World
Beyond the horizon
A cold coastal world, geographically real and mythically curated.
The northern coastline
Where the land meets the weather
Black spruce coastlines, fjords with sheer rock walls and storm beaches strewn with wreckage. The shore is where every voyage begins, and where many end.
Cliffs and headlands read as strong, simple shapes: a real, cold coast, romanticised and brutal.
Islands and open seas
Blackstone, ember and smoke
Out past the coast the world opens into islands and open water, including volcanic blackstone islands with ember veins glowing in the rock.
Distance matters. The further you sail, the more the sea becomes the whole world.
Settlements and places of interest
Hand-built, storm-resistant
Timber frames on rough stone footings, tarred planks, drying racks and hanging lanterns. Beached longboats. Patched docks. Places that look built by people who expected the weather to try them.
Structures are modular and expandable, shaped by whoever lives there. Some settlements are inhabited by NPCs: places to trade, take on quests and meet the factions that hold the coast.
Ruins and forgotten relics
Older than the oldest ship
Ruined sea shrines, whale-bone coves and shipwrecks. Reminders that others were here first, and that not everything they left behind is quiet.
The supernatural is elemental and ancient: rune glow beneath frost, turquoise sea-fire, a spectral mist. Nature bending, never neon.
Weather and atmosphere
Low sun, long shadows, hard rain
Silver overcast, cold dawn haze, torchlight against blue-black nights, sea mist, snow drift and rain sheen. The weather is not scenery. It is part of the world.
Lighting does the heavy lifting: the realism is in the light, the myth is in the mood.
Myth and mystery
Just enough legend
Ships and Shanties is a real cold coastal world, with a faint suggestion of something older beneath it. We would rather you found it than were told about it.
No spoilers, no invented lore. The rest is for you to discover.
Environments described here follow the game’s art direction. They are illustrative and do not name, locate or confirm specific places in the final game. Artwork is illustrative, not in-game footage.
Chart your own course
Follow the development of Ships and Shanties and prepare for the journey ahead.