MLGG: Pop Culture News, Reviews & Interviews

Despite a weirdly generic name that feels oddly translated, I was pleasantly surprised by roguelike deckbuilding game, Pirates Outlaws.

If you’ve played games like Slay the Spire, you’ll feel immediately at home with Pirates Outlaws – which sees your pirate captain (chosen from a steadily unlocking cast of characters with distinct abilities) steering their ship through troubled waters, battling against rival crews, dealing with random events and occasionally stopping for a break at a Market or Tavern.

The card based mechanics feel really nicely woven into the theme, with ammo cards needed to replenish actions for ranged attacks and melee attacks being, essentially, ‘free’ actions for the most part. Everything is clear, easy to understand and well explained – you’ll be fighting (and, most likely, dying) out on the seven seas in no time.

There’s an awful lot of content and game modes to unlock too; perhaps my biggest complaint about Pirates Outlaws is the snail’s pace at which extra modes – and the bigger content, such as new campaigns – tend to unlock.

There’s a few other issues, though they’re relatively minor. A lack of touchscreen support for this type of game seems like a big oversight, but it’s not a deal breaker.

Likewise with the slightly overused vibration feedback; it can be a bit of an annoyance and I haven’t found a way to disable it – but it’s hardly anything to really complain about. It admittedly feels like I’m clutching at straws to find fault with Pirates Outlaws.

That’s because the game as is has a wonderful art style, a great soundtrack and incredibly moreish gameplay. I’ve found it to be a brilliantly compelling game overall.

Fans of roguelikes, deckbuilders and even tabletop card games should absolutely check out; after being available on PC for a few years, it’s great to see Pirates Outlaws make its way to the Switch.

Now excuse me while I head back into the water and try to take down that pesky enemy Pirate Captain one more time.

Many thanks to publisher BlitWorks for providing me with a game code for review purposes.

Enjoyed what you’ve read? Want to support my blog? There’s no pressure of course, but every penny helps to keep this site running, as I earn no income from my writing here (though I may earn small fees from affiliate links posted on my pages).

However, I’d be truly grateful for any support that you could offer – and it’s easy to do so at either of these links: Ko-Fi.com/geekmid or PayPal.

Any donations are truly appreciated – and I also appreciate you taking the time to read my articles. Thank you so much!

Help support me here!

All donations are gratefully received and will help me keep the lights on here – as well as help to keep my writing dream alive! Please be aware though: there’s no pressure. I just hope you’ve enjoyed reading my article!

£1.00