Era of Sail Preview

Trade, barter, and find love in the watery world of Era of Sail

Not so long ago, humanity did most of its travel, trade, and warring on the open seas. It was a time of great curiosity and hard exploration. Men were men, women were women, and bilge rats were proficient at spreading doom and misery amongst native populations. Era of Sail by DreaminGame takes you back to those days of ports, ships, and traders. You can almost hear the salt water splashing against hulls and the merry sounds of sailors emptying the contents of the head directly into the ocean.

Era of Sail casts you as a rookie port manager who gets to take care of all the landlocked maintenance while sea-faring dogs go on adventures across the seven seas. Your job puts you in charge of managing fleets of ships, making smart marketing decisions, buddying up with “local communities” (e.g., your pals), and schmoozing with stakeholders from local and global ports.

You need to build up your port businesses in Era of Sail, and you also need to keep a close eye on the markets as you buy and sell goods. Prices fluctuate constantly, so if you don’t watch where you step, you might end up overpaying for some crummy bananas.

When you’ve had your fill of dry goods, you can attempt to initiate contact with other port dwellers and try to separate friend from foe. If you play the field correctly, you might just end up with a loving partner. The innocent schoolmarm seems like a good choice, but don’t automatically say “no” to having a diseased-looking pirate as a friend! He may surprise you.

Era of Sail is coming to the App Store soon, so you’d better learn how to remove barnacles from ship hulls quickly and efficiently.

Nadia Oxford

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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.