A calm life at sea in 1687

Captain a small brig around Jamaica. Read the wind, carry cargo and hire a crew. Nobody dies, and a missed payment never ends the voyage.

An early version, still being made and not on sale yet.

The brig Swallow under sail at golden hour off the green coast of Jamaica, with gulls and two other ships out on the water.

Sail by the wind

The wind decides where she can go. Turn her too close to it and the sails fall slack; give her a beam reach and she runs. The beat home takes more than twice as long, and the leadsman calls shoal water well ahead of the bow.

The brig on a beam reach at five knots along the Jamaican shore, with a whale breaching off the larboard beam and a compass in the corner.

A crew of your own

Hire sailors on the quay, each with a trade and a temper. A cook keeps spirits up, a musician sings, and a carpenter mends her seams after a scrape. A stray dog may sign on too.

Three blocky sailors and a dog on a wooden jetty, with a note that reads: A stray dog signs on.

Eleven sights to log

Keep a lookout for whales, a green flash at sunset, St Elmo's fire, a ghost ship and stranger things, and each one goes in the logbook. Jamaica's coast is drawn from the real island.

The in-game chart titled Jamaica, Anno 1687, with Port Royal, Montego Bay, soundings in fathoms and the brig's route round the west end.

Where it stands

Today it has three ports, Port Royal, Montego Bay and Santiago de Cuba, with more planned. Questions are welcome at hello@barkbabark.com.