Although I would have liked to introduce Black Sailors a couple of days ago, I could not because of other things. Anyway, while indie developer Mandinga is celebrating having reached 1000 wishlists for his pirate-themed tactical RPG in three days, here’s my overview to provide you with some background on this game.
We are talking about a naval tactics game that has a historical context that separates it from other games. Set in 18th-century Colonial Brazil, specifically in the Bay of All Saints, the premise of the game revolves around former slaves who take over a ship and become pirates as they fight back against colonial powers.
This framework provides a clear identity for the game politically and culturally, while it appears to be very closely tied to the structural format of a strategy game.
The most noticeable aspect of Black Sailors is the way that naval combat will be structured using inertial movement to control ship movement. This implies that battles will be much more than simply shooting down enemies at long ranges or damaging enemy ships; instead, players will have to read the momentum of their ships, develop attack approaches and think at least a few turns ahead of where their ships may move into or away from danger.
In addition to being the main mechanic of the game, navigation is treated as a critical component of the game. Sailing, escape routes, and attack vectors are described as critical components of each battle.
Crew management appears to be more complex than simply assigning crew members to a ship. Players can assign sailors to sails, weapons, and repair stations, and these assignments will affect the ship’s overall performance, with morale and rest included in the crew management system.
Along the way, players must deal with attacking Portuguese caravels, capturing slave ships and freeing captured slaves, and providing support to quilombos that exist among the islands.
As such, the sea map appears to be more than simply a combat board. Instead, the sea map seems to represent a part of a resistance campaign where each victory has both material and symbolic value.
The developers also indicate that the game will feature a stylized colonial Bahia and that each bond created within the crew will help create a connection to the origins of Afro-Brazilian culture, providing the game’s setting with a greater amount of purpose.
Black Sailors is currently in development with no release date announced yet. In the meantime take a look at the announcement trailer and wishlist the game on Steam.
