{"slug": "sid-meier-s-pirates", "name": "Sid Meier's Pirates", "category": "media", "category_name": "Media and creative", "description": "", "recommenders": 5, "commenters": 6, "warners": 0, "score": 4.891, "rising": -0.31, "first": "2026-06-12", "latest": "2026-08-21", "why": "Remake on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3920/Sid_Meiers_Pirates/", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 5, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 4, 0, 1, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "Remake on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3920/Sid_Meiers_Pirates/", "kind": "game", "icon": false, "domain": "steampowered.com", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Sid Meier's Pirates", "Sid Meier's Pirates!"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 790205344, "item_id": 49387834, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49387834", "by": "the_af", "date": "2026-08-21", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Sid Meier's Pirates! was a fantastic game in which I spent a ton of time", "excerpt": "Sid Meier's Pirates! was a fantastic game in which I spent a ton of time. I still find it hard to believe it was written mostly in C64 BASIC [1] (I suppose not the dueling scenes though). I think everyone who was a gamer back then knows the game, so it's not really a hidden treasure. It may be lost now to modern audiences, though. By the way, I also enjoyed the remake, with one caveat: I absolutely cannot stand the \"", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Lost Treasure of Sid Meier's Pirates"}, {"id": 776373216, "item_id": 48523326, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48523326", "by": "neuralkoi", "date": "2026-06-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "became so addicted to it", "excerpt": "I played the demo that came with Windows in the late 2000s when I was a teenager and became so addicted to it. Because I couldn't afford at the time to buy the full game, I stopped when the demo features ran out. This post brought me back and I can see it's available on Steam. [0] [0] https://store.steampowered.com/app/3920/Sid_Meiers_Pirates/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pirates, a naval warfare game inspired by Sid Meier's Pirates"}, {"id": 776142224, "item_id": 48508889, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48508889", "by": "contingencies", "date": "2026-06-12", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Remake on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3920/Sid_Meiers_Pirates/", "excerpt": "Love the original. Some key tactics you need to pick up are: use a small ship, because if you are fast with the right technique nobody can hit you, and you can cross vast distances quickly without starving. Keep food stocked and limit large ship acquisition to a phase of the game in which you need large numbers of pirates for town invasions / large ship fights. Always sell extra cannons. Always buy the goodies from t", "context": "", "use_case": "Playing naval strategy game", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pirates, a naval warfare game inspired by Sid Meier's Pirates"}, {"id": 776136944, "item_id": 48508559, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48508559", "by": "JMiao", "date": "2026-06-12", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "my kid has 50+ hours in sid meier's pirates", "excerpt": "my kid has 50+ hours in sid meier's pirates and told me they stare at the world map in their classroom and try to locate towns and ports in the caribbean when they're bored. i will show your game to them, though i am certain the first thing they will ask for is chain shot. not to discourage your good work, but here's another project work checking out if sid meier's pirates is your thing. https://tinywind.io/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pirates, a naval warfare game inspired by Sid Meier's Pirates"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["playing naval strategy game"], "compared": [], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48506659", "title": "Pirates, a naval warfare game inspired by Sid Meier's Pirates", "mentions": 5}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49384896", "title": "The Lost Treasure of Sid Meier's Pirates", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 1}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 790205344, "item_id": 49387834, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49387834", "by": "the_af", "date": "2026-08-21", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Sid Meier's Pirates! was a fantastic game in which I spent a ton of time", "excerpt": "Sid Meier's Pirates! was a fantastic game in which I spent a ton of time. I still find it hard to believe it was written mostly in C64 BASIC [1] (I suppose not the dueling scenes though). I think everyone who was a gamer back then knows the game, so it's not really a hidden treasure. It may be lost now to modern audiences, though. By the way, I also enjoyed the remake, with one caveat: I absolutely cannot stand the \"", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Lost Treasure of Sid Meier's Pirates"}, {"id": 776497361, "item_id": 48531085, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48531085", "by": "MayeulC", "date": "2026-06-14", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "", "excerpt": "I also like windward: https://store.steampowered.com/app/326410/Windward/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pirates, a naval warfare game inspired by Sid Meier's Pirates"}, {"id": 776373216, "item_id": 48523326, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48523326", "by": "neuralkoi", "date": "2026-06-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "became so addicted to it", "excerpt": "I played the demo that came with Windows in the late 2000s when I was a teenager and became so addicted to it. Because I couldn't afford at the time to buy the full game, I stopped when the demo features ran out. This post brought me back and I can see it's available on Steam. [0] [0] https://store.steampowered.com/app/3920/Sid_Meiers_Pirates/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pirates, a naval warfare game inspired by Sid Meier's Pirates"}, {"id": 776142224, "item_id": 48508889, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48508889", "by": "contingencies", "date": "2026-06-12", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Remake on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3920/Sid_Meiers_Pirates/", "excerpt": "Love the original. Some key tactics you need to pick up are: use a small ship, because if you are fast with the right technique nobody can hit you, and you can cross vast distances quickly without starving. Keep food stocked and limit large ship acquisition to a phase of the game in which you need large numbers of pirates for town invasions / large ship fights. Always sell extra cannons. Always buy the goodies from t", "context": "", "use_case": "Playing naval strategy game", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pirates, a naval warfare game inspired by Sid Meier's Pirates"}, {"id": 776137936, "item_id": 48508621, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48508621", "by": "alexpotato", "date": "2026-06-12", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "This 100% has the \"vibe\" of the original game", "excerpt": "This 100% has the \"vibe\" of the original game but should include that if you sail \"into the wind\" it slows you down. Also, I've been trying to make a remix of SMP but with a princess theme for my daughters. Been experimenting with making other games to practice building out game mechanics and stumbled into making a game where you manage a Soviet Tractor Factory [0]. I'm interested to see if developing parts of Game A", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pirates, a naval warfare game inspired by Sid Meier's Pirates"}, {"id": 776136944, "item_id": 48508559, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48508559", "by": "JMiao", "date": "2026-06-12", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "my kid has 50+ hours in sid meier's pirates", "excerpt": "my kid has 50+ hours in sid meier's pirates and told me they stare at the world map in their classroom and try to locate towns and ports in the caribbean when they're bored. i will show your game to them, though i am certain the first thing they will ask for is chain shot. not to discourage your good work, but here's another project work checking out if sid meier's pirates is your thing. https://tinywind.io/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pirates, a naval warfare game inspired by Sid Meier's Pirates"}]}