Pirates!
1987 · Strategy / Action · Commodore 64 / Multiple
Overview
Sid Meier's Pirates! (1987) is MicroProse's open-world Caribbean adventure, in which a privateer duels, battles ships, trades and plunders across a lifetime.
Deep Dive
The player starts in an era from 1560 to 1680 as a privateer for Spain, the Dutch Republic, England or France, and may turn pirate. Sword duels, sea and land battles mix with decisions such as whom to marry and how to divide the plunder. Relations between nations shift as the game goes on, and the character ages and eventually retires.
Developer Story
Meier designed it, with art by Michael Haire. It came out on the Commodore 64 in 1987 and sold over a million copies. It was remade as Pirates! Gold (1993) and again in 2004.
Did You Know?
- Its copy protection asked when treasure fleets arrived; a wrong answer made the game much harder.
- Computer Gaming World named it Action Game of the Year for 1988.
Sources & further reading
- Sid Meier's Pirates! — Wikipedia
