Hey all I’m back with a game that seems to be trying to be FTL, but fails miserably. It’s Her Majesty’s Ship!
Plot: This is what the game’s developer says the plot is.
In this resource management game, you Start your career as a Captain on a 3rd rate Ship of the Line, then work your way up to become the next Admiral of the Fleet. The primary objective of the game is to be promoted to Admiral of the Fleet, without having any mutiny nor losing the vessel.
But really, there is no plot, no story, and nothing to entice me to serve more than a couple minutes on Her Majesty’s Ship other than the basic goal of becoming the fleet commander.
Gameplay: I’m not a huge ship nerd, nor am I desperate to play a simulation of a ship that I have to order every little nuance of from washing the decks to treating injuries or punishing the crew via whipping. Frankly, I don’t like this game. It’s basically a click-fest and there isn’t all that much to do in other than order around your ship(s) and wait.
The combat is boring and very barebones, with you ordering your crew to man the cannons and you wait to blast the other crew while it blasts you. That’s pretty much the entire combat. The management of the ship is not enjoyable in the least to me, and I find it distasteful that they included the historically accurate but really unnecessary part of whipping insubordinate crew members.
Music: The music is bland, it fits the naval theme, but that’s about it. I really can’t say more about it without just ragging on this game.
Art: The art is incredibly basic as well, with the ship itself never really moving in the ship view, when you go up to port, the port very noticeably comes to you, rather than you to it as is proper in the real world. It’s very cartoony, and while that’s okay for the crew models I’d have enjoyed it more if the suspension of disbelief weren’t shattered constantly.
Overall: A really barebones game that is not really worth the $10 it’s sold for on Steam, and while it may be worth $5 to some very niche gamers most aren’t going to be interested in spending that money on something they won’t really enjoy at all.
For those who like: Naval Games, Simulations, Ship Management, Broken Suspension of Disbelief.
Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above
Developers: Every Single Soldier, Wastelands interactive
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam