Raise the anchor, hyperrealistic ship sim Seafarer sets sail tomorrow

I'm a little surprised that we haven't had a proper shipping simulator before now. I played Ship Simulator 2006 in, well, 2006, and that series received a couple more entries, but has remained dormant since 2010. With the great success of flight sims, construction sims, cleaning sims, lawnmowing sims, and just about any other brand of simulation game you can think of, it's amazing that Seafarer is basically the first of its kind in recent memory.

If you've ever wondered about the logistics of running a freight company, this is the game for you. I live a five-minute walk from a beach, at the other end of which I can see huge cranes and towers of shipping containers ready to be loaded onto enormous ships to take to the sea. It's always intrigued me, but I've never been able to explore that world before now.

Seafarer changes that. Realistic to the extreme, its early access offers promises over 30 hours of gameplay across two factions. Crescentport Logistics hosts a tugboat and a cargo ferry in its port (adorably named Bernhard and Herbert respectively), so you'll be mostly working on cargo-based seafaring activities there.

While the Tide Guard may sound a group of fantasy sea-elves (or is that just me?), they boast a police boat, a police ship, and two firefighting specialists. Hopefully playing the game will tell me what the difference between a police boat and a police ship is.

The early access game offers the first act of story mode at launch, which we can expect to involve logistical problems and hectic rescues, based on the groups involved. You can also dip into quick play mode, where you can create your own captain and launch your maiden voyage with more freedom. Check out our exclusive trailer.

Developer Astragon promises that it's already hard at work on updates, including a free Bulk and LNG update later this year, which will include large-scale vessels such as Big Trip, Nordic Duchess, and, *ahem* Bulk Willy. Next year and beyond, you can expect more vehicles for the first two factions, additional story acts, and co-op missions.

Seafarer The Ship Sim launches into early access tomorrow, Tuesday, October 7. You can buy it on Steam here. You can read the early access roadmap here.

As one of the upcoming PC games on my radar, Seafarer looks like a change of pace. The ocean life, the open sea, the oil rigs on fire that need urgent attention. Let's see if it can take after the best strategy games and become an experience that lingers in the memory long after you've turned off your PC.

Will you be setting sail with Seafarer? Let us know in our community Discord server, where staff and readers are packing their swimming costumes and checking their life jackets as we speak.