Republic of Pirates on Xbox One is a promising blend of city builder, light strategy, and basic real-time naval combat, wrapped in a breezy Caribbean aesthetic that often feels about as crusty as Barnacle Bill. Developed by Crazy Goat Games, it’s a game that feels like it’s reaching back to the early 2000s for inspiration — occasionally in a charming enough way.
At its core, Republic of Pirates is about building up your island refuge, managing resources, and expanding your influence across the current archipelago. You’ll chop wood, refine it into lumber, harvest sugar and distill it into rum, and so on — basic resource chains that feel familiar to anyone who’s played a strategy game in the last two decades. There’s nostalgic appeal to this simplicity, and Republic of Pirates doesn’t pretend to be anything more complex, but it also means that the economy lacks the nuance of more modern games. There’s no fine-tuning, no dynamic market shifts, and very little incentive to optimise beyond “build more, get more.”
That said, the city-building portion is enjoyable enough. Placing buildings, watching your island grow, and unlocking new structures has a fairly steady rhythm to it that feels rewarding. The maps are fairly good-looking, with a decent level of detail — lush forests, sandy beaches, and bustling ports all rendered with a painterly charm. But the real differentiator here is the hybridisation of strategy and real-time naval combat.
Once you’ve built ships and recruited captains, you can send them out to raid trade routes, attack rival pirates and invade neighbouring islands at will. These battles play out in real time, with players able to activate ship abilities, reposition vessels, and respond to threats on the fly.
It’s a welcome change of pace that adds a layer of interactivity that most city builders lack. However, the execution is uneven. Regular readers will know that I have a keen eye for good strategy on console, but Republic of Pirates controls on Xbox One are sluggish, making it difficult to offer meaningful assistance during combat. Ship abilities are slow to trigger, and the interface feels clunky when precision is needed making aiming a chore when under pressure. There’s also noticeable screen tearing both outside and during battles, and this breaks the immersion when you most need it not to.
Another old-school quirk is how resource distribution works across captured islands. Once you’ve taken control of a new territory and started to build on it, its resources are automatically pooled with your other islands — no need to establish trade routes or manage logistics. On one hand, this is a welcome simplification that reduces micromanagement and keeps the focus on expansion rather than upkeep. On the other hand, it’s a bit odd.
Wild boar seem to teleport from one island to another, while lumber flows in the opposite direction, all without explanation. It’s a system that prioritises convenience over realism, and while it works mechanically, it feels weird not to be privy to that level of detail, or even to have to protect your own trade routes from rival pirates or navy patrols.
Captains are another mixed bag. When hired, they gain experience and unlock buffs for piloting larger, more powerful ships, but if their ship is destroyed, they’re seemingly gone for good. There’s no way to transfer a captain to another vessel, and none return to the tavern with their earned level intact, so this sort of forces you to put a “Barque-qualified” captain into a Galleon in the hopes that they’ll gain the 20 or so levels needed to add a proficiency bonus to Galleons. It’s a frustrating oversight — especially when you’ve invested time into developing a captain’s skill set. Losing a ship shouldn’t mean losing a character every single time, and the lack of flexibility here undermines the progression system.
Despite these issues, Republic of Pirates is not without charm. The setting is pleasant, the gameplay loop is easy to grasp and the mix of building and battling offers enough variety to keep things interesting for a while. But it’s also a game that feels dated — mechanically limited, visually inconsistent, and lacking the polish or ambition to stand out in a crowded genre. It’s a fun distraction, certainly, but not an especially memorable one.
Republic of Pirates is a laid-back strategy title with a few clever ideas and a handful of rough edges. If you’re looking for a low-stakes island builder with a splash of naval combat and an undemanding narrative campaign, it’ll keep you entertained for quite a few evenings. Just don’t expect to chart any new waters for you in terms of true innovation or strategic depth.
Republic of Pirates is available now on Xbox, PlayStation and PC.
