High and Dry
In High and Dry you are tasked with commanding a pirate ship, trying to ready yourself to take on a showdown with Davey Jones! You made an agreement with him long ago and soon he will come for his end of the deal, are you going to go down without putting up a fight? As the clock runs down you can get stronger and upgrade your ship and your crew, but you only have so much time. Where will you focus your resources, towards better firepower to blast your enemies down? Or perhaps a larger crew to man your sails and make repairs, or maybe even purchase some abilities like mortars to knock your enemies away and dashes that help you avoid attacks!
Randomized Ocean
Each time you play aspects of the game will be randomly generated so that each play through is unique, however some things will remain the same which allows you to learn as you play to help you eventually beat the game.
Make Difficult Choices
Across the ocean many text based encounters await you, some leading to combat and others not so much. What choices will you make?
Upgrade your Ship
You will make to make difficult choices, you only have so much time before Davey comes for you soul and all, so you’re going to have to choose. More crew means more people manning the cannons, or more working the sails which makes you ship move much faster and be much harder to hit. Having lots of resources is good but they will weigh you down and lower your speed and evade chance. Powerful weapon combos can take down enemy ships in a hurry, but if you can’t take a volley of hits what good does it do you?
Strategy Gameplay
During combat you will have to make some decisions as well. Having someone on sails is important or your ship will move like a sloth and your percent chance to evade enemy shots will be much lower but of course you need sailors manning the cannons to attack your enemies. If your ship has some holes in it who do you send down to make the repairs? Or do you? Cannons can be destroyed and need repairs but sailors can take damage as well and sailors gain experience throughout a play through making some better at certain tasks than others. Do you want to play offensively or defensively?
Game Discussion
Steam User 3
I really want to love this game. In some ways, I do. The gameplay and 8bit design are what I've been looking for since I was a small child, a la Sid Meier's Pirates! for the NES. I'm in my early 40s now. A lot of the gameplay is very fun and a bit addicting in a way. However, the game is mired by the 'roguelite' difficulty and poor level design. I don't like that there are ghosts / witch doctors who use magic in the game, but I can definitely look past it. However, the difficulty and inability to save your progress is very irritating, especially given the strength of the end boss. So much so that the useless 'continue' option in the menu seems to be a mocking jab from the developer. The difficulty is pretty rough, you can be 'ganked' at night even with a hearty ship by a ghost ship, you can be chased by pirates, fight them and win, only to have another pirate descend upon your already-damaged crew and vessel. Just having crew and upgrades much more affordable and accessible would go a long way to make this game more enjoyable. So far I have gotten to the end boss twice, and he has stomped me both times. The first time I barely damaged the secondary ship, the second time I managed to deal about half damage to the boss ship and secondary ship. Seems like it relies heavily on luck of RNJesus, to get enough gold to purchase a lot of good upgrades. For some people I am sure that is fun, for me it seems a lot more frustrating than anything.
Behind every cynic is a disappointed idealist. There is so much potential to this game, but the developer decided to use gimmicky game design, instead of just having a sandbox with which to play. The random elements are pretty cookie cutter, you'll encounter nearly all of it within the first couple of hours, just at different places. It was nice to encounter a massive octopus (which I definitely was *not* upgraded enough to fight) and Blackbeard's ship (which I barely caught a glimpse of). The game is also definitely not bug-free. I've encountered 2 so far in 5 hours of gameplay, one of them was sort of game-breaking. You go to a place and are unable to select 1 of the 2 options, and just loops you through until you pick the other option. There are no control, video or audio options to speak of, and the game is quite loud. I am pretty on the fence about recommending the game, but I view it as a lesser evil for indy developers to recommend a game I'm not sure I should than to leave a non-recommendation to a game that has lots of potential but is glaringly flawed. I may come back and change my mind, especially if there are no updates within the next year or so. The game has been out for 7 months and I am not seeing any patch notes, which I feel a bit disappointed by.
I yearn for a game similar to this, with the gameplay and 8bit design, but a more open-world, RPG-style pirate game. As it stands, I paid less than $4 for this, and I'm meh about my purchase, but for a game such as the one I've described, I'd pay at *least* $20 for.
Steam User 2
A quick little game with a fun gameplay loop. A speed up feature or time skip would do wonders as the game tends to drag on a bit after the first hour, where most of the content you can find had already been discovered. More content, bugfixes, and Qol would be nice, but I'd say it's worth the price to check it out.
Steam User 3
A fun strategy game with a unique concept. Still a little rough around the edges but has a lot of potential
Steam User 3
If you're in the market for a challenging and addictive rogue-like game, look no further than High and Dry, a hidden gem developed by a passionate indie developer. This game sets sail to uncharted waters, offering a unique naval combat experience combined with decision-making that truly impacts your journey. Brace yourself for an exhilarating adventure as you face off against the notorious Davey Jones in an epic showdown!
One of the standout features of High and Dry is its emphasis on meaningful decision-making. Every choice you make, from selecting your crew to deciding which route to take, can have a profound impact on your success. The game's dynamic systems respond to your actions, creating a truly immersive experience where you are the captain of your own destiny. Whether it's choosing to trade or rest on islands, engaging in naval battles, or exploring mysterious islands, the choices are yours to make, and the consequences will keep you on your toes (or at the bottom of the ocean).
I couldn't recommend this game more at the price point if you're looking for a challenging rogue-like where your pressed with time and your decisions matter. A final note is that the developer is active in his discord server to answer issues or resolve bugs that come up in rare circumstances, which was a pleasant surprise.
Steam User 2
Recommended if you like strategy games like FTL, the core idea is strong and has a lot of potential but could use more content.
Steam User 0
One of the best pirate themed indie game on Steam. Would recommend :)
Great support from developer!