This game has taken up many late nights in my past. It's also a game that probably needs some introduction, because it's fairly obscure. If the game didn't take SO much time to get my puzzle stats up, I would probably still be playing it, because I very much enjoy the game. Unfortunately, it's just not a "casual sometimes" sort of game.
As the name of the game suggests, it's a game that's entirely based on Puzzles. And Pirates. Which is to say: there's a lot to recommend about this title. It's an MMO - Massively Multiplayer Online game - but it's not like any one you've probably ever played or heard of. It's also free-to-play (since 2011), which means you can definitely play without spending any money on it. It's also fairly low on system requirements, so it can be run on a lot of computers that might not necessarily be able to run other MMOs.
The game was originally released in December 2003, but when it first came out there were a limited amount of puzzles that could be played. Over time, more puzzles have been introduced. As I said above, in 2011, it went free to play, and can be gotten on Steam. The game is not as popular as it once was, but it's still out there and still has players. Basically, it's based on an archipelago with different shipping routes (that can be memorized by captains), and islands that are owned by groups of players. Captains pilot their ships between the islands, carrying goods, or fighting with other ships or brigands. The best part? ...ALL of this is facilitated by puzzles and games!
There are a bunch of multiplayer puzzles, including a Drinking puzzle that's a bit like a board game, a swordfighting puzzle, and a "Rumble" puzzle. There's also some "tavern" puzzles - mostly card games, like spades, hearts, and texas hold 'em poker, but also a treasure drop puzzles. All puzzles each have free days, or you buy a badge to play them whenever you want.
Then, there's the single-player puzzles. There's two basic types of these - crafting puzzles, and duty puzzles. Crafting puzzles are used as "labor" for the different types of stores on the islands in the game - Distilling, Alchemistry, Shipwrightery, Blacksmithing, Foraging, and Weaving. At this time, there are still not puzzles for Tailoring, Furnishing, and Construction. On the other hand, the Duty puzzles are found while on a ship. They increase the performance of the ship, by doing things like repairing damage, lowering the water level in the "bilge", making the ship sail faster, etc. These puzzles are: Sailing, Rigging, Bilge Pumping, Navigation, Carpentry, Patching, Gunnery, Battle Navigation, and Treasure Haul. At the end of each battle, there's a swordfight or rumble battle to see who takes the loot.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this, this is a time-intensive game. It is easy to get lost in the puzzles, and voyages often take hours. You don't HAVE to be there for the whole thing, but the longer you're there, the better the rewards you are likely to get. Also, there's the whole social "game" part of it, and if you're not online all the time, your alliances could suffer. There was a time I played this ALL the time, and my pirates still exist out there in the "nether" with their pets and their homes and ships. Will I ever go back to it? Probably not. But the game certainly holds fond memories, as I played it with my son, and even got hubby involved for a while. Definitely recommended, if you're really into puzzles and have the time to devote to a game like this.
