Ahoy there, there’s a new piratical romp on the gaming seas. Windrose – formerly known as Crosswind – is out now in early access, and so far, it seems to be faring really rather well.

For a super quick bit of context, Windrose is set deep in the Caribbean, during an alternative version of the 18th century. You start off the game as a shipwrecked castaway, and need to get foraging and crafting to survive in the hostile world. Soon, though, you will be able to escape the island you have found yourself on, and take to the seas as a pirate. Yarrrgh!

Anyway, it seems that this has all come together as a pretty winning formula. At the time of writing, Windrose has a peak concurrent player count of 97,981 over on Steam, and boasts a “very positive” review average on the platform.

“It’s refreshing to play a survival game that actually respects your time,” reads one Windrose Steam review. “Perfect game – beautiful, wonderful, and somehow even fragrant,” another adds. Overall, many have praised Windrose’s building and exploration, likening it to Valheim meets Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag (speaking of, shouldn’t we be hearing more about that remake from Ubisoft soon…).

There are of course some gripes among the Windrose community. One reviewer calls the combat “shockingly underdeveloped”, though did say this was their only issue with the early access release. Generally speaking, though, it seems like developer Kraken Express is on to a winner with Windrose.

Windrose was originally envisaged as a free-to-play MMO, but player feedback during alpha testing convinced the team to pivot toward a more focused premium title, designed for one to four players. And, it seems like this decision has paid off for all involved.

Our Matt took the earlier Windrose demo out for a whirl, and he had a ship shape time with it. “Windrose already has my piratical heart aflame,” he wrote in Eurogamer’s Windrose feature. “I went from optimistic to completely sold.”