Sea of Thieves is a pirate-themed action-adventure video game in which you play a pirate looking for adventure and treasure. Cast into a vast open sea, you team up with other players to fill up your ship and go on an exploration, fire cannons, and more.
In Sea of Thieves, your team of players traverses and navigates the open-ended sea environment using pirate ships to carry out different tasks and score points. You can set off on epic quests to gather loot, score points, and take part in a deadly battle with other players all over the world.
During the gameplay, you can interact with non-player characters and the environment to develop through the story as well as explore the scenery from a first-person point of view. Sea of Thieves boasts a breath-taking world and you can join forces with other players to battle enemies and score points and eventually become the last pirate standing in the game.
With wonderful graphics, smooth controls, and a highly detailed environment, you’ll have an amazing experience playing Sea of Thieves. Fortunately, however, this isn’t the only pirate-themed game that can offer the same gameplay experience. Looking for alternatives to Sea of Thieves?
Want something with the same mechanics but takes place in a different setting? If yes, then be sure to read through our list below. When coming up with this list, we took into account aspects such as gameplay experience, setting, level of difficulty and complexity, tactical strategy, and types of combat. Enjoy!
1. King of Seas
Due to an unfortunate turn of events, the young heir apparent must abandon the throne and set off on a mission to fight evil. Along the way, he’ll meet many hilarious characters and tasks to complete. King of Seas is an exciting game of sea voyages and exploration, where you can see the sights and sounds of all mysterious locations of the map.
Since the world is procedurally-generated, there’s absolutely no chance of getting bored with this game. Also, to complete the key quests, you can take part in other activities, including sea battles or trading. Want a wonderful storyline in a pirate-themed game? Look no further than King of Seas.
2. Pirate 101
If being a pirate is all you dream about, and want extra games where you continue to strut your stuff as a pirate, then Pirate 101 is the perfect fit for you. However, Pirate 101 differs from Sea of Thieves in terms of gameplay—it’s an out-and-out MMORPG.
Combat, classes, and quests all follow the same blueprint that pirate games use. While it doesn’t have the same gameplay as Sea of Thieves, it more than makes up for its ability to role-play as a pirate.
You’ll be able to access everything you’d expect in a pirate game. You can fight with or against other players on your ship, as well as on land using weapons. You can also dress up as the pirate you imagine yourself being.
And, of course, because Pirate 101 is a massively multiplayer online video game, you can simply relax in some hubs and be the best pirate you can be!
3. Guns of Icarus
In this game, you’re in the clouds rather than the open sea environment, but the focus remains on ship versus ship PvP combat. After getting bored of Sea of Thieves, you can upgrade to Guns of Icarus as it’s far more complicated and complex.
You can select from a variety of ships, all having different types of weapons, and have a group of human-controlled players with different specializations, including a Pilot, Gunner, or Engineer.
Again, if you absolutely loved the ship to ship battle in Sea of Thieves and want something more complex, then go for Guns of Icarus.
4. Ark: Survival Evolved
In this game, players wake up naked and famished on the beach in a mysterious island along with a bunch of other bemused humans. On ARK: Survival Evolved, players must then craft, hunt, harvest, research technology, as well as build shelters to protect people from volatile weather, sweltering days, freezing nights, potential enemies, and dangerous wildlife.
Use cunning tactics and strategy to domesticate and ride the numerous dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures wandering around the dynamic, relentless ecosystems across sea, air, land, and even underground.
Increase the strength of your characters and acquire skills, items, and pet creatures with the help of depth role-playing systems. Team up with hundreds of fellow players to start a tribe and survive and conquer rival tribes…and ultimately uncover the true purpose of the ARK.
5. Monster Hunter: World
In this game, you play a hunter that must complete many different quests to hunt down and kill monsters within a dynamic living and breathing environment filled with predators as well as prey. Some of the animals you can come across in the new world where the game unfolds include the Mighty Jagras (which can swallow its prey completely) and Rathalos (one of the favorites in the Monster Hunter franchise).
In Monster Hunter: World, players can use survival tools like the scoutfly and slinger to help them hunt. By making the most of their skills, hunters can bait monsters into an ambush and even have them fight one another in another fierce epic battle.
Can your hunter survive the fight successfully and kill the Anjanath? Your hunter must choose his weapons carefully from 14 weapon categories available and think tactically about how to slay the giant foe. Remember to pack the masking ghillie suit!
6. Archeage
This game isn’t just about pirates, but cruising around its vast fantasy world killing sea monsters and fighting to launch trade routes is perhaps one of its standout features.
Unlike various free-to-play MMOs, the open world of Archeage is actually open. You won’t find zones and just one thing stops you from moving across the open world—your ability to protect yourself from everything, including dragons and polar bears.
Also, you can play your desired nautical role, whether you’d like to discover major trading routes and get rich in a peaceful manner or head an armada into maritime battle.
7. World of Warships
World of Warships is another game with ship to ship PvP combat, and is yet another level above Sea of Thieves in terms of difficulty and complexity. Similar to Guns of Icarus, World of Warships revolves around strategic ship to ship battle.
You must measure long distances carefully, steer your own ship far away from foe attacks, and team up with other players to bring down a rival team that’s equally determined to destroy you.
If you’re interested in the history of the 20th century, the game features lots of real battleships used throughout the First World War and the Second World War, from opposite sides of each battle.
8. Rising World
This is a sandbox open-world game with randomly created, fully destructible settings.
Beginning with the simplest of tools, gather resources to help you survive in the wilderness. Evolve your environment to build one of the largest cities ever or a gargantuan castle, or just allow your imagination to run wild. If you aren’t much of a creative person, just ask for help from your friends.
Rising World is an awesome procedurally-created world, with more than 200 building materials, fully textured landscapes, plenty of tools and numerous other things to help you build or tear down your world uninhibited.
9. Subnautica
Most players consider Subnautica as one of the very best aquatic-themed exploration games. It’s an underwater single-player game with breath-taking scenery, unique and frightening monsters, an interesting story, as well as great building mechanics.
All of these features, along with a unique and vast underwater environment and underwater vehicles, can help you travel around the map quicker. This makes Subnautica a great alternative for those who love Sea of Thieves.
Continue reading our full guide on how to find the best games like Subnautica.
10. Beyond Blue
This is an ocean exploration video game in which the player uncovers the special features and depths of the ocean on Earth. Beyond Blue offers a fantastic narrative and eye-catching scenery that lets you catch the sights and sounds of the ocean in your own unique way.
From learning about the many creatures that inhabit the ocean and their way of life to exploring the expansive and amazingly unique biomes that are found in the ocean, this game offers a special aquatic experience.
11. Blackwake
This is a first-person pirate-themed game that takes players on a cruise around 7 seas as out-and-out killers. Slam into rival ships and fight to conquer them. Whip out your trusty blunderbuss or cutlass as you fight other pirates or merchant sailors.
Join forces with a dozen of your best friends to build the most feared crew of pirates in all of the seas. Instead of getting up close and personal, choose from a variety of weapons that’ll allow you to either kill up close or snipe from a distance away.
Who said pirates have never had trouble with icebergs and volcanoes? Well, they were dead wrong as in Blackwake, you must do everything in your power not to go under like the Titanic.
12. Stranded Deep
This is a survival open-world game in which you find yourself stranded in the middle of nowhere on an island.
Unlike in Sea of Thieves, there aren’t any large ships to see but Stranded Deep offers amazing sea exploration mechanics in which you can discover abandoned shelters and shipwrecks while also attempting to fight local sea monsters. The game also has co-op features for wonderful multiplayer experiences.
13. Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones is an open-world strategy game where you play a pirate who sails the Indian Ocean on their own or with some friends. With a third-person standpoint, you can see the conflicts with vivid detail.
Make sure to take over more ships while you progress. There’s no true pirate without a crows nest and spyglass. These tools will help you spot potential prey and enemy ships from a distance. While you might be stealing from rival ships as a pirate, the real thief is the inebriating micro-transactions.
14. Atlas
This game can be aptly described as the more serious twin of Sea of Thieves. You can do almost everything in Atlas that you could execute in Seas of Thieves but with the added advantage of better attention to detail.
However, the only major difference between Sea of Thieves and Atlas is that the latter lacks a distinctive style of art, using more realistic graphics instead. If you want a pirate-themed game that takes things much more seriously, then Atlas could be the perfect game for you.
15. Naval Action
Released by Game-Labs in 2019, Naval Action is one of the games that try to blend warfare and realism. In the game, you can recreate historic maritime battles, like the battle that causes the ultimate downfall of Black Beard, or the one-time Beaufort North Carolina.
While Sea of Thieves’ gameplay is a little more fluid than in Naval Action, the gameplay in the latter is exhaustive. While other naval battle games cut corners to help enhance gameplay, players in this game have to consider several of the numerous factors that were seen at the heyday of piracy. Naval Action is the perfect pirate game for you if you want a real challenge.
16. Raft
Raft is an unexpected hit and takes many chapters from the Sea of Thieves playbook. In addition to unfolding in an open water setting, the Redbeet Interactive creation is comedy-oriented like Sea of Thieves.
Rather than thieves, however, you’re normal people stranded in the middle of nowhere on a little piece of debris. It’s your duty to literally look for resources to eventually build up your raft into an ocean-steady fortress.
The feeling of accomplishment you get from building a viable community from scratch is satisfying to say the least. No wonder so many players get addicted to this game.
17. Maelstrom
If you’re fed up with the hackneyed Pirates of the Caribbean, then you should try out Maelstrom, a pirate-themed game that takes place in a fantasy environment. Join forces with other groups to take down the powerful and elusive Leviathan.
If you’d rather not play with players, you can simultaneously take the monsters and players on with real-time strategy. Enter the game with other pirates and fight your way to victory. Drown your enemies while protecting yourself from aggressive sea monsters.
18. Windbound
Windbound promotes storytelling in games. Through its narrative, the game manages to mystify the Ocean. As a player, you take over an isolated seasteading in a venture that easily combines the best parts of Breath of the Wild and Sea of Thieves.
Windbound is as exciting in the ocean as it is on land and it’s definitely worth trying out if you want something with a great storyline.
19. Sid Meier’s Pirates!
Like Sea of Thieves, Sid Meier’s Pirates gives you total freedom to do whatever tickles your fancy for as long as possible. Also, the game offers a plethora of potential activities you might want to do.
Be a pirate and do some exploring! Discover new ports, finish quests for colonial governors, and meet interesting characters. Or hit the tavern, summon your team, and listen to the grapevine.
You never know, perhaps someone will share a useful map or give a good tip! And if you’re feeling a little romantic, you can always try it on at a local party and get some gifts. Oh, and sea warfare!
Of course, there’ll be no shortage of savage battles here!
20. Windward
Set in an open-world environment, Windward is a sailing role-playing game that takes you into a created world filled with thieves and pirates. It brings to life every aspect of Age of Sail. You can learn the game’s mechanics quickly and begin to build your own pirate kingdom.
Raid coastal towns, engage in naval warfare, and build port cities of your own. If you get tired of being a pirate, launch your own routes of trade and take over seven seas. If you’d rather play as a well-mannered character, help coastal cities repel other pirate attacks, or run around the block proving your pirate credentials.
FAQs on Best Games Like Sea of Thieves
Question: Is Sea of Thieves a Boring Game?
Answer: Sea of Thieves is quite boring because the main gameplay loop is extremely uninviting for those who want to play alone. You can play Sea of Thieves on your own, but the title is definitely suitable for multiple players.
Question: Is Sea of Thieves a Good Game in 2021?
Answer: Following a raft of updates and changes, Sea of Thieves can be considered one of the leading multiplayer survival games in 2021. What started out as a pretty underwhelming experience is now a favorite game for more than 15 million players and has a strong Twitch fan club.
Question: Is Sea of Thieves Bad?
Answer: Sea of Thieves is quite boring to play on your own. The game requires serious teamwork and being stuck with frustrating players is absolutely horrible.
Question: Is Sea of Thieves the Number One Pirate Game?
Answer: Sea of Thieves is certainly the best game for players who want to play as pirates.
Question: Can You Play Alone in Sea of Thieves?
Answer: Sea of Thieves wasn’t designed for players to play by themselves. If you’ve got the whole crew in your corner, you can still lose the game. Whether you’re part of a team or not, life on the ocean is risky. In this game, the odds of surviving on your own are practically zero.
The Takeaway on Best Games Like Sea of Thieves
There’s nothing quite like the cool ocean breeze, the wind in your sails, the prospect of adventures to take part in, and the captain reading the riot act in the background. If you hear some strong swear words in the background, you’re probably making a mess of your job!
Games similar to Sea of Thieves can be played on PC as well as other different platforms. Some games in our list are all about cooperation. There are also others where the main goal is to simply have a good time. Or those focused on historical accuracy and realism.
As a player, you’ll love all of the pirate games above. In addition, action often unfolds in an open environment where every player is allowed to do as they please. And that means total freedom. Did we say freedom? Ye better shut up and get down to business…….as a pirate!
