Skull and Bones vs. Sea of Thieves: Which should you play?

If you’ve been craving for a video game that takes you across the seven seas as a pirate, two titles will surely catch your eye during your hunt: Sea of Thieves and Skull and Bones.

Ubisoft’s Skull and Bones has captured the attention of players around the world, boasting beautiful graphics, exciting battle sequences, and in-depth ship customization as you fight against other players in thrilling ship-on-ship combat. Sea of Thieves, on the other hand, has been out for seven years but still keeps captains and their crew entertained with each season that passes by.

Although these two pirate games might seem similar due to the setting and the characters, they are very different when it comes to almost every other aspect. It would be wrong to compare the two directly since they provide very different experiences for players. As a result, fans should discern which type of adventure they would prefer as they embark on their journey.

Why should you play Skull and Bones?

The beauty of the sea at display

In true Ubisoft fashion, the Seven Seas have never looked as immersive as they do in Skull and Bones. The ships, locations, characters, and the sea itself look much more realistic than in Sea of Thieves, and if this type of design is more to your taste, then you’ll want to jump into the Indian Ocean and become a pirate on this side of the water.

Locked and loaded

While every ship in Sea of Thieves remains the same and cannot be changed, Skull and Bones gives players an incentive to find resources in order to upgrade their ship.

For example, there is a plethora of different cannons that you can choose from to customize your playstyle, from single-shot cannons with extended range to short-range scatter shots to spread your damage up close. As a result, playstyles and strategies are much more diverse in Skull and Bones, and can even lead to unique combinations between friends as you figure out what type of ship can fight well alongside your comrades among the waves.

Choose your role

Similar to choosing the various weapons on your ship, players also have the freedom of choosing what type of ship they will be sailing into battle with. Depending on the size of the ship, players can pick damage, tank, or support roles based on the perks that each ship has. For example, the Hulk can endure more damage than other ship types, while the Sloop and Barge specialize in different types of offensive capabilities. In a team setting, building the right composition of ships could mean the difference between a victory at sea and a watery grave among the fishes.

Why should you play Sea of Thieves?

Real hand-to-hand, on-foot combat

Skull and Bones might have honed in on its ship-on-ship combat systems, but Sea of Thieves brings a whole new world to the equation with true first-person, on-foot combat and movement. When players set off at sea, they don’t become the ship like in World of Warships. Instead, you remain a free character that can move from different stations around your ship; from manning the wheel to controlling the sails, shooting a cannon, or even standing at the crow’s nest.

Additionally, players can get into intense combat on foot, whether they’re using swords, a long-range rifle, a close-range blunderbuss, or tossing explosives. You can even jump from ship to ship, boarding your enemies, slaying them all, and stealing their loot from wherever they’ve hidden it. Overall, the game is much more fluid in terms of exploration and combat, since you just have to jump off your ship to wherever you wish to go. You can even swim to any destination you’d like, although I wouldn’t leaping overboard for a bit of a dip in the shark-infested waters.

A more complete pirate experience

In a similar vein, the Sea of Thieves experience is defined by the various islands and locations that you can discover while on foot. Simply dock your ship at a specific island, hop off the ship, and begin running around at your own pace. You can also claim bounties to search for buried treasure at specific islands, take down bosses hidden in caves, and explore previously lost worlds.

As a whole, however, Sea of Thieves does feel like a more expanded, less arcade-like experience when it comes to a pirate game than Skull and Bones. When sailing, for example, players must individually control the wheel of a ship, the opening and closing of sails, the direction they are facing, and even their anchor.

You can’t just aim at an enemy ship during combat like a first-person shooter in Sea of Thieves, because you must first move your ship so your cannons are facing the right way. You can also take weapons and fire at the inhabitants of the enemy ship, while you speed beside them on the waterways.

Pirating is better with friends

Ultimately, playing Sea of Thieves by yourself is doable, but is much less fun than if you play with a crew of your friends. Together, you can make callouts for other ships, yell at your friend to bring you another cannonball, or cry for someone to help empty the water from your sinking ship as you patch up the holes individually with the resources you find in the wild.

You can make uneasy alliances with other players through proximity chat, and it adds even more immersion as you try to act diplomatically before deciding to let the gunpowder fly. You can choose to join different trading companies, which will ask you to complete different missions. The Merchant Alliance, for example, will need you to find and return cargo crates and other consignments for rewards, while the Reaper’s Bones simply wants to you plunder and destroy other ships.