Set sail on your smartphone with Tradewinds 2
Piratical trading game is worth several pieces o' eight
Pirates didn't trade, did they? Surely they just swanned into port, robbed all the local merchants of their money, seduced their wives and daughters, then set sail for more adventures while singing rum-soaked ditties?
At least, that's how we'd like to imagine it.
However, it's fair to say that most pirate strategy games do include trading as an important part of piratical life, alongside the regular booty-plundering and timber-shivering antics.
Tradewinds 2 is no exception. It started life as an online casual game, but is now being released for Palm OS and Windows Mobile smartphones by Astraware. It involves sailing round the Caribbean completing pirate missions, while stopping in at ports to trade goods and pimp out your ship.
There are five characters to play, plus the option to customise your own hero, and two game modes: Story mode and Free Trade mode.
The game is out now, priced at $19.95 from Astraware's website (us Brits will need a credit card or PayPal account). Will it be the 'Sid Meier's Pirates only on mobile' game we've been dreaming of? Stand by for a review.
