🏴☠️ Pirate Ship Battles 3D
Fire broadsides, raid merchants, storm forts and dig up pirate treasure.
How to play
- Choose Adventure, Battle Bay or Free Sail and a ship. The Sea Dog is ready straight away.
- W raises the sails and S lowers them. A and D steer. Watch the wind arrow: sail across or with the wind.
- Turn side-on to an enemy. Q fires the left (port) cannons, E fires the right (starboard) cannons.
- Sail to an X on a beach, stop close by and press F to dig up the treasure.
- Sail into the gold ring at Haven's dock to visit the shipwright and buy upgrades.
- On a phone, use the arrow buttons to sail and the 💥 buttons to fire.
Hoist the sails, captain!
Pirate Ship Battles 3D is a free pirate game that you play in your browser. You are the captain of a wooden pirate ship with a black flag, white sails and a row of cannons along each side. The sea is dotted with islands, palm trees and forts, and full of ships to chase: fat merchant ships loaded with cargo, navy sloops on patrol and rival pirates looking for a fight. Somewhere out there, on Volcano Isle, lies the greatest treasure of all.
Your ship sails on a real 3D ocean. The sails fill and flap, the hull rolls on the waves, cannon smoke drifts across the water and splashes rise around you when the enemy fires back.
Sailing with the wind
A pirate ship has no engine: the wind does the work. Press W to raise the sails and S to lower them. The compass arrow shows where the wind is blowing. Your ship is fastest when the wind comes from the side or from behind, and slow when you try to sail straight into it. Learning to use the wind is the first step to catching a merchant ship or escaping a navy patrol.
Broadsides
Pirate ship cannons point out of the sides, not the front. To hit a ship, you have to turn side-on to it. Q fires the cannons on the left side of your ship (the port side) and E fires the ones on the right (the starboard side). A full broadside from close range does lots of damage. After firing, the cannons need time to reload, so a good captain turns to fire one side, then swings round to fire the other.
Enemies and forts
Merchant ships flee when they see you, so you will need the wind behind you to catch them, and their cargo is worth a lot of gold. Navy sloops patrol near Fort Royal and fight back. Rival pirates are tougher still. Forts on the islands have cannon towers on the shore; knock the towers down from the sea. And then there is Blackbeard's ship, the most feared ship on the sea, guarding Volcano Isle.
Ten quests
The Adventure takes you from deckhand to Pirate King. You start by raising the sails and sailing to a buoy off Palm Key, practise your aim on floating barrels near Haven, chase a merchant ship, and dig up your first treasure at an X on Turtle Isle's beach. Then you visit the shipwright, sink two navy sloops near Fort Royal, storm the fort on Skull Rock, find the smugglers' chest in their cove, defeat Blackbeard's Revenge and finally dig up the Treasure of Volcano Isle.
The shipwright
Gold from sunk ships, floating loot barrels and buried treasure can be spent at the shipwright in Haven. Sail into the gold ring at the dock to open the shop. You can upgrade the hull to take more hits, the cannons to hit harder, the gun crew to reload faster, the sails to go faster, and the carpenters, who repair your ship. Repairs are sold there too.
Four ships
You start with the Sea Dog. Finished quests unlock the Red Corsair (after 3 quests), the Midnight Raven (6) and the Golden Galleon (9).
Battle Bay and Free Sail
Battle Bay sends wave after wave of enemy ships at you. How many waves can you survive? Free Sail lets you roam the islands as you like, raiding ships and forts and hunting for treasure, with no quests.
Tips
Fire when the enemy is right beside you, not far away. Keep the wind in mind: you cannot chase a ship straight upwind. Collect the loot barrels after a battle. When your hull gets low, head back to Haven for repairs before the next fight. And against a fort, keep moving while you fire, so the towers have a harder time hitting you.
A kid-friendly pirate game
Battles are cartoon fun: when a ship sinks, it tips over and slips under the waves, and its crew always rows away safely in their lifeboats. There is no blood. See the Parents & Safety page for more.
Play anywhere
Pirate Ship Battles 3D runs in any modern browser on computers, Chromebooks, tablets and phones, with no download and no account. Your gold, quests and ships are saved only in your own browser.
More games like this
Command a modern destroyer in Warship Sea Battle 3D, sail a regatta in Sailing Regatta 3D, or find the hidden fleet in the classic Naval Battle. Every boat game is on our Boat Games page.
Frequently asked questions
Is Pirate Ship Battles 3D free?
Yes. It is a free 3D pirate ship game that runs in your web browser with no download, account or plugin.
How do I fire the cannons?
Turn your ship side-on to the target. Q fires the left (port) side and E fires the right (starboard) side.
Why is my ship so slow?
You may be sailing into the wind, or your sails are down. Press W to raise the sails and turn so the wind arrow comes from the side or behind.
How do I dig up treasure?
Sail to the X on the beach, stop close by and press F (or the anchor button) to dig.
Where do I buy upgrades?
At the shipwright in Haven. Sail into the gold ring at the dock to open the shop.
Is it violent?
No. It is a cartoon sea battle: sunk ships tip over and their crews always row away safely in lifeboats.