How to rule the waves in Playmobil Pirates: hints, tips, and tricks

Arrr! It be time for another guide to one of dem "free-me-um" games, so it be.

For tha last seven moons, I've stopped bein' a landlubbering scallywag, and got me some proper sea legs with Playmobil Pirates. Been plundering tha Caribbean with me crew of plastic buccaneers, defendin' me 'ome from the cursed Black Beard, and walking tha thin cruel plank of in-app purchases, so I have.

Ahem.

Not quite sure what came over me there. Regardless, I've put together my thoughts on how you can be a better player of Gameloft's pirate-themed world builder.

So, read on for all the info you'll need to get more Dubloons, make progress faster, and generally get through to the content you want to see quicker.

Make time for adventure



Dubloons are great because you can buy pretty much everything you'll need in the game with them. Obviously, using the game's finite currency (Gems) offers bonuses like completing actions faster, but generally - if you're the patient type - you can get by with just the Dubloons.

So, you'll need a lot of them. Not a problem, though, if you're willing to invest the time. I mean, there's a whole world of free money to pocket.

Your main source of income is travel. Namely, going on adventures across the waves. You'll easily pick up almost 1000 Dubloons from the second tier of islands you can visit, and these open up as soon as you finish the quest to the first island.

You'll want to avoid using the speed-up power, for shooting enemies and sea creatures is the way to generate some cold hard coin. However, if your ship's looking a bit knackered near the end of its voyage and you're up against a particularly tough set of baddies, feel free to apply the turbo, as it's better you make it to safety in one piece.

The time it takes to wait before your ship can head out on another run is a real pain. Luckily for you, there seems to be an exploit in the game whereby you can immediately head back out to the oceans should you defend yourself from an attack by rival pirates. If you invest early in top-rate defences, you can make a pretty penny doing this.

One other tip: when you're blasting barrels, make sure that you always spin the camera to face behind you. It'll make hitting the barrels that pop up behind you that much easier, and you won't miss out on the couple of Dubloons you'll get for smashing them.

Look after your crew



There are two types of challenges on offer in Playmobil Pirates: the more traditional big tasks, and ad hoc requests.

The former are presented under the 'Quests' menu. These are the types of missions you'd expect to find in a game like this. Collect a bunch of money, buy one of these, do this - you get the picture. You're rewarded appropriately, and it's worth trying to complete these as they come in, as you'll gain experience, Dubloons, and Gems.

The ad hoc challenges meanwhile, are more, well, random. Your pirates will ask you to find a specific place or person, or sometimes to throw them a party by grouping them together. The reward is less, but so is the investment of time and energy.

Your crewmates are really important, generally, and you should keep them busy at all times. Make sure to concentrate on buying Workers whenever possible.

Actions take a lot of time to complete, so having a team of this type proves useful, especially early on as you clear the landscape of wildlife. Sailors and Fighters have their purposes, too, but to make money you'll want Workers.

Go scavenging



There are also plenty of opportunities to scrape a living from other sources, and it requires a keen eye to take advantage of them.

You can tap crystals wedged in rocks for extra Dubloons, shake coconuts from palm trees, scare insects out of bushes, and go fishing. You'll also get money for removing bits of the environment, like trees and rocks.

Occasionally, a thief will pop up and run about your camp - make sure you tap on him quickly to trip him up and net yourself a nice reward. Plus, there are the usual things to keep in mind, such as gathering all of your money-producing buildings in one location so that you can collect from them all in one quick series of taps.

There are free Gems on offer for the really dedicated player, too. You can obtain these by watching trailers for other games and signing up for third-party services. You'll grab a free Gem for each trailer you view.

Unlike a lot of freemium builders, Playmobil Pirates rewards you for your decorating skills. So, for maximum Dubloons, make sure you've made the place look pretty.

There is (at the time of writing) another cheeky exploit, though I imagine Gameloft will remove it once it's caught wind of it.

Each Workshop you have can produce a special power-up that lets you minimise the amount of time needed to complete actions for Workers, Fighters, and so on. Up to 65 per cent of the time can be slashed in exchange for one of these Gold tier power-ups.

If you set about making one of these, then go to any action that initiates a loading screen, such as an adventure or just visiting a friend's island. When you return, the action will have completed instantly. Not bad, eh?

Gar! What did ye think of our tips and tricks? Mighty devilish, I'm sure yud agree. But, if ye've got more up yer sleeve and fancy hooking 'em out with yer cutlass, make sure te tell the rest of ye crewmates in the Pocket Gamer community by posting dem in the comments section below.