Chase Moby Dick in nautical strategy RPG Nantucket

Nantucket is a strategy RPG set in the early 19th century during the rise of America's whaling industry—or, to be more precise, a few years after the events of "Moby Dick," Herman Melville's classic novel. It takes place in the same universe and even stars Ishmael, the narrator of Melville's masterwork and the only survivor of Captain Ahab's Pequod.

As Ishmael, you build a ship, raise a crew, and plot a course and take on whales and pirates alike on your quest to bring resolution to Ahab's fatal obsession. Developer Picaresque Studio says Nantucket features RPG elements like stats and skills, as well as turn-based combat. The gallery on Nantucket's official site shows combat is also somewhat card-based.

The release date announcement trailer released today (watch it above) focuses on the game's fastidious ship customization, which ranges from upgrading individual components like rigging and sails to to tailoring passive benefits. You can get a closer look at Nantucket's systems in the images below.

Nantucket is scheduled to release on January 18, 2018.

Austin freelanced for PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and has been a full-time writer at PC Gamer's sister publication GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a staff writer is just a cover-up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news, the occasional feature, and as much Genshin Impact as he can get away with.