Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Game
Game2012
Port Royale 3
Developer Gaming Minds Studios
Port Royale 3: Pirates & Merchants is the third installment to the business simulation game Port Royale: Gold, Power and Pirates and Port Royale 2. It is set in the Caribbean during the 16th and 17th centuries. Created by Kalypso Media which founded Gaming Minds Studios in 2009 after Ascaron Entertainment went bankrupt, it combines a business simulator with real-time battles and towns that can be owned, built,… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
165 reactions from 1 source (Steam reviews) · newest Sep 3, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
68
Fresh
112 positive · 53 negative
95% range 60–75%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 112 | 53 | 0 |
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
1,172 of 1,594 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 165 · most liked firstFirstly, I will say that the Economic side of this game is what attracted me. I have spent my whole time playing it as Trade Campaign or Free Play. While I can see the 'spirit' of Sig Meier's Pirates in this game, I wasn't looking for that game in here. In fact, if not for a few small things I would have made this review a positive one. It is a close thing. THE PROs The Economy is far superior to any previous 'pirates' styled game that I've played. With 20 commodities that have to be…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →SHORT REVIEW : following the success of Port Royale 2, Ascaron tried to modernise the game after 8 years, but made a simplified version of a classic that started the decline of the series, instead of attracting new players. PR3 can be a good compromise between aesthetics and gameplay for casual players, but for those searching for a deeper and enjoyable management/naval battle experience, PR2 is still unbeatable nowadays. > Gameplay ( 7.3 / 10 ) : the game is a mix of economic management,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →very slow to progress unless you're willing to 'make a loss' to meet the criteria to advance.. which seems to be the 'embodiment' of this game! you pick up a task to 'go fetch' something. you look around at the various places to see what city produces it. you go there.. only to find it is either too expensive and/or not enough to meet the task criteria.. so you either have to buy enough and then sell it at a loss to 'finish the task' or it fails because you need to find it in another port and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am aware that I have few few hours on steam here, but on ps3, I played this game for hundreds of hours. It is the best in the series, and occupied countless afternoons of my childhood. It introduced 10 year old me to economics as a subject, and will always hold a huge place in my heart. I highly recommend.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →after years of owning it, i finally took the time to take a look... i wish i hadnt. PR 3 continues the dumbing down of player agency and control that PR 2 already started compared to the opriginal OG PR back in the day: combat controls are simplistic and lacking. you control one ship actively and the other 2 have default ai behaviour. you cant control your ship speed in combat anymore, only enter boarding mode which makes you slower, but cant shoot cannons while that is active. and boarding…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bugged game, if you are on windows 11. Town graphics and ocean water will not load. Basically empty maps with just terrain and silhouettes of buildings if you hover over them. Very annoying, no fix offered, no dev's working on it, but they are still selling this game that is currently broken! Do not buy!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Port Royale 3 would be an enjoyable game if it weren't for the game stability issues. Frequent occurences of experiencing loading screens that almost never end. Sometimes after 10+ minutes the loading screen will pass but then the game will crash/freeze anyway.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'd really like to play this game but I can't. The game does not run well on a modern computer. I'm not sure what the FPS I got was but it was probably in the low single digits. Community chat postings seem to indicate that these issues are widespread and there is no known solution for them.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The same game as PR2, Patrician, etc., which is to say buy whichever is cheapest and let that be the one that disappoints you. Don't tab out of the game or it will become unrecoverable.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Only bought because of the emoticon, but its a great game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Port Roayle 2 is better all around. The uI makes no sense and hurts the eyes. The art is mostly uninspired aside from a nice title screen.but I'm mainly refunding because of the controls. It's just a chore to play.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not as good as PR2 but 1000x times better than whatever PR4 is supposed to be.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is my first time playing any of the Port Royale series but I like it so far. Easy to get a hang of. The early parts of each game largely start out the same so it's slightly repetitive there, but there's a lot to do once you've built up some currency and can expand your fleet, set up trade routes, manufacturing, taking over towns, etc.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Impossible to flee combat. Even if you're so far away from your opponent's ship that it feels like you are in the next timezone you're still "in the fight" and must battle in order to proceed with your game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The first few hours it feels like a spreadsheet. Moving from one town to another and buy/sell resources. Then a pirate kills you - you start from a save. And Again and again. You cannot kill pirates - they are always stronger that you. You can try manual combat but it is so time consuming that you want to avoid it. Check Sid Mayers Pirates - this is one I played several times. Perhaps I will try this game in a year and see if it is the same. For now - uninstall after spending a day on it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My gambling addict friend said if I post a review on port royale 3 and it gets 350 likes and 150 Awards that he will buy me a case of beer and some vodka So im just gonna leave this here.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is fun to play, especially the pirate portion. However the trading portion is poor due to there not being able to earn enough money to complete the campain. it is too cheap, even on the easiest level.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A bit of an older game, but I enjoy it for both being a game you can create routes and passively make money without much thought, and simply let the game run until your economy collapses at some point, or try to micromanage things to your heart's content. If you want to focus on naval battles, you can do so. If you want to focus on trading, you can do that. If you want to take over every city and town in the game, you can. If you want to be friends of all the nations, or a devoted enemy of one…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An awesome nation building game during the age of pirates. Played for many hours.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I just bought it for the weed emoji
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Combat superiority over PR4
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Port Royale 3 is an ancient game from 2012. It's a whopping 12 years old at the time of this review. The game lacks support for the typical features of modern gaming PCs, hasn't been modernised or updated to run smoothly on contemporary machines. The game looks and feels dated. Despite this lack of modernisation, it carries a pretty high price tag for such an old game. This seems to have be lingering on Steam with an inflated price to try profit from abandonware. On the upside, the game…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wanted to like this game, I really did. I put in 50 hrs across the two campaigns, and two free plays (one with set resources and one with random). Ultimately despite trying out the different gameplays there just isn't any depth to this game whatsoever. Once you get past the first few hours of building up trade and getting some towns that's it. There isn't anything left to do at all except rinse and repeat to get more towns and it is really disappointing. You can tell the developers rushed…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →if you liked sid meier's pirates and want a nice step up, you will love this game, city building economic's of goods and demands pirates and 5 nations that dont like each other
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So this game is pretty fun but when the pirates start coming out, no matter how strong my fleet is, I lose every single time. 26 hours is all I'm putting into this. I've built everything up several times and then just lose it all to pirates. If you can figure out how to beat the pirates, have fun. Its not fun any longer for me.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Amazing that Port Royale 2 Features better Warehouse control and customization of which goods to auto-buy. Here on PR3, Warehouse buys everything at a % of production costs. So if you want to just autobuy one good, warehouse gets filled with all other goods available at that %. What the hell?! Also, in Battle your ships start simultaneously and you only control one, so basically the ones you don`t control get nicked within the minute, so why bother, just go with 1 against the armada. tbh I am…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As someone who has spend over 1k hours on the original Port Royal and PR2 the UI in this game is just down right disappointing. The Trading interface is a down grade from its predecessor and pretty much most of the information tabs of you fleet and town status has been simplify too much that it has removed much vital particulars. The only advancement is the graphics, unless you just want a simple background idle game just stick with PR2.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Crashes in the tutorial section.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While the gameplay is nice, similar to Port Royale 2, the devs have not learned; after a long battle to capture ships, decimated the sailors just fall short of being to actually capture the ship becasue there is no actual way to slow down.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Compared to Port Royale 2, which is very good, this Port Royale 3 has much more difficult naval battles, info on enemy ships too low, automated battles option always loses, your automated ships are non-intelligent and hopeless at Naval battles, will always lose, unless controlled manually. I would have expected a "Nr. 3" to be better than "Nr.2" but sadly no, only grafics and some "easier trades" are implemented, while making the naval battles much worse.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good game in general, runs very well on PC. Pure management and trade in the Caribbean. However the game is almost too easy with the automatic route mechanics and this is where the game becomes relatively empty in terms of content (It's absolutely not like a Sid Meier's Pirate). Very good for spending a few hours, shilling while scolding your business but it won't go any further. It seems that Port Royale 2 or the Patrician series brings more depth.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Best of Port Royale series But cannot put game in 4k resolution.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Awesome game, better than 2 and 4.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a fun game, but I think it's best to buy on sale due to what I feel is lack of replayability and relatively shallow game play. It really doesn't take too long to start racking up cash once you can afford extra ships and set up trade routes. And then it simply turns into waiting for you balance to build up enough to build a bunch of buildings in a city to make them like you so can transfer ownership to yourself. The other thing that hurts it, in my opinion, the sea battle system is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game doesn't run when opened anymore... just a black screen.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The best of the Port Royale Franchise and arguable the best pirate / trader ever made. The graphics wont wow you, and sacking of towns is underwhelming, the gameplay is repetitive... And yet it is more fun than 90% of games created post 2000.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I loved this game instead of Royale 4. Although its a classic but its quite enjoyable
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Port Royale 3, developed by Gaming Minds Studios and published by Kalypso Media in 2012, is a trading and naval strategy game set during the 17th century in the Caribbean. As part of the long-running Port Royale series, the game attempts to blend two major gameplay styles—economic simulation and real-time naval combat—while immersing players in the complex dynamics of colonial trade, diplomacy, and piracy. It offers a sandbox experience with historical flavor, combining the economic depth of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →THERE IS A LOT TO SEE AND DO.A VERY ADDICTIVE GAME.ONCE YOU MASTER THE GAME THEN YOU WILL ENJOY DIFFERING SCENES AND GAME PLAY.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Port Royale 3 exemplifies entertainment's power to repackage historical atrocities into consequence-free simulations. You're being sold an ideological framework that normalizes exploitation while calling it strategy. The technical competence of its economic simulation only makes its moral vacuum more disturbing. Worth playing only if you acknowledge you're participating in historical revisionism as entertainment.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a great classic economic management pirate game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Being a game over 12 years old, it might be a bit unfair to post a review, but, honestly, a good game ages well, and graphics are not all it takes to make a good game. This is not a very good game, in the sense that it is way too repetitive (too much grinding) but it is also not a bad game… I only finished the trader campaign and lost interest in the adventurer campaign midway mainly due to the perspective of so many hours grinding my way towards the needed progress. And this sentence…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game holds up very well even after all these years. Used to play it off a CD and i thought i would try it again after ages. The combat works great compared to Port Royale 4 and with the added content/DLC's there is plenty to do. The trading and economy mechanics are easy to learn, yet still decently complex. The game has a playtime of fulfilling content of around 30 hours minimum, at least from my experience. The only downside is that it crashes on my PC from time to time. It would be a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Awesome game, so long as you know food is key to it all, a single boat trader can become regional lord in times of this area just before USA became a nation. Combat can be abstract (automatic) allowing you more focus to civil productions, while Letter of Marque helps greatly in quick alliance to overpower stronger nations to cut out your own piece, while saving pirate bases to destroy later eases quickly tensions of all nations with yours after a Letter of Marque expires.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A Classic Caribbean Sandbox Worth Setting Sail For! I absolutely loved playing this game! If you are looking for an immersive journey through the Caribbean where you can rise from a humble sailor to a feared pirate or a world-famous captain, Port Royale 3 delivers exactly that. It's an incredibly addictive blend of sailing, shipping, and high-seas plundering. While it is an older title and you will definitely notice some missing modern Quality of Life (QoL) features, the sheer depth of the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game has everything you could wish for in a 17th-century ship management game: trading, treasure hunting, piracy, questing, and even simple city management.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Trade all day by slading bars in game. Get into ship battle where you can contoll only one ship and you can use only 3 ships in fight. No real progression. Complete downgrade from PR2.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Most would disagree but PR2 was the peak of this franchise thought PR3 is quite similar but has very high differences in graphics and basic foundations. It does side a bit more on the micro management side but it doesn't have to be if you use the auto functions within the titles background options. The largest reason this is by far a better title even to PR4 is the battles are in real time instead of turn based. The real time battles are the funnest part of naval battles. It is a bit hard to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →PR2 was better but it is still very good and addicting
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Port Royale 3 is over a decade old, and you can really tell. If they made this game today, there would be a huge number of quality of life improvements. Buying a ship is simple enough, but adding it to an existing convoy is a real pain. You can’t outrun pirates when you are attacked, even though that was easiest way to deal with pirates in real life. The town maps give you almost no information just by looking at them and you have to memorize what buildings give you what information, because…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →if you are a fan of PR2 you'll like this one too
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very old fashioned captain game in the Caribbeans. Nothing much except game graphics improved from Port Royale 2.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not bad but feels like a down grade from Port Royale 2 for trading and fleet features. It's still fun and a bit easier to play in some regards.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yet another Kalypso game that doesn't work. I open the game and it just pulls up the main menu without a cursor. The only thing I can do is Alt F4 out.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Doesn't work AT ALL. Started the game and I can't even choose one of the main menu options. I literally pressed all the buttons on my keyboard and only Esc works to take a screenshot...
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good concept, interesting time period, bad game with bugs that gets more boring the longer you play 3/10. Port Royale 2 was better.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →11 years after it's release, I have experienced Port Royale 3 with 20 hours of initial gameplay, I say initial because I know I will play it more. It is just beautiful, it holded it's ground well against 11 years. First of all this game is very close to perfection, just some minor problems or decisions by developers prevented this to be perfect. You should first start with economic or adventure campaign and continue with DLC campaign or free play. This game has a nice looking combat…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is just addictive.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Second only to Patrician III, this game is my favourite renaissance sea trader game and for me, marks the end of the good ones in this sub-genre. It looks pleasing and progression is smooth. There aree quite a few aspects I think were overlooked and could have used improvement. EG: Selecting number of products works with a slider. Why can't I just enter in the exact number I want as well? It would have been a natural progression from Patrician III's system of using fixed interval buttons. It's…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →EXCEPTION: If this is your first Port Royale game, and it's on sale, buy it, it's great, you'll love it! But if you have played Port Royale 2 (and possibly even 1; I haven't played that myself), then don't buy this game. It is an insult to the game's legacy. They took Port Royale 2 and _removed_ mechanics, added _nothing_ new and upgraded the graphics. That's it. You've got about four hours of gameplay here, with the two "campaigns" (glorified tutorials). The only aspect of the game that is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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