Avast! Shiver me timbers! And other pirate sayings. Anyway, what’s not to love about pirates? True, real-life ones are no fun, but when it comes to fiction, they’re one of the biggest icons in pop culture. Legions of books, cartoons, television shows, and movies have popularized tales about intriguing and cutthroat characters searching for fame and adventure out at sea.
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Naturally, pirates have played a large role in video games too, often appearing as hostile enemies. Fun as it is to beat up a vile NPC with an eyepatch, what most players want is a game that’ll let them step into the role of a pirate, something that’ll scratch that adventurous itch. Where some have sunk to Davy Jones’ Locker, others have sailed on to become fun treasures.
8Tropico 2: Pirate Cove
Even Pirates Need a Home
Tropico 2: Pirate Cove
TheTropicogames have stolen hours of players’ time with their addicting city-building gameplay. Yes, there are dozens of games out there with a focus on constructing a city and keeping its inhabitants happy, but how many of them dub you the Pirate King of your own private island?
In Tropico 2: Pirate Cove, your goal is to build a place where pirates can call home, where they can safely store their stolen loot and treasures from raids. While you unfortunately do not get to go on these raids, you do reap the rewards as your island gains more pirates and captives. That’s another thing. You don’t build with paid workers, but captives, who you must ensure don’t escape, while molding them into skilled laborers. Though Pirate Cove is more about planning and building than wild adventure, it remains a fun pirate-themed city builder.
7LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game
Yo-Ho, Yo-Ho, A LEGO’s Life For Me
LEGO Pirates Of The Caribbean
What’s more fun than being a pirate? Well, how about being one made ofLEGOs? Step into the brick boots of Captain Jack Sparrow,one of the greatest pirates ever seen on film, in this adventure that follows the first four Pirates of the Caribbean movies.
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If you love LEGO games, then you’ll love this one. Featuring over 70 playable characters from the movies, you’ll be experiencing the Pirates of the Caribbean stories in a new format as you battle vile pirates, platform across danger, solve puzzles, and build your way through each stage. For better or worse, this is also one of the shorter games in the LEGO series, so if you’re looking for something fun but not too time-consuming, give this one a go.
6Sid Meier’s Pirates! (2004)
Certified Classic
June 08, 2025
Firaxis Games
Publisher(s)
Atari Interactive, 2K, Feral Interactive
Action-Adventure, Strategy
Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, PC
Some out there might be wonderingwho Sid Meier even is. He’s been working in the game industry since the early ‘80s, responsible for over a dozen projects, including being the lead designer behind theCivilizationgames. Originally released in 1987, Pirates was remade into aPCstrategy game of the same name in 2004.
The controls mostly boil down to clicking with the mouse and using prompts on the keyboard, but past that, the gameplay is extensive, offering hours of fun. Assemble a crew, choose a ship, and set sail across an open-world where you’re able to do as you please. Engage in naval combat, have sword fights with enemy captains, raid towns, even work as a privateer for different nations and tip the balance of power. The game may look primitive, but behind its archaic graphics is a level of depth only found in a Sid Meier’s game.
5Sea of Thieves
Set Sail With Friends
Sea of Thieves
You can’t talk about pirate games without mentioning Sea of Thieves. Though it’s had its ups and downs, the game is made fun with its online multiplayer. Sure, you can go at it alone, but Sea of Thieves encourages teamwork as you and friends set sail for plunder and glory.
Customize your character and ship in a game featuring a wide variety of cosmetics as you start your journey into becoming a pirate legend. Sail across a large map brimming with treasure and mystery, battle undead skeletons and pirate specters guarding their loot. Work with other players to become the best crew on the sea or engage invading players in naval and sword combat. Despite releasing in 2018, Sea of Thieves continues to receive monthly updates and new content.
4Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire
Pirate RPG
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire
Though it’s one of the more complex games, for RPG players who want pirates meet fantasy, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is worth it for its depth of freedom. New players might be a little lost if they haven’t experienced the first game byObsidian Entertainment, but if you’re just in it for the fun of piracy, you’ll love the sequel.
Combat and naval fights boil down to stats and the roll of the dice, which works fine for Dungeons & Dragons fans out there. However, like your character, your ship can also be upgraded with better weapons and stats. Even the crew you recruit will play a role in combat too. You also must keep your crew fed and happy when you set out to pillage for treasure and loot, which there’s an abundance of. And that’s only a fraction of the phenomenal content Pillars of Eternity II has to offer.
3Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge (Special Edition)
Comedy Gold
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge
When it comes to classic point-and-click adventure games, the Monkey Island series is a masterpiece for its style of humor and storytelling. In its sequel, LeChuck’s Revenge, you are Guybrush Threepwood, a clumsy pirate out to find the lost treasure of Big Whoop and become a legend. Yeah, if it’s not clear by now, the series loves silly naming, but that’s part of its charm.
As far as pirate games go, this one is for players wanting a more amusing adventure. Solve puzzles in ridiculous ways, encounter a cast of odd and colorful characters, partake in a spitting contest, and much, much more. If there’s any version to play, players will want the Special Edition for its high-definition art and voice acting.
2Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
A Bizarre Spin-off From A Bizarre Series
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
Prepare to step into the boots of the most unhinged pirate to ever sail, and one of the mosticonic characters from the Yakuza series. Goro Majima is leaving the streets of Tokyo for the high seas in his own spin-off game:Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, which wins the award for being hands down the most ridiculous pirate game out there, and that’s a compliment.
Review: Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
Waking up marooned on a tropical island with no memory of who he is, Goro Majima does the only sensible thing. He becomes a pirate captain.
Washing up in Hawaii with no memory of his past, Majima takes up piracy in his search for answers. If you love the Yakuza games for their action and insanity, you’ll love this one. The combat is fast and intense as you battle pirates on land, or in your pirate ship as you blast them with cannons. Or you could just blow ships up with a rocket launcher. Yes, that’s a feature, along with hours of side content and minigames.
1Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
“In A World Without Gold, We Might Have Been Heroes!”
Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag
If there’s any game that steals the gold for number one pirate game, it’sAssassin’s Creed IV. Hailed by fans asone of the greatest entries in the series, you take on the role of Edward Kenway, a former privateer turned pirate trying to find his fortune. Your search for riches, however, throws you into a secret war between the Templars and Assassins.
The game can best be described as fulfilling a dual role. you’re able to focus on playing as a pirate, sailing the sea, hunting for game, engaging in ship-to-ship combat for loot and glory, or focus on being an assassin, hunting your target with satisfying free-running parkour-style gameplay. When you’re not blowing away your foes in your customizable ship, you’re engaging them in combat while dual-wielding guns, swords, and assassin’s blades. Assassin’s Creed IV is one big adventure worthy of being called the best game about pirates.
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