Overview
A legend begins at the shoreline
Ships and Shanties is a survival, crafting and shipbuilding adventure on a cold and dangerous sea.
What it is
Viking solidity. Pirate nerve.
You begin with modest equipment and limited resources, in a harsh and mythic maritime world. You learn to survive, you craft better tools, and you build a ship, the vessel that turns a patch of coast into an entire sea to explore. The ship is yours to customise however you like, and the sea is full of settlements to trade with, quests to take on and factions to reckon with.
It blends rugged Viking survival with opportunistic pirate seafaring: heavy timber and iron, patched sails, repaired planks, and things built to survive storms. Nothing is pristine. Beauty comes from wear, craftsmanship and the place itself.
Play it with friends and the work is shared: the foraging, the building, the sailing, and the trouble you sail into.
How it fits together
One voyage, four disciplines
Each system feeds the next.
- I
Survival gives you the means
The coast is cold and gives nothing for free. Gathering food and materials is how you stay alive, and how you earn the right to think beyond tonight.
- II
Crafting gives you the tools
What you gather becomes equipment. Better materials make better tools and gear, and each step up opens a door that was closed before.
- III
Construction gives you the ship
Make a hull at the shipwright table, then build your ship on top of it, with sails, rigging and fittings you choose and customise yourself. Higher shipwright table tiers unlock bigger and better hulls.
- IV
Seafaring gives you the world
A ship takes you to islands, fjords, settlements and ruins that the shore never could. Out there you can trade, take on quests and answer to factions, and danger and discovery arrive together.
Functional first, beautiful second
Built to survive storms
Ships, shelters and gear that are portable, repairable and scarred by use.
Look and feel
Third-person, hands-on
The game is played through a third-person camera, with the mouse used to interact with the world around you: the shoreline, the workbench, the helm.
With the world this close, materials and light carry the atmosphere: wet timber, tarred rope, hammered iron and a low northern sun. Strong silhouettes keep character, ground and props easy to read, and a little myth is kept for the moments that earn it.
Shipbuilding
Make a hull at the shipwright table, then build and customise a ship of your own.
A living sea
Trade, quests, factions and NPC settlements in a persistent world.
Cooperative play
Host a game for up to 16 players, bring your friends, and share the voyage.
The sea is calling
Follow the development of Ships and Shanties and prepare for the journey ahead.