Starbound studio announces Wayward Tide, a co-op puzzle game about pirates

Few people will complain there are too many pirate games.

Few people will complain there are too many pirate games. Frankly, there are not enough. Starboundstudio Chucklefishis doing its bit for the under-represented criminals with the announcement of Wayward Tide, a top-down cooperative puzzler with an aesthetic which will please anyone who has sunk countless hours into Starbound.

Players will start in a "bustling sea-town" before moving on to one of five islands, each with its own treasures and difficulty level. The island layouts will be randomly generated, in case maiming pixelated foes for loot should ever get old. Naturally enough, if every player on a team dies all will start at the sea-town. Loot will be retained, but island layouts will not.

According to Chucklefish, the cooperative mode will encourage competition between up to four collaborators, mostly in the way users will solve puzzles and negotiate traps. "For instance, you and your friends might find yourself dealing with a pressure plate trap," programmer Jack Palfrey wrote. "The solution would involve everyone stepping off at the same time. Stepping off too early will unhelpfully drop a boulder on your friend. We're currently planning on a way to resurrect co-op players from time to time, so it's not game over if a few of you get killed along the way.

Best of all, Wayward Tide will support modding in some shape or form. No indication regarding a release date as yet.