Sea of Thieves is an action adventure game set on the high seas in which players must set sail across a beautifully rendered ocean. The play of light on water is perfectly captured, and just sailing around looking at the ocean is a good way to kill some time while waiting for your buddies to join in.

Players can play as pirates or as regular sailors from a first-person point of view. When playing as the latter, you are provided with a ship, some companions if you are playing multi-player or co-op, and minimal instructions along the lines of: ‘Sail to an island and bring back something valuable.’ Playing as a pirate is, as you might imagine, lawless and potentially more fun! Track other ships and attack them for their gold and other loot, seizing and taking it to port to cash in for yourself.

Playing the game as a sailor, the premise is simple: accept a mission and sail off to an island, using the on-board map to guide you. Once on the island, dig up treasure, fight skeletons or solve a riddle – for all of which you are rewarded should you win. Then return – with your loot if possible – to the home port, and accept another mission to go off all over again.