Age of Booty is a Pirate-themed real-time strategy game set on a hex grid, similar to many tabletop strategy games.  The game is available on Steam, OnLive (through the Playback Bundle), and other online outlets.

The game includes offline challenges and online play.  For my short, cursory review I did not get a chance to play it online.  The challenges gave me a good idea of the gameplay, though, and I must say that this game is impressive.  The real-time element to the game is no joke; this is not a slow-to build game where you spend the first part of the battle gathering resources.  You get in the thick of battle fairly quickly.

The cartoony aesthetic is one that I prefer, and is something that I think will lead to the long term appeal of the game.  This type of stylized look almost always trumps realism.

I think there’s a really good chance that I will be returning to this game at the end of this month.