5. Pirates!

Probably one of the most lamented, and ironically most pirated, games back in the 80’s was Sid Meier’s Pirates! I made a hefty fortune as a year four student when I discovered my Uncle had actually bought the game from the UK (there was no where in my town to buy it) and had the instruction manual and map. I charged for photocopies of the sacred map for dozens of my peers and made a killing.

While people may swoon at the real world elements of games like Fable it’s worth noting that Pirates! had done it all before, the game was completely open to explore and do as you like, marriage was an important strategic part of gameplay and the game never technically ended, you basically became too old to win sword fights anymore, the crux of most battles, and were forced to choose retirement. After retiring you received your final result based on how you played, penniless beggar, kings advisor or several roles in between.

The game has been ‘remade’ twice but these have really been mere upgrades to suit the current hardware. There’s no question that a total remake of this pirate simulator would be a huge winner.