Pirates!
A Childhood Classic
The year was 1997, and my parents gifted me my first computer. I had previously used one at my dad’s office, but this one was at home, and almost always available for me to use.
One of the very first games I remember spending countless hours on was Pirates! Gold. I didn’t know any English at the time, but somehow managed to figure out how to play it.
Years later, in 2004, Sid Meier’s Pirates! was released. A newer remake, it dragged me back right into the game for hours on end. This time I could already read, and that obviously made for a far more enjoyable experience than just clicking around the screen and seeing what happened.
Playing It Again in 2025
It’s probably been at least 15 years since I last played it. I remember trying a few years ago (might have been 10!) but not being able to get it to work anymore due to some Windows weirdness.
Thankfully, these days we have Proton and Linux. I downloaded the game on my Steam Deck, launched it, and it just works. The game is limited to a 4:3 aspect ratio, but that is a limitation from the original. The game is also quite limited in that it expects you to play mostly using the numpad. I downloaded a compatible control scheme on the Steam Deck, and was playing in less than 3 minutes.
It’s amazing how you can remember certain things - the starting theme song is absolutely memorable, and hearing it again after so much time brought me back years!
What Holds Up (and What Doesn’t)
That said, playing Sid Meier’s Pirates! in 2025 does occasionally remind you that this is a game from 2004. Whilst the core gameplay holds up remarkably well, some design choices feel very dated by today’s standards.
The game’s portrayal of Native settlements is rather simplistic - they’re essentially just another location on the map, with zero depth, and who you can just manipulate and direct to attack specific settlements. Which isn’t to say that any of the European nationalities is any less shallow. It’s all caricature, full of stereotypes.
The economic simulation, whilst fun, reduces the complexities of Caribbean trade to straightforward commodities: sugar is just another good to buy low (or pillage!) and sell high, with no acknowledgement of the transatlantic slave trade and the brutal realities that underpinned the region’s wealth.
And then there’s the governor’s daughters - the romance subplot ranks them by “beauty” in a way that was clearly linked to their chest size, which feels rather childish and awkward now.
None of this ruins the experience, and it’s worth remembering this was fairly standard for games of that era, but these elements do stand out as products of their time. The swashbuckling adventure at the heart of Pirates! remains intact; it’s just wrapped in some design decisions that haven’t aged as gracefully as the gameplay itself.
It’s still a tremendously fun game, light and unserious, well worth of a few hours of your time. There isn’t any other game quite like it!