Sid Meier's Pirates!: Live The Life free Mac Game

Pirates is separated into several mini-games requiring different skills, as well as an overall "sailing map" mode where the player navigates around the Caribbean, looking for things to do. Sailing technique, evasion (running from guards), naval gunnery, turn-based strategy, dancing with the governor's daughter, fencing, and strategic planning are all skills needed to succeed in Pirates. During the game, players can acquire items and special crew members who make some mini-games less skill-dependent, but must also choose one of five different skills at the start, which the game will give them an advantage in.

Most controls are relegated to the nine keys of the number pad, and the game is completely playable using only the keyboard (numpad keys and enter), excluding the start menu and control screen. This is assisted by a visual representation of the keypad in the lower right corner of the screen, which also shows the function of each key at any given time. For example, during ship-to-ship combat, the "3", "7", and "1" keys on the numpad representation are shown with images of different cannonball types - these buttons are used to select different types of cannonballs to fire. The on-screen keypad can also be clicked with a mouse, performing the same function as the keyboard key would have performed. Though the mouse can be used for various commands, the keypad is the preferred input mechanism due to the game's mechanics.

Sailing

The majority of the game is spent sailing from destination to destination around the Caribbean islands. To control their ship the player must use the number pad (or the directional arrows) on the keyboard. Mouse navigation is also possible, where clicking anywhere on the screen will send the ship sailing in that direction. During the sailing segment, the player navigates between areas of interest in the Caribbean, including colonies, cities, missions, pirate havens, and others. Wind conditions have an important effect on sailing, as winds tend to blow westwards (especially on lower difficulty levels) and as such speed up travels to the west while slowing down travel to the east. Clouds passing overhead indicate barometric depressions, and at the centers of these depressions are storms which cause powerful winds, usually assisting sailing in any direction but also posing a threat to any ship passing underneath the storm. Unlike previous versions of the game, the Caribbean is teeming with ships represented visually by their three-dimensional models. The player can spot these ships from a distance and even collect information about their mission, port of departure, destination, and nationality. This allows the player to hand-pick his targets, as well as actively pursue most ships if an attack is to be attempted. Unlike previous Pirates! games, however, enemy ships cannot force the player to fight, although they can bombard the player's ships en route to a destination and even sink some (but not all) of the player's ships if they bombard them long enough. Fortified cities which hold a particular grudge against the player (or whose controlling nation holds a substantial bounty over the player's head) may also open fire upon the player's fleet as it passes by. The player must also navigate around reefs and shoals, which cause hull damage to any ship which passes over them (but rarely sink ships, unlike in previous versions). Finally, if the player wishes, he may sail the ship onto the shoreline, allowing the crew to disembark and begin to march. This can be used when the player wishes to approach a hostile city without being fired upon, to attack a friendly city, or to travel on land seeking buried treasure, lost cities, or Montalban's hideout.

Trade and economy

During the course of the game, the player can acquire large amounts of resources from ships captured, including cannon, food, supplies, and trade goods. These goods have varying values around the Caribbean, and will shift in value over time, though most don't change much at any given time. Areas with many nearby pirate havens will pay more for cannon, isolated settlements will pay more for supplies, and may have very cheap local goods, such as spices, and so forth. This is offset by smaller villages having fewer tradeable goods and less gold than larger cities, which also will trade less under poor economic conditions and small population size (which the player can also help or hinder). Also, the player can repair his ships or may upgrade them at particular ports. These repairs depend on the player's rank and standing in the cities' controlling government. As the player rises in rank, the repairs are cheaper, and eventually are done for free.