Puzzle Pirates

 PC
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 10
  3. Negative: 1 out of 10
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  1. IGN
    85
    The puzzles are very interesting and there is a form of leveling, albeit abstract. A pretty deep player economy is built in as well. The entire game is well put together, even if the graphics and sounds aren't of Galaxies caliber.
  2. Warcry
    85
    The graphics were an absolute delight, blatantly cartoon-y and so bright and colorful that my first sight of the game always made me smile.
  3. GameSpot
    81
    For big-time puzzle fans who like the idea of competitive and cooperative puzzling online, Puzzle Pirates may be just what you're looking for.
  5. GameZone
    86
    The puzzle variety is large enough to keep you from getting bored, and with room for your character to expand you’ll be surprised at how much you actually play.
  6. Worth Playing
    95
    Puzzle Pirates takes several well-established internet games, mixes in some excellent new ideas, and ties them all together with a friendly, simple theme that's interesting, fun, and certainly inoffensive.
  7. 1UP
    80
    Stands out in a sea of competitors not because of an enormous budget, years of hype or an expensive movie license, but because it's simply unique and fun.
  8. PC Gamer
    76
    Adds a chatty, entertaining social angle to the addictive stable of PopCap-type games that otherwise lead to loneliness, depression, and suicide instead of glory on the lawless oceans. [Aug 2005, p.76]
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Awards & Rankings

67
#67 Best PC Game of 2003
31
#31 Most Discussed PC Game of 2003
32
#32 Most Shared PC Game of 2003

User Reviews

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User Score
8.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 92 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 73 out of 92
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 92
  3. Negative: 12 out of 92
  1. Asmodias
    Sep 4, 2011
    3
    This suffers a major problem that many strategy and puzzle games suffer...
    Similar to Starcraft and other RTS' many of the puzzles are    This suffers a major problem that many strategy and puzzle games suffer...
    Similar to Starcraft and other RTS' many of the puzzles are dominated by the 'best' players, it only makes sense doesn't it? Well that's the problem, many of these elite players are merely the people who revise strategies.

    For example, the person who clears the water fastest in bilging is the man who gets the over-the-top Donkey combo and learns how to pull atleast one each time, whereas the man who get's countless 5X5 combos and better will generally end up in good, at best.

    PVP is similar as well in this aspect, sword fighting is not fluid, instead it is dominated by a series of strategies that will quickly put down those who don't memorise them.    … Full Review »
  2. AyppPlayer
    Jan 7, 2009
    4
    P.P. offers the single player a variety of entertaining puzzles in an integrated environment providing a fun entrypoiint for a bunch of P.P. offers the single player a variety of entertaining puzzles in an integrated environment providing a fun entrypoiint for a bunch of tetris- or bejeweled-like games. The real appeal of the game however is -- or, used to be -- the infinite possibilities offered by interaction with other players, both socially and in the synergistic cooperation of puzzles to achieve larger goals. As initially conceived and implemented, the route to "success" -- fame and fortune -- in the game was for new players to join with a crew of other players and work together on piratical "pillages" and adventures, where cooperative puzzling would power the pirate ship and defeat the enemy. Plenty of other more isolated puzzles existed as well -- puzzles contributing to the economy, competitions with a few other players in "swordfighting", and even just parlor games (like hearts) -- but for most players, the route to wealth and success was to interact cooperatively or competitively with other players. The result was a dynamic social environment -- one marked more by cooperation and mentoring than by (as in so many MMORPGs) destructive competition -- and this social environment both "drove" much of the game (as much of the economy and many of the game features require such a society to make them truly effective and enjoyable) and provided continual change, challenge and interest. All this ended 3 years ago when P.P. introduced poker as one of the "parlor" games. A seemingly minor addition, poker essentially destroyed the coopeative pirating community and -- in doing so -- undermined the majority of the interaction and behavior that much of the game required. Though the old functionality remains, the dynamic "society" it requires to work has been destroyed. The reason for such a change is surprisingly simple and ought to have been anticipated. While other activities provided their "good players" comparable rewards - and, for most playrs, the cooperative "pillaging" was the steady source of income and rewards (thus creating the social & supportive cooperative society, where skill and teamwork were rewarded), poker offered its "winners" a pirate income rate of literally hundreds or even thousands more than they could make in other venues. Of course, very few players actually win that much on poker -- for every one player who wins 1000, ten have to lose 100. But the 'promise' of get-rich-quick for a minimal outlay of time, resources, or any participation in the cooperative pirate society means that the "engine" of rewards and interaction which made the game so effective and enjoyable was destroyed. In the months after poker was introduced, the effects were marked. New players ceased to have any interest in joining crews or the cooperative society, instead simply trying to find ways to exploit the system or cheat other players in order to get their "buy in" money to gamble away at the poker tables. The level of skill, competence and interest in coopeative pirate pillages and adventures dropped markedly -- as did, consequently, the enjoyability and profitability of those ventures. The "crew" and "flag" social life - the human element which kept the game dynamic and interesting - withered and died. And many long-term players who used to mentor new players (and provide the leadership and expertise which made many game opportunities even possible for those new players), in the face of this gambling obsession and the huge rewards being given to otherwise unskilled and non-teamwork players, either withdrew from active involvement or quit the game altogether. P.P. today is a very different game. Little of the dynamic "teamwork" society remains, and new players will be hardpressed to find skilled crews interested in recruiting or helping new players or providing them with good teamwork experiences. Nearly all the "rich" players now (and thus those who have the resources to lead larger group adventures) are exclusively pokerplayers, and most new players wind up simply drifting about the world using it as a glorified chatroom and putting in what minimal and unskilled effort they can to grab a little bit of game money to gamble away on the poker tables in the vain hope of "getting ahead" themselves. In short, today's YPP remains an entertaining collection of "solo" games if one is looking for a platform for various fun and creative little puzzles to do in isolation -- but because of the destruction of its cooperative and dynamic society at the altar of gambling, it has lost nearly all the unique appeal and dynamism which once made it far more than that. For those who are looking for a true multiplayer experience (as well as for those looking for a poker site or interactive chatroom), there are far better options out there, and P.P. no longer offers anything unique or dynamic for such players. A game which used to deserve a 10, it now falls well short of that mark -- not because the a"infrastructure" has changed (in fact, there have been clever new additions in the last 3 years), but because the "rewards" system which creates and sustains the society required for that infrastructure to be profitably & enjoyable used has been destroyed.… Full Review »
  3. wolfaust
    Jul 14, 2021
    8
    I have started to this game by a recommendation; a friend of mine always told me about the adventures he journeyed with his crew in theI have started to this game by a recommendation; a friend of mine always told me about the adventures he journeyed with his crew in the endless seas. He is a long-period user, who can get the East title.

    The game is amazing, and have different puzzles which you can never bored to solve while sword fighting, bilging, sailing, rigging, and even when you do yer job, you can even solve some puzzles to get paid in the shoppe.

    You will never get bored in the game because there is a huge community, always accepts new players and talk with them!    … Full Review »
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