But it's pretty damn cool. I think it fills a huge void in online computer gaming: online multiplayer that isn't filled with teen shitheads. Who's going to grief on Puzzle Pirates... it's just people playing Tetris for cryin' out loud.

It's pretty high-concept, given the boring, solo precedent for online puzzle games. Instead of just setting up a bunch of dopey games and connecting them with chat lobbies, Puzzle Pirates has the puzzles act as parts of a larger game. A bunch of players are all positioned at different puzzles on the ship (and visually, it is an actual ship with separate duty stations, so the immersion factor is complete.) Crew members in the Sailing game make the ship move, fast if they're doing well. The Carpentry game repairs ongoing wear and tear plus damage from incoming cannonball hits. If the damage goes beyond the ability of the carper, water starts rising in the Bilge Pumping game, which also slows down the ship if it isn't cleared up.

And yes, there's chat. It's done both in word balloons (for pirates in your immediate physicality) and in the usual lobby format, for pirates in your crew or for broadcasting to friends out in who-knows-where.

Even though its been years since my MUSHing days, all the old text chat conventions came back to me instantly. All the emotes and abbreviations, the ability to hold a conversation in a window with 12 other people, the fast fingers for a quickly typed joke. Although I'm less interested in the social aspect now than I was during my time at TinyCWRU, it's fun to interact with people who share a common goal (winning) and aren't constantly screaming FAGOT HOW U LIEK IT.

I sail with the Vermilion Volitans, a crew I just happened to stumble on one night while in the Emerald Archipelago, because they have a generous pay scale for unemployed pirates. I gravitated towards the Bilging game because it plays like Pokemon Puzzle League (or any other Panel de Pon variant) and after a night of bilging for the Volitans, the Captain offered me an official crew position.

It was adorable. I had just finished bilging down in the hold, and he walked over, stood in front me, little hands on little hips, and gave me a red bandanna to signify I'm now part of his crew. I put it on my little round head.

Last night the Volitans' upper guard pooled their resources and bought a new ship (which I think brings our total to four.) It is gigantic, with like 20 duty stations, quarters for the captain and queen... and even a bunk area below decks for swabs like me. (Unlike The Sims, there is no sleeping animation. The beds are just for show.) In that room is a non-ship-related game, the Drinking Game, where you try to match colors in rows of tankards and goblets. This game is normally found in the pubs on the inhabited islands. So after a hour or so of pillaging on the high seas, we all played a round of Drinking down in the crews' quarters.

Like Boris mentioned, there comes a point where you're playing just for the sake of it... since your character doesn't level-up like in MMORPGs. Sail, Swordfight, Buy Stuff, Sail, Swordfight, Buy Stuff. Since this is a subscription service, the developers are promising ongoing world events and other new features. (Coming soon is the ability to blockade an island, yarrrr.) That will help keep me interested, so we'll see what happens.