Getting Started
the whole game is one loop, over and over, with better gear
The core loop
Every system in IdlePiracy — fishing, salvaging, sailing, crafting, fighting — runs through the same shape:
start an action → wait (even offline) → collect the yield → sell or craft it → do a slightly better action
You queue a batch (say, Fish Sprat ×200), close the tab, and your captain keeps working while you're away. The batch runs until your idle cap (4 hours of queued work, current design value, free) is used up or your hold is full. Come back, collect, and decide what's next: sell the catch on the market, cook it into rations, or feed it straight into your next action.
That's the whole design test, actually — the pillar the team calls two-day legibility: a new captain should understand the entire cycle within two days, because it's the same loop everywhere, just with different verbs and better numbers.
Your first day
New captains start at Gullport, the tutorial town, and a guided quest chain walks one full lap of the loop in about two hours instead of two days:
- Fish — queue a batch of Sprat, the entry-level catch.
- Cook — turn some of the catch into rations at the Shipwright bench (rations feed later voyages).
- Sail — take a short idle trip to another port in The Shallows.
- Salvage — pull Driftwood, Scrap Iron, and Sailcloth Scraps from a wreck field.
- Craft — turn salvage into a basic tool or piece of gear.
- Fight — take on Rowboat Rats, the lowest combat tier, for a first taste of loot.
- List on the market — sell something you don't need to another captain.
Along the way you'll visit the tavern and hire your first officer — a cheap Common-rarity hire is enough to feel the difference an officer makes to your chosen lane. By the end of day one you should understand the full loop: what to queue, what it costs, and what it's worth.
Beyond day one
| Milestone | What's happening |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | Fish, sell, hire a first officer, understand the loop. |
| Week 1 | Upgrade to a Sloop, run your first expedition, buy or sell your first chart. |
| Month 1 | Upgrade to a Brigantine, settle into a specialty lane, become a market regular. |
| Month 2+ | Chase the Galleon, take on Ghost Ships, hunt legendary officers. |
Your ship is the account spine — bigger ships mean more officer berths, more cargo, longer expeditions, and access to tougher waters. See World for where you can sail and Officers for who you can hire to get better at your lane. Nobody expects — or wants — you to level every skill yourself: trading with other captains for what you don't make is the intended path, not a workaround. See Skills for the five skills themselves.