Don’t Sink from Studio Eris and Hitcents is a make-your-own-story kind of game on Nintendo Switch. Learn more in our Don’t Sink review!

 

Don’t Sink is a roguelike game on Nintendo Switch… at least if you want it to be one! The game includes a true hardcore roguelike mode which means that if you die your saved game will be erased for good. If you don’t feel like playing the game all over again from the start after you die, then you can select to have a bit more relaxed experience that will still prove to be challenging, but at least when you die you will be taken back to the last time the game auto-saved when you reach a new port.

For this review, I chose the standard mode (normal) as I wanted to experience the game to be able to gather as much information as possible for you to read in this review. When you boot the game for the first time, you will be greeted with a message saying that you will be known as Captain… Input your chosen name. After this, you can customize your character, choose between a male or a female avatar, your hairstyle, hair color, clothing and color, and more – the character customization you would expect from a cartoony pixel art game.

Once you’re all set, you will begin on a tiny 2D Caribbean- style island with some money and a small ship. During the game’s starting tutorial you are given some tasks to complete such as buying some cannonballs, planks, food and more. And on top of doing pirate stuff, you will also need to build a town that you will need to populate as you add new buildings to help it grow into a port with all the needed amenities and installations. Are you up for the challenge?

 

After reading this you might think that Don’t Sink is a long game to complete, but it’s really one that will take you around three hours or so to finish if you do things right and pay attention to the objectives you have to complete. This does not mean that the game does not have any depth since you do have a lot of things to do in the short span of time you’ll be playing it. The game is far from a rushed release as it’s got a lot of personality and a colorful and solid art style that helps to make everything pop.

You will need to travel from island to island to complete objectives to increase your funds and your reputation in the pirate world. There are objectives to complete during your travels, taking items from one island to the next to be rewarded with some extra money so that you can get more items, improve your vessel’s abilities, and more. This is very important since sailing into the open sea is not a safe activity since there are always other ships, big and small, that are more than ready to sink you and take your loot.

You need to make sure you have plenty of ammo for your weapons, plenty of food for your crew, a ton of water, as well as some meds if you wish to survive out in the sea. You will need to manage your resources so that your crew does not go hungry or thirsty since an unhappy crew is not a good crew for your ship. If you do things right money is not going to be an issue for purchasing food and water, and there are different food items for you to purchase that will replenish different amounts of hunger percentages, so be sure to mix things up!

 

During your adventure you may need to repair your ship from time to time if you take some damage, so you’ll need plenty of planks to be able to repair your ship as you travel – and even during a fight. If you want you can board your opponent’s ship to fight against that ship’s captain in a sword duel to have a chance at taking the other ship’s booty. You should never be riding around a damaged ship or else you are at risk of running into a ship that is more prepared than you, and that is ready to sink you.

There is a lot to do and a lot of fun to be had in Don’t Sink. This short game is available for $9.99 on Nintendo Switch, and I do have to say that it’s worth the asking price since you will certainly enjoy your time with the game. As you complete objectives and obtain the money and loot you need to build your town and increase its population, you will be in a very addictive gameplay cycle for this short but entertaining release.

Disclaimer
This Don’t Sink review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Hitcents.