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Rogue Waters
Rogue Waters is a good combination of pirate theme, ship battles, deck combat, and rogue-lite. The very fact that it mixes so many elements means that none of them have a ton of depth. I like the fast, turn, and character-driven boarding battles, even when the difficulty spikes and defeat seems inevitable. I would have liked extra options for the ship-to-ship engagements. The pirate elements work well with the run and upgrade systems, especially once players get a solid crew and start rotating them. All its systems can become repetitive, and the game starts off a little slow. Still, Rogue Waters is quick, engaging, and gives gamers the tools to create interesting pirate stories.
Rogue Waters offers an entertaining pirate experience with accessible roguelike elements and fun combat. Customizable difficulty keeps the game challenging and engaging for players of any skill level.
There are a lot of roguelite games, crossing over with a dozen other genres. Maybe your rogue capacity is filled to the brim and spilling over. That’s kind of what I was thinking when I sat down to play Rogue Waters. But then it has enough originality to be engaging, and it’s made well enough to be fun! This isn’t the holistic pirate game of my imagination, but sometimes you don’t want to play Red Read Redemption, you want to play a fast run of something that holds your attention and hits hard. Rogue Waters will do that for you. And I hope before we get a Rockstar or Naughty Dog pirate magnum opus, we get a hundred more games with cool ideas like Rogue Waters. There’s room in the world of gaming for someone to take a wild shot, and sometimes that shot hits its target.
8
Kaufman7
First off, I love tactical turn-based RPGs, so while this is more roguelike than RPG, I still really enjoyed it. For such an obviously indie game, it was surprisingly great and I enjoyed so many elements of it. The story was pretty simple but actually quite amusing and enjoyable. The artwork and graphics were interesting and felt very much in the pirate vein (with a fantasy twist and the addition of magical "glass"). If you ever enjoyed the world of Sid Meier's Pirates, these kinds of games can feel nostalgic. The ship battles and unit combat were basic but enjoyable. Similar to FTL (another roguelike) it's not about getting insanely good at the game mechanics, it's about the RNG element and wanted to see "how this run goes", as you get a little bit better each time. The difficulty curve was the worst element in my opinion. The beginning of the game (when you have no cannons, no modules, your guys **** and you don't really know how to work the system) is absolutely brutal. For the first two hours I just got my ass handed to me over and over again. I did appreciate that the game allows you to lose continuously and keep playing and getting better. Eventually, I just farmed non-story runs for an hour or two and then the game was a cakewalk until the end. In fact, as the game progressed, I started increasing the difficulty setting every round (there's an insane number of difficulty levels) and I still steam rolled everything through until the end. Probably as a result of the wonky difficulty curve, I felt the game went on too long. Again, I probably shouldn't have farmed for so long at the beginning, but for me the last third of the game was me just playing to get to the end. I'd also say the game doesn't really have replay value because by the end I had every single available upgrade and feature. So why would I play again, it would be just like I played before? Unless I get nostalgic for this game in 10 years or something. Overall, the game was cheap, it was simple and it was fun. I highly recommend this for XCOM lovers who enjoy pirate-themed games. Just a good time.
7
Vonluchestein
loved the naval combat and the sound effects, but the roguelite elements arent really nailed down, its too short and all the runs feels like the same and kinda pushes too to farm too much
0
YoMammy
this is the only game i've ever had issues with crashing like this before... i played for less than a half an hour and it crashed twice in the tutorial and twice after completing missions after the tutorial. i tried turning down the graphics settings even though i shouldn't have to because I have top of the line graphics card and gaming laptop and turned off vsync and yet it still crashes

Rogue Waters

Released On: 
Sep 30, 2024
Metascore
Generally Favorable
83
User score
Mixed or Average
7.3
My Score
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Metascore
Generally Favorable
83
100% Positive
5 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
Oct 2, 2024
88
COGconnected
There are a lot of roguelite games, crossing over with a dozen other genres. Maybe your rogue capacity is filled to the brim and spilling over. That’s kind of what I was thinking when I sat down to play Rogue Waters. But then it has enough originality to be engaging, and it’s made well enough to be fun! This isn’t the holistic pirate game of my imagination, but sometimes you don’t want to play Red Read Redemption, you want to play a fast run of something that holds your attention and hits hard. Rogue Waters will do that for you. And I hope before we get a Rockstar or Naughty Dog pirate magnum opus, we get a hundred more games with cool ideas like Rogue Waters. There’s room in the world of gaming for someone to take a wild shot, and sometimes that shot hits its target.
Oct 4, 2024
85
Softpedia
Rogue Waters is a good combination of pirate theme, ship battles, deck combat, and rogue-lite. The very fact that it mixes so many elements means that none of them have a ton of depth. I like the fast, turn, and character-driven boarding battles, even when the difficulty spikes and defeat seems inevitable. I would have liked extra options for the ship-to-ship engagements. The pirate elements work well with the run and upgrade systems, especially once players get a solid crew and start rotating them. All its systems can become repetitive, and the game starts off a little slow. Still, Rogue Waters is quick, engaging, and gives gamers the tools to create interesting pirate stories.
User score
Mixed or Average
7.3
59% Positive
17 Ratings
28% Mixed
8 Ratings
14% Negative
4 Ratings
  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
Feb 23, 2026
8
Kaufman7
First off, I love tactical turn-based RPGs, so while this is more roguelike than RPG, I still really enjoyed it. For such an obviously indie game, it was surprisingly great and I enjoyed so many elements of it. The story was pretty simple but actually quite amusing and enjoyable. The artwork and graphics were interesting and felt very much in the pirate vein (with a fantasy twist and the addition of magical "glass"). If you ever enjoyed the world of Sid Meier's Pirates, these kinds of games can feel nostalgic. The ship battles and unit combat were basic but enjoyable. Similar to FTL (another roguelike) it's not about getting insanely good at the game mechanics, it's about the RNG element and wanted to see "how this run goes", as you get a little bit better each time. The difficulty curve was the worst element in my opinion. The beginning of the game (when you have no cannons, no modules, your guys **** and you don't really know how to work the system) is absolutely brutal. For the first two hours I just got my ass handed to me over and over again. I did appreciate that the game allows you to lose continuously and keep playing and getting better. Eventually, I just farmed non-story runs for an hour or two and then the game was a cakewalk until the end. In fact, as the game progressed, I started increasing the difficulty setting every round (there's an insane number of difficulty levels) and I still steam rolled everything through until the end. Probably as a result of the wonky difficulty curve, I felt the game went on too long. Again, I probably shouldn't have farmed for so long at the beginning, but for me the last third of the game was me just playing to get to the end. I'd also say the game doesn't really have replay value because by the end I had every single available upgrade and feature. So why would I play again, it would be just like I played before? Unless I get nostalgic for this game in 10 years or something. Overall, the game was cheap, it was simple and it was fun. I highly recommend this for XCOM lovers who enjoy pirate-themed games. Just a good time.
Jan 24, 2026
7
Vonluchestein
loved the naval combat and the sound effects, but the roguelite elements arent really nailed down, its too short and all the runs feels like the same and kinda pushes too to farm too much
Oct 3, 2024
80
Gameliner
Rogue Waters offers an entertaining pirate experience with accessible roguelike elements and fun combat. Customizable difficulty keeps the game challenging and engaging for players of any skill level.
Sep 30, 2024
80
RPG Fan
Yaaargh! Subtlety ain’t be whatcher expectin’ out of a tale about pirates, but even though the surface might look cheap, the value is in finding the gems hidden within. If ye be seekin’ the experience of bein’ a real pirate, Rogue Waters is a time of swillin’ rum and chargin’ at them scurvy dogs. Drink up me hearties, yo ho!
Sep 30, 2024
80
The Games Machine
Rogue Waters is a roguelite with turn-based combat that is certainly not among the most complete around, but it benefits from a fascinating setting and interesting use of pushing and projecting to create domino effects and quickly get rid of enemies. What's more, it has a story to be followed all in one go or by taking breaks while engaging in the many side quests. Unfortunately, the naval combat section was not articulated enough, but the battles and character growth lift the fortunes of this production, which will not fail to thrill lovers of turn-based combat.
See All 5 Critic Reviews
Jun 24, 2025
0
YoMammy
this is the only game i've ever had issues with crashing like this before... i played for less than a half an hour and it crashed twice in the tutorial and twice after completing missions after the tutorial. i tried turning down the graphics settings even though i shouldn't have to because I have top of the line graphics card and gaming laptop and turned off vsync and yet it still crashes
See All 29 User Reviews
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SummaryRogue Waters is a tactical, turn-based rogue-lite set in a pirate world overtaken by a terrible curse. Gather your ragtag crew of rogues and grow them into fierce pirates. Befriend and call upon legendary creatures of sailors' myths. Chart your course through an ever-changing game world, and turn the tides of battle on land or sea in... Read More
  • PC
  • PlayStation 5
  • Xbox Series X
  • Nintendo Switch
  • Xbox One
Sep 30, 2024
  • Ice Code Games
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