How to Play Seven Sails: A Guide | Playgridia
Seven Sails is an open-sea trading and adventure game. You load cargo cheap, put the wind at your back, survive pirate waters and sell dear at the port that demands your goods. But the goal isn't just to get rich — it's to be remembered: when the rounds run out, the captain with the most ★ Prestige wins. 2–6 players, free, no download, entirely in the browser.
The core loop: no dice, just wind
On your turn you don't roll anything — your ship spends movement points equal to its speed, and you chart the whole route yourself. The wind sets the price: a step costs 1 downwind and 2 against the wind. The wind rose turns one notch every round and shows you a 2-round forecast; sail 3 or more steps fully downwind and you earn a free bonus step. So every turn asks the same question: will today's cheap route still be cheap on the turn you deliver?
Trading at port: buy low, sell high
Every port runs its own market: what it produces sells cheap, what it demands pays dear. But the market is alive — buying pushes a price up, selling pulls it down. Milking one port doesn't work; the profit is in varying your routes.
- Contracts: delivery jobs on the board pay gold plus ★ Prestige, and the first captain to deliver claims one — arrive late and you get nothing. The trailing player is offered fresh contracts first.
- Guild Rank: every 10 goods sold earns +1★ — even ordinary trade puts points on the board.
- Reputation: high reputation makes trade cheaper and gives you contract priority; low reputation opens up smuggling and the pirate dens. Both can win — the trick is committing to one.
- Leftover gold: every 50 gold in your hold at the end is worth 1★ — but uninvested gold is usually wasted gold.
Pirates, your ship and your crew
Pirates roam the map in the open and drift toward loaded ships. Come into range and you pick one of three answers: fight, bribe or flee. In a fight you roll dice equal to your cannons, hitting on 4+ — that's the only dice in the game, and it never touches your movement. Lose your cargo and insurance pays out along with a Revenge token, so one bad turn never knocks you out of the race. Upgrade your hull and hold, sails and cannons at a shipyard; hire crew at the tavern. If the room's Letter of Marque option is on, players can raid each other too.
How you win
There is no elimination, and the game ends on a fixed round count: 14 rounds at 2 players, 9 at 6. The winner is whoever holds the most ★ Prestige. Prestige doesn't come from trade alone — contracts, pirate hunting, exploration and ship mastery all score. On top of that, every captain holds a secret objective worth 2–4★: bounty hunter, explorer, guild merchant or smuggler. That's why the scoreboard stays unsettled to the last round; the captain who looks behind can take the lead in the final tally.
Weigh anchor: play Seven Sails for free and become the most storied captain on the seas!
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