorry, four. Rogue Water’s isometric view, combined with the game board’s grid, creates a deeply satisfying feeling when carefully planned attacks finally pay off. For those of you stuck in games like Hades, I want to raise a warning flag because even though Rogue Waters is turn-based, there are a lot of similarities and I find myself sinking into it in the same way I always did Hades. The fact that it’s set in a world full of pirates makes me feel even closer to my old childhood idol, Captain Haddock.
I wonder if a roguelite pirate game has the same appeal I wrote about at the beginning. I think the answer is almost. Rogue Waters is a roguelite first and foremost, and I feel like the other installments come second. For example, naval battles could have been given greater prominence both graphically and in terms of their importance to the success of a raid. It’s almost like a mini-game of the game with high entertainment value and I would have liked more guns and stormy waters. The game’s story also lacks weight and the lack of variety between the characters and the generally rather boring graphics leave a lot to be desired. A deeper dive into the characters and story could have helped escape the feeling that it’s actually just a deck builder in a nice setting, and probably would have increased the fun of playing the game again, which I suspect quickly feels like a repetition.
At the same time, not every game is a Rockstar-sized behemoth with a Hans Zimmer soundtrack. Rogue Waters has enough originality to make the entire story compelling, and the more games that dare to dive headfirst into the pirate genre, the happier I and every other pirate fan will be. The combat mechanics are so well-crafted that they’re just the right amount of addictive, and as day turns to night, I’m looking forward to a few more raids to get a little stronger and advance a little further. Plus, the game is leisurely and, with a little self-control, is perfect for taking an hour or five to complete a raid, or ten before it’s time to go to bed.
Conclusion: If you like turn-based roguelites, I recommend checking out Rogue Waters. If you’re a Pirates fan like me, then go ahead. Ultimately, games are designed to help you relax, have fun, and let go of reality for a while. It’s a need that Rogue Waters more than satisfies. The fact that it’s set in a setting full of sea monsters, treasure chests, and three-day stubble is just a bonus.
