This was a nice little surprise to stumble across. Appears to be an attempt at a modern day Port Royale sort of game. Haven't played it super long yet, but the graphics are charming, the music is nice, and the game play hits just right for this genre. I hope this game does well. Seems to be well optimized, as I didn't suffer from any lag or run into any sort of errors or crashes during my first session. I haven't had a chance to get into piracy mechanics yet, so I can't comment on those at this point.

In terms of feedback for the developer(s): It plays super well as is, but it might be nice to some a few more advanced goods, especially ones that use more than one resource. It would be nice if your convoy inventory also displayed the average price of the goods you've paid in it's little UI box, if for no other reason than for knowing how much you're earning/donating to governors.

Really enjoying the game a lot. If you like merchant/trading games, this is a pretty easy recommendation.

It's no coincidence that I happened across High Seas, High Profits! via some cursory Reddit-browsing while trying to get Patrician III up and running. HS,HP! very much aspires to be a loving remake of 2002's Hanseatic sim.

Though comparisons are inevitable they're tricky for me, with scant play of Patrician III to my name, so I'm primarily judging this game on its own merits rather than how well it strikes the balance between modernising and preserving its inspiration.

It is crucial to clarify two expectations immediately and I can frame them in a question: how much - and how patiently - do you want to support a solo dev's loving remake?

That's because first, this is an early access game in everything but the fact it's billed as a full release. Your tolerance of this will be balanced between the game's low cost and solo dev (who is responsive on Reddit, thank you!) and the fact that several gameplay features are greyed out with a 'coming soon!' tooltip when rolled over. I'm way over at the 'support the solo dev' end, but you need to know this before you dive in.

Second, the generous demo, in the dev's own words, "contains 95 ish percent of the features but is limited to 6 in-game years". Again, you'll be dropping your coins on this primarily to support the ongoing work, which is thankfully confirmed, rather than any drastic step up from the demo.

That being clear, you start with a little gold, a single ship and a home port on a colourful, hex-based map, either provided by the scenario or randomised. This looks very charming, though I would like to see a remake of PIII's real world map soon.

The in-town graphics, while charming, are (at least I hope) a work in progress as distinguishing between buildings is tricky (less tricky, I note, than it was in the demo) and towns and cities lack individual character and the little details that made Patrician III a delight to look at despite its age. Seeing some pedestrians and carts mill about would also be nice, while in-town features I know from PIII are presently absent. Towns currently host homes, industries, the town hall and the warehouse, and that's your lot. On the flipside, this all means that I can't imagine much this game won't run on.

An unobtrusive soundtrack sets the theme nicely.

The included tutorial and starting scenario give some structure, while a sandbox mode lets you set your own goal - ostensibly, making lots of money. Meeting objectives or watching your gold pile grow are the only goals I can see right now, and I hope systems like the town mayors are fleshed out, not to mention adding competitor companies to buy out and so on.

But what's here works well. You'll load ships up with any of a variety of goods and sail port to port to trade, hopefully making some money along the way. The interface usefully gives a sense of each good's worth and keeps a tally of the average for you. An optional price guard feature - great for beginners - steps in and stops you buying or selling disadvantageously.

Given time, your fleet will grow and be upgraded and you'll be able to both purchase and create the industries whose goods you are moving around, further broadening your profit margins.

Enormously welcome as a new feature is the ability to play the game turn based or in real time and the ability to switch between the two at will. This is great for on-boarding beginners but also allows established trade networks to run without constant clicking when the need arises.

This makes for a nice gameplay loop for a good couple of hours, however my key frustration so far is that every game has ended in a death spiral of taxes. With no way (yet) to suspend industries and no way (yet, that I can see) to take out a loan, you have to ensure you can keep them supplied constantly as they, likewise constantly, drain your funds. Of all the missing features, this one is most urgently needed.

Creating trade convoys to automate the movement of goods also takes place in too many windows at present. Having each stop as a dropdown that can be opened and modified would be much better, and being able to mouse over each good for a reminder of its base values would help when setting prices. Likewise, the ability to have some capacity fraction buttons (e.g. load up to 1/2 the fleet's capacity) would help save on some maths.

I am really enjoying High Seas, High Profits!, though. I think it is cheeky that it's not marked as an EA title, but I can already see a commitment from the dev to new content - something that lots of EA titles ironically promise but never deliver on. There is definitely enough here to warrant a purchase provided you manage your expectations.

It's not the full Patrician III remake yet, but it's a very good start on the way to it.

If you want a fun little game where you can sail your ship around, and grow from a small sailing merchant to a trading empire with a fleet of ships, this is the game for you.

It's a good game, but it lacks development, it lacks micro-management details that you had in Patrician 3, it seems that the development team is working hard, I hope the game improves in the future, with more sophisticated economic/political management details and a more developed naval battle system.

You ever play Sea of Thieves? The pvp pirate game where you collect loot on your ship and bring it back to outposts for fame and that sweet sweet cash? This is nothing like that. BUT there's a mechanic in it where you can buy crates of salt and gemstones and other goodies and ship them to the next outpost to sell at a higher price than you bought it.
The problem with SoT is that another player can show up and sink your quaint little boat and you lose all your goodies. Now your boat can still sink in this but it wont be because of another player, it'll be because you failed to repair it.
My point is I've been waiting for a game whose whole purpose is to take goods from point A and deliver it to point B ever since child me reached the space stage of Spore and here it is.
I look forward to all cargo I'm about to haul and I'll see you on the High Seas!

fun so far.

Game has great potential. Plays kind of like Railway Empire 2 but at sea. I see good potential for the game.
Id love to see towns only being able to produce the resource that is close to it on the map as opposed to just being able to produce anything it wants. Also I think its already coming but it would be great to be able to buy out towns businesses and monopolise a resource :)
Also founding your own towns please

Great game, so much fun

Went for a beer run ... 3h later I am The King of Beers!!!! 10/10
Chill and relaxing, perfect for game after work :D

Been running around the map looking for the best deal in every town, doing quests, adding ships to my small convoy and wondering how my muppet of a captain constantly gets seasick.
I'm particularly enjoying the music and in general the chill vibes. The game looks good and I'm looking forward to build my trading empire - with every seasick captain I can get my hands on (sigh).