# Bitmap Bay — user reviews > 35 indexed App Store user reviews of Bitmap Bay by NICHOLAS GENTRY, rated 4.30/5 from 8 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bitmap-bay/id6748460127/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bitmap-bay/id6748460127.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 4 · 4★ 3 · 3★ 0 · 2★ 1 · 1★ 0 ## Newest reviews (11 of 35) ### 4/5 — Good game but to short *2026-07-04* It’s really good, not really much to explain here but too short. overall pretty good **Developer response:** Thanks for the positive review. There are over 40 enemy (historically accurate) pirates - and it sounds like you sunk them all! In which case well done! I’m fully committed to adding more and expanding the game further. ### 4/5 — Ish good *2026-07-04* Peak **Developer response:** Thanks for the positive review. I’m committed to making it even better! ### 5/5 — Dumb Fun *2026-07-04, version 2.0* Stupid Shallow Game lots of fun ### 4/5 — Memory lane fun *2026-07-01* A very fun retro game with a cozy vibe. Would be nice to have some variety of playable captains or bigger encounters tree, but honestly for a buck it’s just really good way to spend an hour or two. **Developer response:** Thank you for playing and for the kind words. Adding more playable captains and expanding the encounters are very solid ideas for future updates. Great to hear you enjoyed your time in the Bay! ### 5/5 — Fun! *2026-02-21* Old school simple fun! **Developer response:** Thank you so much for the 5 star review. It’s great to hear you like the retro vibes. An updated version is coming soon, which you will enjoy even more! ### 5/5 — Fun *2025-09-29* Fun time killer! **Developer response:** Thanks for the review. Happy to hear you find it fun! ### 5/5 — Great fun!! *2025-08-31* Really enjoyed playing this game. Love the fact it is offline and doesn’t have in app purchases at all. Simple retro fun! **Developer response:** Thank you so much for the fantastic 5-star review! It means a lot that you appreciate the 'offline, no IAPs' approach. Creating a complete game with no interruptions was really important to me. So glad you're enjoying the 'simple retro fun'! ### 5/5 — Awesome *2025-08-24, version 1.0.7* Needs a save feature 😊 ### 5/5 — LOVE! *2025-08-23* A creative, retro & easy to understand game that takes you on a journey through a pirate fantasy land. Thoroughly enjoying playing this and love the graphics/ design. I’ve managed to complete the Easy level! Now onto medium! Arrrrrgh! **Developer response:** Thank you for this wonderful review! I really appreciate the kind words about the design. It's fantastic to hear you've completed the Easy level. Good luck with Medium, it's definitely a big step up from easy! ### 5/5 — Cool Game *2025-08-23* Gives lil historical facts and your opponents are other real pirates. Legit hope this game continues updates **Developer response:** Thank you so much for the 5 stars! I'm happy you're enjoying the historical facts about the pirates. That is one of the parts of the game I enjoyed the most and I feel adds a lot of character. And yes, you can definitely expect more updates to come! ### 4/5 — Neat proof of concept, needs QoL and progression *2025-08-22* Very neat little game. Reaction based combat seems very touchy. Leaving the app dumps your current game as well, so you have to start over. And there doesn’t seem to be any progression from run to run, so you’re not really incentivized to keep playing after you beat it. **Developer response:** Thank you for this thoughtful and detailed review. Improving the save function and adding more run-to-run progression are top priorities for future updates. I really appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback. EDIT - the save game feature has now been added ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 2/5 — Twenty minutes of joy *2026-07-08* I hear the developers but the execution of their ideas gets stale way too early. **Developer response:** Thanks for playing! If the loop felt stale after 20 minutes, you might be missing some core strategic elements. Some deeper mechanics include recruiting specialist crew members, risk the Black Market and turn up the difficulty to 'Hard Mode' for a massive challenge. As a solo dev who hand-drew every pixel, I am constantly expanding the game with new updates, so your feedback is appreciated. ### 2/5 — Waste of $2 *2026-07-07* Cute art but that’s all it has going for it. You press one button, and if your timing is better than the AI, your cannon does more damage. Repeat ad nauseum. **Developer response:** Thanks for giving the game a try and for the kind words on the pixel art. While the core cannon combat relies on timing, the real challenge is in the strategy between battles – managing your hull health, deciding when and how to spend gold at different destinations and recruiting the right crew members to survive. I'm a solo developer always looking to add more depth, so I appreciate the feedback! ### 2/5 — Fun but lacks depth it’s too easy *2026-07-06* I’ve finished easy and medium in about 30 minutes. It’s a fun concept but it lacks depth at the moment. Would love some level of complexity or dynamic game play. **Developer response:** Thanks for the review. Try ‘hard’ mode - it’s a much tougher challenge that might be what you are looking for. ### 2/5 — Should’ve stayed in port longer *2025-08-21* I had high hopes for this. I’m always looking for a Sid Meier’s Pirates! This looked like it might scratch that itch but alas me mateys, it should’ve stayed in port. The basic premise is a little bit like Oregon Trail. But it really is just a simple timing game with pretty simple combat. I wish there were more here. Not worth the plunder of nearly 2 doubloons in this Pirates humble opinion. **Developer response:** Honoured you’d mention Bitmap Bay alongside a classic like Sid Meier’s Pirates! It’s a high bar, but we are aiming for it! Thanks for playing. ### 3/5 — Simple and has potential.. *2026-05-24* The game has potential but the cannon timer is irritating, there should be no misfire condition, it should just be cannons fully loaded and you risk being out-drawn by the enemy.. the timer makes it a hassle.. **Developer response:** Thanks for your review and your feedback has been noted for future releases ### 3/5 — Great start but needs more *2025-12-06, version 1.0.9* The art style is excellent but the game really needs more depth. After a dozen play throughs, it feels very repetitive. ### 4/5 — Très sympa *2026-07-09* Jeu simple assez addictif vaut le prix pour quelques heures de jeux, l’ajout de certaines variantes, pirates jouables où bateaux customisable ça serait le jeu parfait **Developer response:** Merci d'avoir joué ! Je suis vraiment ravi que le jeu vous plaise. Ce sont d'excellentes idées de nouveautés, des bateaux personnalisables et plus de pirates sont tout à fait dans mes projets pour les futures mises à jour. Bonne navigation ! ### 4/5 — Short as hell *2026-07-09, version 2.0* Medium difficulty beat it in half an hour. Not much else to it ### 4/5 — Crew *2026-07-06* Can’t get crew because can’t go into tavern **Developer response:** Thanks for the review. Crew ask to join you in the Pirate Havens. They don’t turn up often though, so take the chance when you can! ### 4/5 — Relatively straightforward game *2026-07-05* Fun for a single play through, worth 99p but I don’t see much longevity once you’ve beaten it once (took me 20 mins…) **Developer response:** Thanks for the review. Give ‘Hard’ mode a try if you're looking for a massive challenge to test your skills. See if you can do it with a different captain. Happy sailing! ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Great game! *2026-07-25* Awesome game but a little easy, finished the game within 15-20 minutes, would love to see updates with more content. **Developer response:** Thank you for the 5 star review and great to hear you enjoyed it. The 'hard' mode provides a much bigger challenge, so try that if you haven't already. Also - I can reveal that there is a major update with a lot more content coming very soon! ### 5/5 — 99p great fun - no ads or pay upgrades *2026-07-15* I wish more games were like this, well priced and no ‘pay upgrades’. **Developer response:** Thank you for the 5 star review. As a gamer, I have always had the same feeling - and that is one of the big reasons why I made the game this way. It’s great that you appreciate it too! ### 5/5 — Ganz witzig *2026-07-11* Pixelpiratenspiel! Leider recht kurz. Man könnte noch ein bisschen mehr Spielemechanik reinbauen (mehr Schiffsupgrades und die vorhandenen Kanonen mit übernehmen) Errungenschaften für Game Center wären auch toll. **Developer response:** Danke für die 5 Sterne! Schön, dass dir das Spiel gefällt. Deine Ideen für zukünftige Updates sind super und wir nehmen sie gerne auf. Weiterhin viel Spaß! ### 5/5 — Simple and enjoyable *2026-07-10* Fun rougelike with interesting settings and good mechanics. Just a pirating good time! **Developer response:** Thank you for the 5 star review. I’m so happy that you picked up on those points. I put a lot of time and care into the mechanics and keeping it all simple was a priority. ### 5/5 — Simple but fun! *2026-07-10, version 2.0* If you want a simple game with no ads and no In-app-purchases, then this game is well worth the $0.99. ### 5/5 — Jeu très cool! *2026-07-08* Simple a prendre en main et amusant **Developer response:** Merci beaucoup pour les 5 étoiles ! Je suis ravi que vous trouviez le jeu amusant et facile à prendre en main. Bon voyage sur les mers ! ### 5/5 — Good *2026-07-06* Good short fun for the $1! **Developer response:** Thanks for the 5 star review. Good to hear you enjoyed playing! ### 5/5 — Fun *2026-07-04* Ye fun game **Developer response:** Thanks for the 5 star review. Happy you enjoyed playing! ### 5/5 — Fun retro game *2026-07-04* The neat simplicity is what appeals to me most about this game. Choosing which ports to navigate to adds strategic depth. There are so many pixel art characters to encounter too. **Developer response:** Thank you so much for this 5 star review. I'm so happy that enjoyed the pixel art and the historical pirates. They were my favourite part to research and create. ### 5/5 — worth the $ *2026-07-04, version 2.0* fun game you can pick up and play a few minutes. the only thing i would add is a save feature and maybe an option to add crew to board other ships. but a lot of fun. thank you! --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-31.*