Skull And Bones or Sea of Thieves – Which Should You Play?

It seems that now is the best time to be a pirate, with some amazing offerings on the table for all types of players. Should you be investing your time into the more grounded Skull and Bones, or should you embark on the colorful Sea of Thieves?

Why You Should Play Skull and Bones Over Sea of Thieves

There are a few particular reasons why you should consider giving Skull and Bones your time over Sea of Thieves, even though they may be very similar titles at the end of the day.

You Enjoy More Realistic Visuals

Ubisoft is known for its visuals, and Skull and Bones looks fantastic regardless of where you’re playing it. While Sea of Thieves has a very unique art style with more exaggerated features and a cartoon aesthetic, it isn’t for everyone. Skull and Bones looks stunning, and the world around you shares the same amount of detail as the ships and squadmates.

You Want Exciting Naval PVP Combat

While Skull and Bones may not have much to do on land compared to its competition, the team at Ubisoft does know how to make engaging combat. Building on what made Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag feels like a breath of fresh air for the franchise, you’ll find that the less simplistic Naval combat here really makes you feel like the Pirate that you’ve always dreamed you were.

You Want An Expanded Campaign

While Sea of Thieves has a loosely veiled narrative, the majority of your time is going to be spent exploring and doing different quests for relatively uninteresting NPC characters. Skull and Bones is set to feature a full narrative campaign, so players who are hoping to prepare before embarking on their multiplayer journey will have plenty of practice commandeering their fleet and ship. You and your ship are one here, so prepare for anything while sailing the high seas.

You Have A Ubisoft + Account

If you’re hoping to jump into Skull and Bones at a discounted price, you may be happy to know that it will be available on Day One with a Ubisoft + account. While this may mean that Xbox Game Pass players may need to pony up a bit more cash, you can set to the seas with your already existing subscription service.

Why You Should Play Sea of Thieves over Skull and Bones

On the other side of the coin, we have the more stylistically designed Sea of Thieves, and our reasons as to why you should play this instead.

You Want To Get Into Shenanigans With Friends

If you’re hoping to explore a variety of different islands on your own or with your friends, Sea of Thieves may be the perfect option for you. With over 70 different explorable islands, all with their unique hook to make them exciting, this could be enough of a selling point for you to choose this as your premier seafaring adventure.

You Prefer PVE over PVP, Even If Both Are Available

In Sea of Thieves, you’re able to leave your ship whenever you want to explore the islands that are before you. Armed with a firearm and sword of your choosing, you can battle against computer-controlled enemies, or take to the seas and challenge other players to naval combat. Just make sure that you’ve got a steady crew available, as ship battles can be rough on your own.

You Love A Creative Art Style

While Skull and Bones may nail the realism aspect, Sea of Thieves features a very unique art style that stands out compared to its competition. Here, you’ll find some of the most impressive-looking water that contrasts with the highly animated characters and enemies that you’ll encounter, but no matter if you’re playing on Xbox or PC, you’ll find that this is one of the most attractive games on the market, as long as you’re into the style it brings to the table.

You Have An Xbox Game Pass Subscription

If you don’t want to spend plenty of cash, you’ll be happy to know that Sea of Thieves, alongside all of its extra content, is available to download on Xbox Game Pass. You can upgrade your edition if you’re hoping to get even more content, but as it stands, Sea of Thieves has had 11 different seasons and you can claim plenty of exciting rewards from it, all from your previously purchased Game Pass subscription.

Can You Play Both Sea of Thieves and Skull and Bones?

While both games are rather similar, they offer enough differences to keep each other on their toes. Thankfully, this means that there is plenty of Pirate content for fans of this part of history, and both games work together hand-in-hand better than originally expected. If you’re feeling like getting into some over-the-top Pirate shenanigans, Sea of Thieves may be the game to play for the evening. On the other hand, if you want to engage in Naval Combat, then Skull and Bones should be the game that you’re booting up for the night. No matter what, the more Pirate content the merrier, especially when both games are as fun as they are.

Be sure to keep your eyes on our Skull and Bones and Sea of Thieves sections below to learn more about these games, and find out just how long Skull and Bones has been in development.