Make Sail

About

Make Sail is a single player simulation game. It was developed by Popcannibal and was released on March 30, 2018. It received neutral reviews from players.

Make boats and sail them. Survive an ocean of storms and beasts to find better pieces to make your ship bigger, faster stronger, prettier, stranger, wilder: more yours.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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54%

Audience ScoreBased on 96 reviews

gameplay8 positive mentions

stability10 negative mentions

Beautiful art style and relaxing, immersive audio design enhance the sailing and exploration experience.
Innovative and fun core gameplay loop involving building boats with various parts and sailing them to explore an open, expanding ocean world.
Engaged and responsive developer with regular updates improving the game and an active community supporting ongoing development.

The building mechanics and snap system are clunky, frustrating, and unintuitive, making ship construction difficult and less enjoyable.
The sailing physics are often inconsistent or unrealistic, with problems such as poor buoyancy and difficult sail control leading to frequent capsizing and player frustration.
Game content is limited and repetitive with few islands and minimal objectives; combined with bugs, crashes, and some performance issues, it lacks depth and polish in early access state.

gameplay
37 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
67%
11%
The gameplay centers on building and sailing customizable boats to explore islands and gather parts, featuring a charming core loop with promising mechanics and a pleasant story. However, many reviewers find the building system frustrating and fiddly, and the sailing mechanics, while conceptually sound, often feel buggy or limiting, leading to repetitive and sometimes tedious gameplay. Despite these issues, ongoing updates and the game's unique approach offer potential for a more polished and engaging experience.
- “The core gameplay loop of building a boat to reach different islands (with unnatural wind conditions which are cool) and gain better items to make better boats is enjoyable.”
- “The gameplay involves building and sailing boats and collecting items to unlock more boat designs and parts.”
- “The sailing mechanics seem well considered if rough and the building is on its way to being intuitive and reliable.”
- “You have to find new parts for your boat in order to even have variation; the building mechanics are fecky as hell (building takes so long and is so unsatisfying!). You only know whether your boat works or not until you try sailing it, leading to a loop of trying and failing, eventually just using one of the blueprint boats.”
- “The gameplay loop of build-ship, grab-parts, rebuild is quite good, but the buoyancy and sailing is so broken that most players won't have the patience to learn how to build a boat that floats, let alone moves.”
- “The building mechanics are very janky; getting pieces to snap together is difficult.”
graphics
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
52%
35%
13%
The game's graphics feature a charming, cartoonish art style with pleasing colors that fit the atmosphere well, though some visual elements like weather effects and distant reflections feel underdeveloped. While generally attractive and promising, the graphics currently suffer from occasional glitches, flickering, and crashes, especially in early access. Overall, the visuals are appealing and hold potential for improvement as development continues.
- “Visually it's quite striking, with a nice art style and color palette very pleasing to the eye.”
- “The core idea of this game is fully realised at this stage, with its beautiful art style and basic mechanics well worth the price tag.”
- “In game, the graphics are very pretty with a sort of cartoonish feel to them.”
- “There's also graphical flickering from lights or reflections in the far distance, and the storm boundary itself looks disappointing.”
- “I assume they'll be improved in time, though, hopefully along with the weather graphics, which are a little disappointing.”
- “There are bugs aplenty, from little physics and graphics glitches and missing handbook pages to boats that randomly sink, and crashes and weird freezes where the game graphics go black, but the UI remains visible.”
music
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
52%
34%
14%
The music in the game is widely praised for its relaxing, uplifting, and dramatic qualities that perfectly complement the sailing experience and the game's atmosphere. While the soundtrack enhances immersion without becoming repetitive or intrusive, some players note a limited variety, with certain tracks looping frequently. Overall, the score is considered a standout feature that enriches both calm exploration and intense moments.
- “The music and sound design is wonderful, from peacefully sailing in a circle, slowly widening out to get to an island, to the dramatic music you get when getting too close to the storm wall.”
- “Ranging from minimalist tunes through to dramatic, uplifting melodies, it's wonderful background music that doesn't interfere with the gameplay or become boring or repetitive.”
- “The music is stellar and really gets you in the mood for either a casual sail to another island or trying to keep your poor boat intact as you try to brave the storm.”
- “There is no music on the way, you can only hear the sound of the ocean, even though you can buy a soundtrack.”
- “I have been told there's a large soundtrack for the game, but I normally hear the same few songs on a loop.”
- “I have been told there's a large soundtrack for the game, but I normally hear the same few songs on a loop.”
story
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
64%
18%
The story in the game is charming and sets a pleasant atmosphere with a mysterious world and a hopeful quest, but it currently feels underdeveloped and repetitive, relying mainly on collecting parts to progress. While some players find it compelling and appreciate its potential, others wish for deeper lore, more varied narrative elements, and a stronger driving plot to enhance engagement. As the game is still in early access, the story is expected to improve with future updates.
- “From the lovely title screen; through the opening introductory sequence that tells the story, the legend woven into the tattered sail of a boat; to the gentle background music when the protagonist first wakes, sometimes so soft behind the sounds of the sea winds that one can barely hear it, sometimes uplifting and dramatic.”
- “And on top of that, the story is compelling, if not fully developed yet.”
- “The idea is great: allow the player to build their ships however they want and allow them to freely sail around an awesome world in order to unwrap a story.”
- “The content in story mode abruptly ends after around 6 hours of play.”
- “Without a primary driving plot device beyond 'get the bits, expand the map, repeat,' the gameplay becomes tedious before it becomes endearing.”
- “The story needs a heap of work; 'mysterious thing contains all hope in world, mysterious thing breaks down for you to fix' is boring.”
stability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from frequent bugs and stability issues, including physics glitches, crashes, and graphical problems, which detract from the experience. While improvements have been noted over time, the game remains unfinished with noticeable instability, especially in core mechanics like movement and tethering.
- “It's a buggy and laggy mess with very little content, costing more than a good chunk of indie games, whilst still being in alpha.”
- “There are bugs aplenty, from little physics and graphics glitches and missing handbook pages to boats that randomly sink, and crashes and weird freezes where the game graphics go black, but the UI remains visible.”
- “Tethers are also very buggy, both graphically and physically; expect to sink a lot if you try to use them.”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game features a charming and relaxing atmosphere enhanced by simple physics and fitting graphics, creating an enjoyable and immersive gameplay experience.
- “A charming game, with simple physics and a lovely atmosphere.”
- “Make Sail has a charming atmosphere and a fun gameplay loop.”
- “The game has nice relaxing graphics which fit the atmosphere well.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game is characterized by repetitive tasks like collecting items and expanding the map, which can become tedious over time. While the exploration and sailing mechanics are enjoyable, the lack of a strong driving plot makes the grinding feel monotonous rather than engaging.
- “The surface level sailing is wonderful; however, without a primary driving plot device beyond 'get the bits, expand the map, repeat,' the gameplay becomes tedious before it becomes endearing.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game offers strong replayability, supported by frequent updates and responsive improvements, making it highly recommended despite some rough edges.
- “Though this game is a bit rough around the edges, with its constant updates, replayability, and the quick response to gameplay issues, I would highly recommend it.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is light and playful, often delivered through casual, tongue-in-cheek remarks that add a subtle comedic touch without being overtly funny.