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Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates

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    Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates

    I just came across a link for a weird looking online MMORPG called Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates. I haven't played this yet (just registering now) but I thought it looked interesting enough to post about.

    Here's some blurb from IGN:

    Yohoho and a Bottle of Rum
    A new massively multiplayer arrrpg from Three Rings puts a puzzling twist on persistent state environments.

    July 18, 2003 - Avast ye! Whether ye be a Freebooter or Buccaneer, the inner pirate in ye needs an outlet. Until now, ye have had to do with watching movies like Peter Pan or Pirates of the Carribean, but never fear! Three Rings Design has a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game that will have many a gamer exclaiming "Shiver me timbers!" Currently in open beta, Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates is quite addictive. For anyone who ever wasted hours playing Tetris or Bejeweled, this is the game that takes that style of entertainment to the next level.

    Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates is set in the Great Ocean. There are a number of islands which new players will have immediate access to, many of which have shops. There are some abandoned islands which more advanced players can purchase and make their own. All of the shops can be owned by players as well. The economy is completely player driven.

    The first thing to do is create a pirate avatar by choosing a gender, hairstyle, hair color and skin color. After giving your pirate a name, you are whisked away to a tutorial that will teach you about the basics of the game, including chat and a couple of the puzzle games.

    The interface and chat are both very simple to use. Point and click is the name of this game. Right clicking on a person will bring up a menu which you can use to view that pirate's info, challenge them to a puzzle or even mute them. On the right hand side is a panel with all your menus and information. You can view your adeptness at puzzles or information about your crew by clicking on the Ye option. The Booty screen shows you how much money you have on you and what items you own. Special messages, like when you are challenged or look someone up using the /who command show up on the Ahoy section. Chat options include private tells, talking to your crew or vessel-wide chat, among others. You can even emote and think. Large yellow arrows show you areas you can access by changing screens and smaller yellow arrows will appear when you can scroll further on an area you are already seeing.

    The meat of the game is of course, puzzles. There are approximately 8 puzzles available in the current beta, with plans for adding a significant number over time. Anyone familiar with Tetris will be able to hop right into these puzzles. Most are single player puzzles that accomplish certain tasks. On each ship, there are many tasks that different crew members can take on. Some, like Bilging, Carpentry and Sailing, can be done by anyone. Bilging removes water from below deck and is important so that movement isn't slowed. The puzzle for bilging involves swapping two pieces of the puzzle in order to create chains of 3 or more. The less moves it takes to main a chain and the bigger the chains, the more water you remove and the better you rating will be. You can only move pieces left and right but chains both horizontal and vertical count. Sometimes, you'll get some special pieces, like the blowfish which will blow up a section of the puzzle.

    Carpentry involves filling in the holes. This makes bilging more efficient and effectively repairs the ship. This puzzle requires a player to take different shaped pieces and fit them into oddly shaped holes. The less wasteful you are at filling up the hole, the better your rating will be. Sailing will give bursts of speed to the ship. This is a Tetris-style puzzle in which a player tries to line up certain colored blocks with their corresponding sections on the puzzle. In addition, blocks can be cleared by lining up for horizontally or vertically, so access to these special sections can be cleared.

    Another puzzle, Navigation, requires a player to be an officer with the crew. This is somewhat similar to Sailing, although it is a circular board and the line only need be three long. If the Navigator messes up, or booches as the game says, the ship will turn around, so this is an important task. The officers about the ship are also tasked with looking out for vessels they can try to plunder and attacking them. This involves basically two puzzles, the first of which is undertaken by the officer and the second which all crew members must partake in.

    When attacking another ship, the officer must try to catch them. When the other ship wants to be caught, this is usually a pretty easy task. Sometimes, though, making the right moves and wearing them down with cannon fire is critical. This puzzle of pursuit involves choosing from moving straight, left or right after the ship or shooting a cannonball. On the map in which you are pursuing, which consists of many squares, there may be obstacles or aids, like rocks or currents. Once caught, then the boarding commences and the crews swordfight.

    Swordfighting is a head to head competition in which the crew with the last person/people standing wins. There are two types of blocks that will fall, solid and transparent. When a transparent block hits a solid block of the same color, that and every block of that color touching each other will disappear. Combinations and large blocks (2x2 or 3x3) will cause swords to appear on the opponents screen. For the swords to turn into blocks the player can eliminate, it will take 4 turns. Sometimes, single blocks will drop and those will take 3 turns to convert to solid blocks. When the blocks reach the top of the screen, the player is eliminated. Swordfighting can be done one on one, but during Sea Battles, it is usually many versus many. Players can choose any of the opponents and switch as often as they want.

    The player economy is a very big part of the game. Players can own every shoppe and every island in game. Buying a shop and eventually an island of their own is very expensive and will take a considerable amount of time. All items are made using player work time. Each player can take up to three jobs in different shoppes and earn wages (which are accumulated offline as well as online) and those hours the player puts into the shop are used when another player wants to purchase a custom item. Ships have to be built as well. All pirates can have a unique look as well, as the choices in custom-made clothing are numerous and many can be made with two different colors of cloth as well.

    In order to join a crew on the high seas, players can look for a ship that is jobbing or find a Captain to invite them into their crew. They can then enter the ship once invited. There are some non-pirate ships they can enter as well. The Navy hires some people for short trips between the islands, for a quick buck. The real money, of course, is in pillaging on the Great Ocean and it is everyone's best interest to join a crew as soon as possible.

    Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates is a fun, quirky persistent state world in which many people get into the light, fun-loving atmosphere. So, Ahoy Mate! I'll be seeing ye out there or ye'll be walking the plank!

    Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates is in open beta right now, so feel free to mosey on over to www.puzzlepirates.com to download the Java Client and play the game.






    I'll probably post some impressions later but I think this looks pretty cool, I mean come on! Pirates! *goes off to find a hook*
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