Pirate adventures are a comfortable genre in interactive fiction, providing a convenient source for adventures and a setting that’s exotic but relatable. “Pirateship” is an choice-based adventure game takes advantage of the motif by providing an exceptionally smooth user interface for its exploration and puzzle-solving.

Gameplay: The main character of the game is, as expected, a young pirate exploring a island containing a treasure. Gameplay is in the style of traditional adventure IFs, with the protagonist gathering items around the island and deploying them in largely straightforward manners to dispense with various obstacles. The most remarkable feature of the game is its clean, well-designed interface. Objects in inventory or in the current room appear at the bottom of the screen, with verbs specific to each object following them. It’s simple and intuitive, and it handles all of the situations in the game without difficulty. 8/10.

Mechanics: The puzzles in the game are generally strong clued and logical. (There are a few stranger ones, such as an alternative solution to a puzzle involving a crocodile egg that hatches and attacks an inconvenient NPC.) Conversations follow the same mechanics as interactions with objects, and they’re similarly well-conceived. None of the puzzles are particularly complicated, but they’re satisfying to solve and invoke the theme and setting of the game. 8/10.

Presentation: The UI features clean layouts and fonts, and interacting with it is seamless. Although the setting of the game is a familiar one in IF, there are nice touches such as a mermaid divided between woman and fish longitudinally, or the randomly generated pirates aboard the protagonist’s ship. 9/10.

You might be interested in this game if: You like games about pirates.

Score: 8