Here's a little puzzle game about being a consultant for pirates
"Minimum viable product" hits different when you're plundering Spanish merchantmen.
Have you ever wanted to run a startup company focused on a product simulating and solving problems for the average pirate? Problems of complex ship maneuvering, avoiding crashes, and taking hold of your objectives with a firm hand? Have you ever wanted to demonstrate this product for investors in order to achieve the returns only high risk, high reward West Indian Coast venture capitalism can provide?
Of course you haven't, that's way too specific, but thanks to developer chapliboy you can now live out just that precisely piratical fantasy in Konkan Coast Pirate Solutions, a puzzle game out this past week that takes a really fun programming mechanic and combines it with very endearing presentation.
It's a classic puzzler setup where the ships will automatically move forward one step at a time, but you can place down turns, twists, and stops to have them behave in particular ways. Puzzling out those behaviors and interactions is the key to beating puzzles: When will ships follow each other? When will they drop their previous command to pick up a new one?
It's a puzzle game about thinking and figuring out the logic rather than following a pattern. It's super rich in eureka moments, reminding me of Robo Rally or the like over anything else. I sat down and played it for about two more hours than I was supposed to, which I think speaks pretty highly for its quality as a puzzler.
Each of the puzzles in KCPS is hand-crafted, and go along with a really cheery little tongue-in-cheek story about your pirates' weird little startup using their fancy prediction engine to help other pirates solve complex piracy issues. It's a combination of setting and tone I'd never have thought of and that makes it pretty delightful.
So, get ready for tailwinds and watch out for icebergs, it's time to do some pirating. You can find Konkan Coast Pirate Solutions on Steam.