Forgotten Seas is an ambitious co-op pirate RPG where you can seek danger or 'relax on a beach'

The latest trailer for Forgotten Seas, a co-op pirate RPG launching in early access soon, debuted at the PC Gaming Show today. The game is a labor of love from small indie outfit Pangea Game Studios and founder Michelle Varma.

Forgotten Seas' feature list sounds ambitious: crafting, base building, sailing, combat, agriculture, trading, a full story mode, and full multiplayer co-op. The game is looking unfinished, with a very simple UI and hitchy animations anywhere, but I reckon Forgotten Seas will speak to a specific crowd who don't mind if their intricate building/life sims are made on a budget.

Pangea says the main story consists of 13 "unique survival challenges," with around 10 ships and 400 items in the game. The majority of those items seem to be building blocks for the game's extensive base building, a marquee feature shown in development videos so far.

Pangea founder and lead developer Michelle Varma is a game design graduate from Washington, and Forgotten Seas is seemingly her first project. It's one she's been itching to play for years.

"My game Forgotten Seas is a medley of my thoughts and life. I wanted a game where I could not only relax on a beach or build a home, but also seek out dangers on my own terms," she said in a recent dev log.

Forgotten Seas - a player stands in front of a shoreside shack attempting to place a wooden dock — (Image credit: Pangea Game Studios)

"I started working on games right out of college. To support my college education, I worked in fast food restaurants and worked landscaping jobs while juggling classes through high school, community college, and college. As a female in the STEM field, I'm not a stranger to the social stigma that comes with the tech trade," she continued. "After a few hard-earned lessons, I've decided to branch out on my own."

On top of programming, Varma is also composing the music for Forgotten Seas.

"As a mom and a game dev, sometimes I wish there were 48 hours in the day. You constantly run the risk of burnout. Burnouts are one of the biggest struggles for game designers and it's extremely important to keep a clear head and set some time aside for relaxing."

That's what she hopes Forgotten Seas can be for players—a relaxing pirate sim. The game is available now in early access, and will be for at least 18 months, according to its Steam page.

Morgan has been writing for PC Gamer since 2018, first as a freelancer and currently as a staff writer. He has also appeared on Polygon, Kotaku, Fanbyte, and PCGamesN. Before freelancing, he spent most of high school and all of college writing at small gaming sites that didn't pay him. He's very happy to have a real job now. Morgan is a beat writer following the latest and greatest shooters and the communities that play them. He also writes general news, reviews, features, the occasional guide, and bad jokes in Slack. Twist his arm, and he'll even write about a boring strategy game. Please don't, though.