Windrose Co-Op Pirate Survival Demo Hits Steam Next Fest
Developer Windrose Crew releases a substantial demo for its upcoming pirate survival game during Steam Next Fest. Windrose pirate survival demo offers players hours of shipbuilding, exploration, and high-seas combat. You begin shipwrecked on a tiny island after an encounter with Blackbeard leaves you stranded. The early hours involve familiar survival grinding: gathering rocks, chopping trees, and crafting basic tools. However, the pirate theme makes even resource gathering feel more adventurous. Defeating fierce Dodo birds and fighting zombie pirates called Drowned keeps things interesting throughout. You can dig up buried treasure and build a small base on your starting island.
Build Your Ship and Assemble Your Crew
After gathering enough resources, you can craft a small two-person boat for exploration. This leads to discovering a shipwreck you can repair with more materials and effort. You must also locate crew members captured by Blackbeard’s men across various islands. Freeing them requires battles with enemy pirates using sabers and flintlock pistols. Once you free seven crewmates, you can craft cannons for your repaired vessel. Finding a new tricorn hat completes the transformation into a proper pirate captain. The NPC crew sings boisterous sea shanties that add a tremendous atmosphere to voyages. These musical moments make returning to port and setting sail again genuinely exciting.
Challenging Combat and Forgiving Progression
Ship-to-ship combat proves challenging against Blackbeard’s formidable fleet. You must bombard enemies with cannonfire while avoiding broadsides that can sink your vessel. Getting sunk sends you back to port, but the game remains forgiving in key ways. Restoring a sunken ship requires only 20 timber, a couple minutes of gathering. This lets you retry battles without punishing grinds between attempts. Boarding enemy vessels triggers chaotic melee combat with waiting pirates. The demo offers seven hours of substantial content with plenty more to explore. Islands await discovery, ship upgrades remain to be built, and gear needs crafting. A release date has not been announced yet, but the demo is available now.
