An early access code was provided, with thanks to Plan of Attack.
Seablip Become a Pirate or Just Go Fish
Seablip is an open-world pirate adventure that takes inspiration from games like Sid Meier’s Pirates!, FTL, and maybe a dash of Stardew Valley. As the player, you’re given the option to work up the ranks and become the greatest pirates the seas have ever known, or if you prefer, just explore and do a spot of fishing. It’s up to you. The game recently hit Early Access on Steam and certainly feels like a work in progress, but it also has the potential to become something quite special in time.
Starting Out
Seablip begins with the most important feature, creating your character. Here, you have a plethora of options to create a pixelated pirate to your liking. From there, you begin the game on an Island. Your Grandpa gives you a few instructions before heading off on a ‘secret mission,’ and then the choice is yours. If you’re looking for some direction the game does provide a checklist of quests to work your way through bit by bit.
The main goal in the Early Access version is to hunt down various bounties, from a cute-looking monkey to much more deadly pirates. Defeating these will net you a handsome amount of cash as well as improve your pirate reputation. In order to take on the more deadly bounties, you will need to upgrade your ship or just buy a better one, depending on the resources and cash you have at hand.
Managing and Upgrading Your Ship
Resources are obtained by chopping trees for wood with the axe or mining for ore with the pickaxe. If you’re familiar with crafting games, you will probably already know the score. With resources collected, you can purchase more ship upgrades like various cannons to attack enemy ships as well as defence rooms like one that will heal crew members and a room to pump water out of the damaged ship.
Of course, these ship upgrades would be nothing without crew. Crew can be purchased by exploring the world; each crew member has their own individual perks and can be levelled up. You’re even given the flexibility to assign points to individual stats yourself. During ship combat, you assign crew members to designated cannons and rooms in order to hopefully come out victorious in battle.
If you succeed, you have the choice to salvage parts to repair your ship, find upgrades, or gain some extra cash and resources. Things don’t always go to plan, but if you and your crew fall in battle, you simply respawn (after meeting an interesting character first), and you even have the ability to purchase back lost crew for a small fee.
With a crew comes the responsibility of keeping them happy, so it’s important to share your spoils at the end of the week to keep morale high, or it could mean a mutiny. As well as ship combat, you can also engage in mini-games such as lockpicking and fishing. You can also grow crops. At this stage of Early Access, I had the most fun just sailing around the world and exploring the various islands.
Presentation
The presentation certainly channels a lot of that Stardew Valley energy. It’s a style that may have been used before, but it still looks great here. One of my favourite observations is when exploring the island, you can see other ships sailing about in the far background. It made me feel a part of a much bigger world that demanded to be explored. Spirits are cute pixelated characters.
Dialogue is presented in text boxes with more detailed pictures of the character. Even Seablip’s music and ambience have nice relaxing vibes, from chirping birds to a chilled-out score. The soundtrack is already available to purchase on Steam.
General Impressions
As far as first impressions go, mine was initially negative. Seablip doesn’t provide the best tutorial on its mechanics. In fact, you’re kinda just given a full inventory of tools and just let loose on the world. On my first attempt at ship combat, I embarrassed myself since the tutorial prompt is presented while the enemy ship is already well on its way to firing at you. Over time, I learned there is a tactic mode that pauses the action and lets you gather your bearings.
Seablip doesn’t feel very accessible for total beginners, and it currently feels more catered to players who are familiar with crafting mechanics. As I sunk more time into the game, things gradually began to click, and I started to see the potential of this project. Though ship combat varied in difficulty, it felt quite thrilling to engage in. I kinda got attached to my crew members, feeling pretty devastated if we failed in combat. It was nice to then follow up with some nice island exploration, looking for treasure and secrets. Or to keep your eyes peeled on the water and put your fishing rod to good use.
Seablip looks to strike that balance of tense action with relaxing exploration. It’s, of course, a work in progress, but hopefully, Early Access provides the developers with time to iron out and expand the experience. From the main menu of the game, it looks like they are taking feedback from players if you want to engage with that.
Final Thoughts – Dropping Anchor
A set roadmap hasn’t been put into the game yet, though the developers are looking to add it very soon. Currently, their aim is to incorporate better control support. Doing this may make the game more accessible on Steam Deck. Other features coming soon include enemies invading your home island as well as many more NPCs to interact with.
Seablip feels like it has a long way to go to live up to its full potential. But that’s what Early Access is for. Hopefully, in time, this will be far more than just a blip in the ocean of Steam Games. If you’re looking for something to sink a ridiculous amount of hours into, then give this a look or consider adding it to your wishlist.
Seablip is available now in Early Access on Steam. A free demo is also available if you want to give the game a go first.
Do you like our content? Support LadiesGamers on Patreon!
Check out our Tiers and Benefits and join us.