Nostalgic and holds up after 20 years
Mentioned in ~2 in 5 positive reviews
“I'm absolutely astonished at how well this game holds up despite its age.”
Steam review · 22.3 h played ↗
Sid Meier's Pirates!
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Very Positive · 95%Very Positive · 95%Firaxis Games2005Sandbox · RPG · Adventure
$9.99
Open on Steam ↗US Steam price, checked 2 h ago
The verdict
A charming arcade-style Caribbean pirate sandbox that still delights fans after 20 years. Skip it if you dislike repetitive minigames, numpad-only controls, or tinkering to run an old port.
Great for
Nostalgic fans and casual players wanting a laid-back, freeform pirate adventure, ideally bought on sale
Main risk
The old PC port may crash or not launch, and the minigames get repetitive fast
What players love
Still the best pirate game
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews
“"Sid Meier's Pirates!" is still the best video game about pirates ever made long live the king”
Steam review · 4.1 h played ↗
Cheap on sale and wanted remake
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 positive reviews
“What a bargain for 75 % off!”
Steam review · 17 h played ↗
Freedom to play your own pirate career
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 positive reviews
“I love the amount of freedom that you have in the game.”
Steam review · 46.6 h played ↗
Relaxed, casual and easy to pick up
Mentioned in ~1 in 12 positive reviews
“Might be old, but still a very fun game for when you want to play something not too intense.”
Steam review · 18.4 h played ↗
Fun minigames: naval combat, fencing, dancing
Mentioned in ~1 in 15 positive reviews
“Naval combat is fun and addicting, as is the whole sandbox/free roam RPG aspect in general.”
Steam review · 43.5 h played ↗
What players complain about
Crashes and won't run on modern PCs
Mentioned in ~2 in 5 negative reviews
“Expect the game to freeze or crash every couple of hours.”
Steam review · 32.6 h played ↗
Repetitive, shallow minigames
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews
“there is zero variability in these minigames except for how fast your reaction time has to be to the "prompts"”
Steam review · 8.6 h played ↗
Take-Two EULA seen as spyware
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews
“EULA update makes all 2K games spyware. Avoid like the plague.”
Steam review · 30.4 h played ↗
Numpad-only controls, no remapping or gamepad
Mentioned in ~1 in 13 negative reviews
“Cant play with controller, or without numpad”
Steam review · 10.7 h played ↗
Aging, retirement and duel difficulty frustrate
Mentioned in ~1 in 15 negative reviews
“your crew will mutiny unless you have 3000 gold per crew-member on hand”
Steam review · 13.1 h played ↗
Wind mechanics make sailing slow and tedious
Mentioned in ~1 in 25 negative reviews
“If you have to go east it can take a very long time.”
Steam review · 4.8 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: Unsupported
Steam doesn’t list requirements for this game.
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