Puzzle Pirates is a very unique and entertaining game. This is the first online puzzle game I've ever played and I'll admit that I'm quite impressed. Three Rings had a really innovative concept and they implemented it very well. Of course, I usually avoid massively multiplayer online games, but Puzzle Pirates is truly different than its filthy cousins.

In case it isn't obvious from the name, the basic idea of Puzzle Pirates is to be the best pirate you can be via various puzzles. Most of the action in the game takes place when you are sailing the seas in a ship, maybe even your own. While on a ship, you can bilge, sail, navigate, gun or, uh... carpent? Anyways, each of these duties has a unique puzzle game that you must play to affect the ship's speed, damage, bilge, or guns. The puzzles are all designed very well and almost anyone can figure them out and play them. However, one flaw about Puzzle Pirates is the fact that all the features of the game haven't been implemented yet. For example, only one store-type job currently has a puzzle associated with it.

Of course, what would a pirate game be without battles? While sailing, officers can order the ship to attack other ships (either player or CPU-run) on the ocean. If you manage to intercept another ship, a sea battle begins. This is a very strategic game played by the ship's navigator while the other players continue their duties. Sea battles require navigators to plot moves in advance and try to anticipate enemy movements to shoot cannons at and/or grapple the other ship. Once the two ships engage, a swordfight begins between the two crews. Swordfights are the true meat and potatoes of this game. Sword fighting is the only action-oriented puzzle in the game that pits you against other players. By forming combos and clearing blocks, you bomb players on the other crew. If all of the pirates on one crew are eliminated, the other crew is victorious and wins a percentage of the goods in the other ship's hold. When the ship arrives at its destination, the booty is divided and the crew can buy supplies or just relax on the island.

Now, while you can temporarily job for a crew, most players like to permanently join a crew, which has numerous advantages. For one thing, you know you will always be able to jump on a ship when you sign on if your crew is very large. Also, if you get promoted to an officer, you can taker out any of the crew's ships whenever you please. Also, crew members tend to receive higher shares of booty. Crews are player-made and are very similar to guilds on other online games. They also are good for making "online friends" if you're a creepy asl-er.

As for the actual players and community on Puzzle Pirates, they seem very agreeable. Its not like Diablo or Gunbound where everyone thinks it's cool to swear and call people newbies, and it's not like a Camelot role-playing server where people get all over-emotional and friendly and make movies to dumb pop music when someone dies. However, there are still some people like that on Puzzle Pirates. For example, I signed on one day and saw an announcement for a wedding and instantly puked all over myself. Well, not really, but I would have if I had just eaten. Anyways, there aren't too many people like that and nobody tries to make you talk like a pirate or anything.

Overall, I definitely recommend at least giving Puzzle Pirates a try. You can get a free 24-hour account and try it out. As for buying it, the price is reasonable, especially when compared to other online games. As an added bonus, there's no upfront "box price". Oh, and if you're not in to puzzle games, I still recommend trying it because it's really like a whole new genre.