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Game
Game2024
Tortuga - A Pirate's Tale
Developer Gaming Minds Studios
Tortuga - A Pirate’s Tale tells the journey of a pirate captain with a lust for gold and glory who assumes command of a fleet of pirate ships to strike the Caribbean. From the Steam store page
87 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Mastodon) · newest Oct 7, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
55
Mixed
47 positive · 38 negative
95% range 45–65%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 47 | 38 | 0 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
2 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Mixed
98 of 173 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 87 · most liked firstSo first, let’s get this out of the way: A spiritual successor to SMP, this ain’t. All the people claiming that this is anything like Sid Meier’s Pirates are losing their minds. The similarities between the two titles: Both occur in the same geographical region and time Both involves ships with men who have questionable hygiene and eyewear Both involve keeping your crew happy …aaaaaand that’s it. Absolutely no other similarities. SMP is - in its most recent version - a near-arcade game.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game is VERY similar to Sid Meier's Pirates with tactical naval warfare. As in Sid Meier's Pirates, you can sail freely around a huge map going from one of the many port towns to other port towns buying and selling goods at the best markets / completing missions and other tasks given out by your crew members and individuals you'll meet. You can attack other ships (Or be attacked), which puts you into a grid-based/strategic map where you fight for positioning against enemy boats while using…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you are used to the Pirates games you will see improvements in graphics and gameplay but the turn based battles are appalling tedious and take forever to have a battle. They have lost the fun of having a battle, using the wind, getting the angles and distance right. I played the original pirates as a kid and the revamped edition and it is way more fun then this. I have supported this company with many of their games but this unfortunately is not an improvement. If you like turn based, maybe…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Have about 100hrs invested in Sid Meier's Pirates and this review is from that background. Was craving something more modern. This game looked very promising upfront, but I was on the fence for most of my game time before ultimately deciding to refund. COMPARED TO Sid Meier's Pirates Pros; - Graphics, very pretty game - More missions - Character traits/perks and exp system - Many more tradeable goods - Expanded food and morale mechanics - More ship upgrades Cons; - Camera doing its own thing…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Come in with the right expectations and it's a fun little jaunt. Definitely needs some tweaks, namely to the turn-based combat - which so far is like 75% of my time in game. Something as simple as a speed setting allowing you to make ships move on-screen faster IN COMBAT would be huge. Exceptionally repetitive crew "dialog" needs fleshing out or simply reduce the frequency they talk. Potential in the ship upgrades, crew skills etc. is interesting, but early on hard to see any impact yet.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Considering the budget-friendly price, the game is ok - like a solid and stable early access title with a good baseline of gameplay to build on. However, to be really fun and to be a recommendation, there are still a few things I would like to see: - a reworked boarding combat system: right now, the mechanics are not really clear - the storylines are good but how are these related to the options? why is there a success chance for every option? and how come I all of sudden loose an upperhand…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you're one of those people who sunk ;) endless hours into the original pirate game back in the days of the C64 and Amiga, then I think this one will give you back that vibe but without the PITA mini games that were the main downside of OG Pirates (sword fights & that infuriating ballroom dancing nonsense). The gameplay is very similar but with more depth, and the map is extremely beautiful - just look down into those clear waters as you glide across the Caribbean! The only downsides I have…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I was prepared to not like Tortuga. I'm a long-time fan of Port Royale games, Patrician, and Rise of Venice so I know what to expect from the economic sim. The ship combat in PR4 has been panned from Acapulco to Tobago and back. Tortuga has a similar style of combat. It finally clicked with me. A user in the forums compared the turn-based combat in Tortuga to tabletop wargames with dice rolls and combat-resolution tables. Your ship could have 90% chance of success for an action but that's not…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is no, for now. There is a lot of potential here, and I'll continue to play, but this needs modding for balance and ship variations in a bad way. The game is ridiculously easy, even on hard level. In less than three hours I was capturing ships way out of my class, converted them to my fighting ships and was taking down Ships of the Line without challenge. I attack ships of any flag without real repercussion--raid towns with no penalties. There's just no challenge and it turns boring before…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Lots of REALLY bad design choices that just leave this feeling like shovelware. UI's that don't provide enough information. Cities that have no exciting or memorable characters to interact with (they're all just a png and a name). Terrible repetitive voice overs (you'll want to punch your first captain in the face by the end of the 3rd mission). There's no real excitement to chase.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I rate this yarrrrr/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really want to give this game a thumbs up. I do really enjoy being able to cruise around the Caribbean visiting ports and being a pirate, but there are very annoying detractors with this game. The resolution is bad. Playing it makes me feel like I need glasses, it often seems fuzzy and out of focus. The comments made constantly during the game are very repetitive and annoying. And the worst part is the ship combat, which is a significant part of the game. After playing Total War Empire and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So, the graphics don't match up with the video's and screenshots, inaccurate ship movement, etc
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is not a finished product. There are numerous glitches in combat. I was willing to put up with that frustration but now I find that the story is mediocre at best. It is in the flavor of Sid's Pirates but lacks polish and storytelling.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An abandoned and yet very underrated game. This is an abandoned game since very few people even bought it to begin with. But it is also an underrated game since it has potential and is still worth buying on sale, for the sake of experiencing something new and fresh. Visuals and quality. Visuals and pretty sceneries just makes you want to stop and just enjoy it all. The way the water changes depending on where you are. The way that fish swims in stacks or solo looks very realistic too.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm gonna have to say no. I love pirate games, if they are done right. I want to like this, I really do. There are some fun things it gets right, but its just not enough. The tactics can be fun sometimes. Once you get a fleet of ships and leveled captains it diversifies enough you can see how several viable tactics start becoming possible. But unfortunately, its a bit hit or miss. For example, sometimes you'll outnumber a boarded ship 3 or 4 to 1 and the auto calculation somehow…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Step one: Befriend one nation close to Spain Step two: Use your new new nation (France for me) as a safe port to throw absolute haymakers at Spain's convoys Step three: Profit
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is a miss until they add Real Time Combat.....The combat system is woeful. It’s turn-based, its manifestation is dreadful. The mobility with each ship’s turn is ridiculous, so full sized galleons can nip in, fire a broadside from each side, then retire to a safe distance. My ships never seem to be able to carry out the same feats. As a result, the AI has a huge advantage. Trust me, you need a 50% advantage over the AI to even contemplate fighting them, even the odds prediction system…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →unbelieveably unfinished.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Tried it and it just seems too combat focused for me. That wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing if not for the slow repetitive nature of the turned based hex battle system.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ignore my time "in game". That's from leaving it running in the background of my PC. Actual game time is something like 3-4 hours. I really wanted to like this game but it falls so short of it's "spiritual predecessor" SM Pirates! that it's just a massive disappointment. It has little character, missions are presented in an unorganized and random "slop", combat is repetitive and lacks any nuance whatsoever which makes it utterly boring.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you enjoy the old Pirates! game and x-com turn based combat, this is for you. It's a beautiful combination of the two. If you prefer black flag style combat - this is probably not your game. Pros: * Pirates * Promises after dividing plunder are an interesting mechanic * Different captains have different skills - can mix and match to suit your playstyle Cons: * Little to no in-game explanation of what some things are, like how to tell which section you will hit in * Enemy Scaling - while…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First off: I loved Pirates! and still play it from time to time. This game has done away with the tedious minigames of that game - unfortunately, it has replaced it by something even more tedious: The turn-based combat. It was all good fun when there were one or two ships on either side, but with more ships (which you'll need to progress through the campaign) it just becomes a very non-entertaining case of move-fire-miss and try again. To make up for the lack of entertainment, at least the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game feels very dry bones and abandoned. Don't waste money on this like I did...
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is fun enough for a simple way to pass the time. Basically you have a flat map of the Caribbean Sea that you sail around doing missions, trading, raiding ships and towns to increase wealth and status etc. Nothing complex to learn, but still a little bit of a challenge in getting ahead. Good for a casual fun way to chill for a bit. The only real detraction I think is the camera. You can't control it to view your surroundings while sailing. It's annoying because it makes it harder to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have now invested over 40 hours in this game and love it. Too bad a little more than half of the review is negative. Some make the comparison with Sid Meier's Pirates!, however, this is a different game coming from a different developer and a different publisher. A comparison with that game is therefore completely unjustified in my opinion. This game was developed and published by the same people as Port Royale 4 (a game in which I spent more than 350 hours). Although this is a different…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm a big fan of the studio that brought you Tropico but this one falls flat. I enjoy turn based games but the turned based combat is very repetitive. You have cannons at a specific range, less or more and you miss a lot. You still have only a chance to hit, even at point blank range. Your choices are.. use a cannon or use another cannon or use 2 useless options (reduce movement or scatter shot that you first have to take out all armor to use) or finally, use a potentially useful skill for…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Still learning all the rules, etc, The game is fast paced, but fun. Time well spent for me. Give it a go.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Tons of missions, be it from the governors or the many people found in the tavern. Beautiful graphics and the look is awesome. The more you play the more youll enjoy it, partially from the game itself and partially from the advancements you can make in your game. I love this game, others may not, but i can say im happy with my purchase. And one last thing there's plenty of pirate ships to attack for coinage, so you can keep a good standing with all the nations.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →UPDATED Mixed reviews? Maybe some folks were attracted to the pretty water and failed to see how DEEP AND great this game really is. Could it be better? Sure but what's here is an expansive open world playground that includes ships, pirates, tasks, trading, turn-based combat AND pretty water. --------- Despite it's repetitive nature, I can't put my finger on it exactly but I keep coming back to this game. Of course it's not without it's problems but it's still pretty fun. Save often (F8 is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a game that probably looked great on paper, but the reality is it misses the mark on most things. The search for a great pirate game continues... But let's get to details: > You get to name your character and ship. Woot! Wait... just kidding. But not really. These are just templates that have little life to them. Your character earns experience and gets new abilities, but there's little joy there. Interactions in towns are all redundant option screens. Your character doesn't…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I thought the naval combat was well executed it's more complex then the old Sid Meier's Pirates! In fact I think the whole game is more involved then Pirates! was. The fun factor of Pirates! was that it was just action...the landlubbers tasted my cold steel swiftly but in this game there are menus to check before the deck turns red matey! (Sorry I couldn't resist the pirate talk...how often can you talk like that and not end up in the mental hospital.) I'm just not loving it enough to keep it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I like the turn based battle system. The boarding actions come down to dice rolls, but there are many things you can do to stack the odds in your favor. The game also lets you save at any time, so you can always save before each battle and just reload if you get a bunch of bad dice rolls in a row. The main story missions are optional. You can still enjoy the game regardless of what missions you choose to complete or ignore. You can choose to work for the major nations and earn noble…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Warning! Do not buy this game if you own a pet. The controls are generally very buggy, but using a controller will make you want to beat a kitten to death with a puppy. The story is boring, the tasks are repetitive and most of the time you're just sailing from A to B. Essentially, it feels like one of those abondandend game scams.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Overall I liked the game and had fun playing for a few hours. It very soon became repetitive. The turn based combat I liked, but quickly found myself simply ramming every ship, boarding and taking them over. Which ended up being the easiest way to make money and finish the battles and collect the most loot. I've played 7 hours at this point and have gotten a bit tired of the game play. I'm sure I'll come back after a bit of a break. This is the kind of game that's good to play in smaller doses.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The pirate genre has been hurting for a very long time now. The core idea behind this game is very good. It combines elements of 'Sea Dogs' (2000), and 'Cutthroats: Terror on the High Seas' (1999). Like many other players I'm disappointed in the choice to use turn-based combat. It's frustrating to spring an ambush, close on a ship, and ultimately have the fate of the encounter come down to a die roll when I try to board. Unfortunately, I think that this game is an ill-fated cash grab to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As others have mentioned in their reviews, this is very similar to the 2004 Pirates game. That game, while a little unfinished and having a couple of mini games that just weren't that entertaining, was still very playable and entertaining. The same cannot be said of Tortuga - A Pirate's Tale. The graphics are good and the Caribbean does look beautiful, there are numerous upgrades available to your character and ships, as well as many quests that can be taken to improve your status/experience…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a decent game in the 20-30 dollar price range, erring towards the cheaper. If you are looking for the next best pirate game, this is not it, but for the 25-ish dollars that I spent I have received 11 hours of amusement so far and anticipate another 10 or so before I am through. I am not sure about replay value, but it is worth a few hours of pirating fun. The Good: decent performance, easy to understand game play, affordable game overall. The Bad: battles are bit tedious and get…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you take the recipe of previous good games (Tortuga, Sid Meier, etc), mix it with today's technologies, and you still can't make it... hmmm. The game definitely has the atmosphere (the "just one more convoy..." feeling get's to you) but is poorly balanced, sometimes to the point of annoying, and the turn-based combat is something that pulls it down for good. Not that is is explicitely bad or something... but there has been and is better. The final blow is the price tag.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →it takes time to master anything worth mastering.. that being said .... best thing iv found to do in this game ,,, SAVE YOUR GAME ,,, a lot !!!!!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So far this game reminds me of Pirate's Gold which is a game i still love to play. I have to say so far so good but the only thing i don't like is that the cities and towns are grouped together by country. So you have an area that is French or English not like in reality where were mixed up depending on where each country decided to make a settlement. Some towns there were actually French are now English or Spanish in this game. And one other small difference that they will probably fix is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is okay'ish. As I can't vote 'neutral' ( only yes and no ) I rather go with the Yes. Maybe with a lower price tag for the content it delivers. Can become monotonous but I like some of the ideas, just falls short of potential but provides some measure of fun gaming time. Oddly enough is not a SMP nor a PR but fall in between without being good at any attempt. I like the hex grid turn based battles but for such small engagements the board doesn't really reflect shoreline, being just a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As a pirate management game is good game and has a few good things, but is repetitive The turn-based sea battles are good. The ship diversity is good. And that is it. The dice system for boarding ships is poor. 1 out of 5 times I clicked a 90% change of success, it's a fail during boarding. There seem to be the same options for every boarding. Even when the vessel crew shows 0 you still might fail a boarding. The same dice system is used for town raiding which is very annoying. Also, for a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you spent countless hours on Sid Meier's Pirates!, then this is the closest update to that classic. Similar gameplay (but no dancing), and it will burn hours, just like the one you know and love. Thoroughly enjoying my first 10 hours. There are some downsides: the story does not feel as driven as SMP, and capturing (as opposed to sinking) ships is somewhat of a stale mechanic. Certain information--status with the colonial powers, for instance--isn't easily determinable, and could use UI…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game crashes A LOT.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →They don't make them like this anymore. This is a game. No Early Access. No Broken Unreal Engine/Unity Slop. No Microtransactions or overpriced DLC's. No always online or taking the game offline after five years and loosing access. It reminds me so much of the times when you went to the store, bought ur CD and just played a game. Only a very few micropatches for little bugs I think. HUGE hats off for that. The game itself is fun, there are many hours of fun content, scaling enemies, fun…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →CPU is heating like crazy!!!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It takes about 12 hours of gameplay to realize how bad the combat system is. As You get bigger ships and larger guns, the range modifiers and shot windows get more and more difficult to use. The combat maps are too small and no matter what deep blue ocean you are on, you always end up in shallows with 3 islands blocking the fight with very limited room to maneuver. Also having to move all your movement per ship with one click instead of having a maximum movement and doing each hex along the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ok it clear that this game is a mash up of Port royal mostly and sid mire pirates. it a nice pirate simulare where are the ship and sail around and do task and murder ships in a turn base fight. there some upgrading, and building a hide out consept but not much on that end. boom summer of the game complete have a nice i am out of here.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →very much like the old one and better then Skull & Bones ...
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Challenging but fun
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Like a cross of Port Royale and SM Pirates. I approve and lovely tropical sceneries for combat, exploration and trade.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Reminds me of older strategy game called "Corsairs". Although, don't wait this to be a full-fledged "pirate rpg" in vein of Sid Meier's Pirates, think it more as an strategy game. The game gives you a freedom to act and plan your own pirate adventure. I like it - hopefully this game will be developed further and gets updates and DLC. "I remember him looking round the cover and whistling to himself as he did so, and then breaking out in that old sea-song that he sang so often afterwards:…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I hate to give a thumbs down review to a Game, but I have to in this case. The game crashes often. It is not playable for me at this time.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After hundreds of hours on SM Pirates throughout the 80s and 90s, Tortuga looked like a worthy successor. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this game. It is repetitive, poor UI, and not much fun to play.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If a simplistic combination of Sid Meier's Pirates and Port Royale 3 with turn based combat does not spark joy, this game definitely is not for you :D So far it's fun, trading here and there, capturing pirate hide outs. Still early days but it's a engaging enough game that I can play sound off while watching test cricket
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Incredibly misleading advertising. IT IS TILE BASED TURN BASED COMBAT. This was glossed over for a second or two in the trailer. NOT WORTH $25. AND I GOT IT ON SALE AND STILL DONT BELIEVE IT WAS WORTH THE SALE PRICE. I would return it, except I fell asleep after launching the game and now have too many hours to return this pile of ♥♥♥♥♥. DO. NOT. BUY. THIS. GAME!!!!!!!!!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Why doesn't the game have an Arabic translation? Even though it says it supports Arabic !!!!!!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love this game! Very playable, not overly complicated. Very Fun!!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So it is more like Port Royale than Sid Meyer's Pirates, but It's more fun than Port Royale 4 and more piratey. Overall I'd say it's worth full price, just don't make any promises to your crew; straight gold will do the trick.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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