Under the Jolly Roger

Wouldn't life as a pirate have been dull? Weeks on end with nothing to stare at but the endless ocean stretching out before you, the rotting timber of your ship and the increasingly jaundiced faces of your crewmates. As an honest depiction of the tedium of maritime life, Under the Jolly Roger is a spectacular triumph. Of course, this also means it's a spectacular bore, and no amount of pirate action, nor magical relics, mermaids or sea monsters can change that.

- Jamie Davies

Publisher: HeroCraft

Developer: HeroCraft

Genre: Adventure

Release Date: Out Now

Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Switch

The game starts off slow, seeing you take on a rickety ship as captain and embarking with your small, scrappy crew across the open ocean. Don’t get too excited though: that one sentence gives the game’s characters more charm than the writing manages to. Your crewmembers are not at all significant; they're unnamed, will die constantly and can be replaced more easily than cheap pencils. You won’t feel any incentive to keep them alive, and you certainly won’t mourn their inevitable passing.