The crux of the game (and the best part of it) relies around turn based combat with ability cards and sub-divided tactics (via crew with different abilities in different whale-boats). This design is excellent and clearly iterated upon to keep it challenging and engaging. There are a variety of enemy abilities and tactics that make early to late game battles enjoyable and different, even if the animations are a bit slow. The theme of the abilities is perfect: not too outrageous but not too weak, and there is just enough that it is not overwhelming but you still can't quite fit everything you want to do into a round or battle. I wish there was a way to bring the main ship into the combat more, with rotating boats or changing up mid-battle tactics, I also wish there was more dynamic game-play in the sea creature battles, rotating enemies or additional abilities that last more than two rounds or chaining abilities that could benefit or hurt the player.

The strategy layer outside of the tactical is deeper than I anticipated going in, managing slots on the ship and different crew abilities - this is satisfactory in complexity, but there is not a long term strategy here besides just progressing down the upgrade path for different ship slots. These rewards don't often feel like they contribute too much, and there is not a lot of personality in the ship. The ports between town have sufficient flavor and different abilities that make route-planning important, and there is a good handful of events that happen between battles, but I do wish there was more role-play or strategic themes at the ship management level.

Also the sea chanteys: excellent. I wish they were available for streaming or export for other 1800's era naval game playlists! At the time of this review, there is an upcoming DLC with a more open-ended game and a larger world. I'm not sure if I will go back and play that, due to the issues of the grind and no real end-game rewards. For the later, it would be nice if you could invest winnings into an estate (like High Seas Trader of the '90s golden era) or a trophy room for collections or similar. Currently, the best of the gameplay is in the 'late' stage where you have a larger ship with three whaleboats and difficult enemies. It seems a medium-sized grind to get to that point, and then there is not far to go once you have mastered that. Perhaps some of the recommendations in the combat section could add a bit of late-game variety.

All in all, this is an excellent product and I would recommend it as as 'light' game that still has plenty of depth to enjoy for a seasoned gamer, and it is dripping with theme which is often lacking in lighter strategy games. Great art and enough complex management for a short game to keep you engaged until you master it.