Technology Review #2-Pirates!

“ARRRGGHHHHH! There be Pirates! in them there waters!” Sid Meier’s Pirates! is one of the most innovative and exciting simulation games on the market. It originally came onto computing scene in the mid 1980’s for the Commodore 64. It has been revived for the Windows 98/ME/2000/XP platform, with PSP and Xbox recently added to the platform list. The game is available from a variety of venders. The official web site is http://www.2kgames.com/pirates/pirates/home.php and the game is available from online vendors. A word of warning...there are alcohol references and a small bit of violence (no one dies; they surrender during the battles) so I would use it with grade 6 and up. I would also consider a possible letter home to cover these things if you have any "delicate" students who might be offended. Having said that, this type of thing was part of the lifestyle, allowing students to fully immerse themselves in the game and era.

Pirates! places you in the Caribbean during the privateering era. You can pick your specific time period and your nationality, setting the stage for your adventures. As a privateer captain, you sail the seas in search of enemy or pirate ships. Strategy is a must, as alliances between countries change constantly, affecting the ships you should or should not attack. Once you establish yourself as a “pirate” in the eyes of a county, most friendly avenues in dealing with that country are closed to you.

As the leader of the expedition, you decide where to go, how to barter and who to attack. You must use geography skills to navigate, planning your course on the maps of the regions integrated into the game. As you acquire more ships, crew, gold, goods and fame, your reputation grows, allowing you more prestige with friendly governments and more risk with enemy governments.

Along with learning the geography and politics of the era and region you also must learn terminology for weapons, ships, and many other everyday items common to the time period. Good fencing skills are required, along with a knowledge of different type of swords and their attributes. You also must have knowledge of the social graces of the era, as one of the rewards for being a successful captain is an invitation to a social engagement, where you must interact with the government dignitaries and their un-wed daughters, hoping to win a ladies’ heart. A successful captain will win promotions, amass wealth, marry a beautiful woman and retire happy and healthy at the end of his long, colorful career. Captains who are not as successful may find themselves unhappily married, living in poverty, or worse, thrown in prison for their misdeeds.

Educationally speaking, Pirates! has many options for use in the classroom, the most obvious being the study of Caribbean geography and history. Another educational use would be the political affects on trade and diplomatic issues. Even if you decided to trade and not become a pirate, unfriendly countries and those at war with you will make your life very difficult. Students have to observe the relationships between countries and adjust their actions accordingly to remain successful. Economics are also applicable, as the cost of goods rises and falls depending on the area you are in and the state of economics of that time period. Captains who choose to pirate later in the era will find it much more difficult, as civility will have taken hold in many of the towns you visit as compared to earlier in the era, when not as many settlers have arrived yet and lawlessness ruled in the outlying islands. Just like in real life, decisions made early in the game can have a direct impact on situations that occur much later, requiring students to think carefully and weight their options before attacking a ship, a fleet, or even a city.

Playing Pirates! requires students to use creativity and innovation in planning their strategies during the game, aligning it with NETS standard #1. In addition to playing the game as a single, students could work in groups, actually planning their strategies and working as a “captain and crew”, making decisions together, which aligns with NETS standard #2. The most applicable NETS standard is #4, thinking, problem-solving & decision-making. Everything the player does hinges on decisions made by them. Their success or failure depends of this, as well as looking at problems such as shipping routes, town or ship populations and even type of ship and weaponry to attack with.

With all the educational possibilities, Pirates! would be a definite asset to a classroom as a simulation game for a variety of reasons. It is a fun, adventurous learning experience that students of all levels, and all ages, will enjoy.