Seaorama — Game Review (No Bridges!)

Seaorama — World of Shipping is a game in which you aim to become a shipping magnate.

Fortunately, there are a lot of autopilots, and driving ships is not part of the game.

The game is basically a map and a couple of quick screens. This game is not about mechanics; it is very much a game about economics, and it’s fairly easy to make money once you figure out a few things.

The game has mixed reviews on Steam, and I can see why. The gameplay is pretty straightforward, and it does become a little boring once you have more than five ships going.

I often look for entertainment value for money with games. I was out and done at 11 hours, which means for $ 29.50, that’s about $2.68 an hour, which, in reality, is not bad value!

Game Play

The game starts with several companies offering you contracts to ship x items to x port for a lump sum. Over time, you can build your reputation with these companies to gain better contract terms and automate the hiring of your ships.

Via the shipbuilder, you can purchase more ships and build your fleet as you progress in your wealth. At 11 hours, I had ten ships and purchased a 300mil dollar nat gas tanker.

From there, the game becomes very open-ended and has little to do except rinse and repeat.

The game is pleasant enough, but there is little to do once you get beyond that.

It’s not a bad game to add to the collection of econ management games, but I don’t feel the need to boot it each day and spend time playing it. The developers are still working on the game, and the last update was made in January 2024.

I hope they spend more time improving the game, as it could have more legs if more improvements were made. Having some trading screens for items waiting for shipping would undoubtedly be more interesting.

The AI is relatively basic; once you have the premise for the game, you will be buying up bigger ships in no time.

From a realism perspective, I have importing experience in a former life, and it is somewhat of a life like game. Yep, shipping can be boring and slotting in x to move to x is not all that exciting.

Overall, for the game at just under $3/h on the value-for-money scale is not a bad prospect.

I would wait for the next round of specials before buying or a significant update.

I give it 5.5/10 for playable longevity and 7/10 for interface and ease of learning.