Rovio Stars’ Plunder Pirates Hits the App Store this Thursday

The Internet has long been in love with pirates, including their lore, their costumes, and the fetching way they “Arrrr.” The Internet is also currently in love with battle strategy games in the vein of Clash of Clans, which has …

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The Internet has long been in love with pirates, including their lore, their costumes, and the fetching way they “Arrrr.” The Internet is also currently in love with battle strategy games in the vein of Clash of Clans, which has remained at the top of mobile download charts since its release in 2012.

Plunder Pirates from Rovio Stars and Midoki combines pirates and battle strategy. Some folks would say it’s win-win. Others would jump up and down and scream about keelhauling, because that’s what the mere mention of pirates does to some people.

Plunder Pirates Preview Rovio Stars

Though currently not available worldwide (we’ve been playing thanks to an early Canadian release, and you can too!), Plunder Pirates is already well-polished. Though it plays a great deal like Clash of Clans, there are some differences to note.

First off: You play as pirates. That’s important.

Second (and also important), the game features a unique single-player campaign that focuses more on exploration than on fighting. Oh, there’s still tons of fighting to be had, but you need to earn your right to take on rival pirates by sniffing them out first.

Plunder Pirates Preview Rovio Stars

This is done by moving your ship around a map, gradually uncovering land, resources, and pirate strongholds. When you find an enemy, you can engage them. But the sea is a big place, and pirates aren’t the only scurvy dogs out there. You can also take on sea monsters and merchant ships to earn rewards.

Unlike battles with pirate bases, you don’t deploy your men  for map-based battles. Instead, the fighting is done automatically over a period of time, and you return later to collect your bounty and / or your crew’s dead bodies.

Plunder Pirates Preview Rovio Stars

Though defending your own base and attacking other pirate bases is pretty standard stuff (train and deploy buccaneers with varying abilities, build and destroy turrets and defenses, etc), Plunder Pirates’ single-player mode is pretty satisfying to work through. What’s not to like about mapping uncharted waters?

Plunder Pirates has an anticipated release date of this Thursday, September 18th.

Are you playing too? Be sure to check out our Plunder Pirates Tips, Cheats and Strategies to get a peg leg up on the competition.

In the early aughts, Nadia fell into writing with the grace of a brain-dead bison stumbling into a chasm. Over the years, she's written for Nerve, GamePro, 1UP.com, USGamer, Pocket Gamer, Just Labs Magazine, and many other sites and magazines of fine repute. She's currently About.com's Guide to the Nintendo 3DS at ds.about.com.