It's About Pirates: Vampire Survivors sets sail, and brings a rubber duck

In the shop, between a powder keg and a harpoon launcher, there was a rubber duck. I bought it. I still do not know exactly what it did, but it was yellow and my ship felt better.

That sums up It's About Pirates nicely: a survivors-like that does not take itself seriously and gets the job done. You steer a ship, waves of enemies come from every side, your guns fire on their own or by hand depending on your choice, and you scoop up loot to buy upgrades between days of sailing.

What works: the boat. Steering a ship, with its inertia, changes how the genre feels. You do not escape by spinning on the spot like a little character, you take wide turns, you get pinned against an island, you learn to anticipate. The weapons have character, flamethrowers, mortars, harpoons, and the sea monsters make for good boss fights. It is pretty, colourful, readable.

Content is generous for 9.98 euros: thirty adventures, ten captains, six factions, more than 140 items, more than 150 ship parts to collect, an endless mode and a leaderboard.

What gets in the way: we have played all this before. The genre has been saturated since Vampire Survivors, and a pirate theme is not enough to refresh it. After a few runs, the same reflexes come back, the same builds that flatten everything, the same endgame where the screen fills with explosions and you no longer really understand what is happening.

An honest pirate survivors-like, for anyone who wants one more. Not the one that will make you love the genre if you do not already.

If you work out what the duck does, tell me on the InsertCoins Discord. Seriously.