Bootleg Steamer

About this game

In this rogue-like game, you embark on your journey as a captain during the tumultuous American Prohibition. Overcome challenges like inclement weather, relentless Coast Guard pursuit, shrewd Mafia dealings, and your own financial pitfalls, all while ensuring your path to wealth remains unhindered.

Supply and Demand: Turn Smuggling into a Profitable Endeavour

The population is thirsty, and you’re the captain they need. Buy cheap alcohol from underground brewers and upsell it to thirsty Americans at lucrative premiums. Each city and town will have its own demands, so navigate your strategy carefully to maximise your profits.

Customise your Ship, Choose your own Unique Crew, and Develop your own Strategy

Become a master of bootlegging by tailoring your smuggling operations to your liking. Choose and upgrade ships, recruit skilled crew members, and develop a truly unique strategy to outwit both the Coast Guard and the Mafia. Your decisions shape your success as you navigate the hazardous waters of Prohibition-era America with a strategic edge.

Play as 1 of the 6 Unique Captains and explore over 50 different maps

Choose your captain wisely! 6 captains are ready to set sail, each with their own pros and cons which could make or break your bootlegging strategy. Traverse diverse oceans, rivers, and lakes while you overcome challenges, from weather phenomena to dogged Coast Guard patrols, all to chart your course to wealth in this trading rogue-like adventure.

Mafia Favours and Contracts

Forge alliances with the Mafia through contracts, utilising their influence to navigate the perilous waters of the Prohibition. Engage in high-stakes dealings and avoid invoking their wrath – but remember, they always collect on their debt with interest!

Invitations and Sea Parties

Immerse yourself in the Prohibition-era America. Interact with the locals, aid a rail baron, support cities devastated by the Great Depression, and contribute to the construction of the iconic Empire State Building. Make connections with thirsty customers and throw Sea Parties visible from the shore. Your actions reverberate through the historical tapestry of the 1920s, adding a unique layer to the rogue-like storytelling experience.

Game Features

• Explore the United States Prohibition Era: Over 50 different maps spanning the American continent between 1920 and 1933, each showcasing a different look and a different challenge.

• 60 different playable ships to choose from: You begin your adventure by selecting a humble starter ship, making strategical choices between nautical speed, steering, loading times, and cargo capacity. As you progress in your lucrative career, you can choose to upgrade your beginner ship or buy a brand new one. Each one comes with distinct aesthetics and functionality, but you can always tailor them to your playstyle with a few well-placed upgrades.

• Choose from 60 crew mates: Each map provides a new opportunity to expand your crew. Choose wisely, as each crew member comes with their own unique advantage and disadvantage! Whom you hire onto your ship could help or hinder your strategy.

• 15 unique pets to adopt: From cats and dogs to parrots and rare sea creatures, your favourite ship mascot is surely hiding among them. Discover them all as they help you on your journey to become the most successful rumrunner in America.

• 10 Special Abilities: Be tactical and employ them at the right moment to avoid being caught by Coast Guard or the raging Mafia. Some of which include:

>> Tangle Net Launcher: The Coast Guard are passionate about dismantling your empire. Slow them down by casting out your net and making a quick get away.

>> Alcohol Super Charger: Sometimes there’s a need for speed. Use some of your smuggled alcohol to fuel the engine and leave your pursuers in your wake.

>> Divine Favour: Your prayers have been answered. The next time you get caught, Divine Favour lets you hide all illegal cargo during an inspection.

• Weather Phenomena: Navigate your way around whirlpools, storms, and water currents as you learn to use them to your advantage.

• Logbook Management: Monitor your Seasonal smuggling operations by tracking your crew, ships, and profits. Make notes of your mistakes and improve year-on-year as you unearth yet-to-be-discovered misadventures.

Are you ready to take on the challenge and build your own smuggling legacy today?

Latest news

• Patch Notes·5 Sept 2024Official

  Patch 1.0.3 is here!

  Ahoy, Bootleggers! Since our last update, the team have been hard at work adding some important quality-of-life features to Bootleg Steamer. What's new? Remappable keybinds In patch 1.0.2, we added a variety of new, pre-set keybinds to help improve the gameplay experience, such as hotkeys for opening the map or interacting with locations. Now, you are able to freely customise these keybinds to suit your preferences. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44662604/7dc8e8c8b2cdcd0fac173f6c8f101896c6dc0e03.png Multiple Customisable Graphics Options We know that performance issues have been an ongoing issue that some players have run into, and we are hopeful that these added options will give players the ability to adjust the game to suit their hardware. All the new graphics options can be seen below. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44662604/10fda30d2cc3b6b121781f1f14c2a547c90dfe01.png We know this fix has taken a while, and we really appreciate your patience while we implemented these new features. For some insight on why it took us a while, we have actually created some tools in this time that we can use to implement these features in our future projects in a much easier way than recreating them individually for each project, as we have been doing so far. The extra time spent making these tools now means we will be able to save time in the future (and ultimately reduces workload for our devs in the long run). Bug Fixes Fixed an issue that caused a shipwreck to spawn out of bounds on the Andros Largo map. Fixed an issue that caused the captain's logbook to not update correctly. Fixed multiple spelling and grammar errors in tooltips and mission text. Thank you to you all for supporting Bootleg Steamer! If you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions, please let us know in our Discord. Good luck on your rum running adventures, Captain.
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• Announcements·27 Jun 2024Official

  Bootleg Steamer is in the Steam Summer Sale!

  We can't believe it's been two months since we launched Bootleg Steamer at WASD in London! To celebrate, Bootleg Steamer is now available in the Steam Summer Sale with a 20% discount - what better way to call in the summer months than rum-running antics, the sea breeze in your sails, and a cargo hold full of delicious moonshine?! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44662604/fa7605969b9c294ec115e1f47471b2be7467b6ae.png Since it's release, we've been listening to your feedback and we are continuing to work on updates for the game. In patch 1.0.1, we released a handful of bug fixes and a list of known issues that players had reported in the first few days since launch. In patch 1.0.2, we were thrilled to release an update addressing some of the major feedback we had been receiving. We added hotkeys to improve the gameplay experience (ESC to bring up the log-book, M to open the map etc), we implemented support for widescreen monitors, and squished a load of bugs that were causing a nuisance. We are currently working on another update (patch 1.0.3) which will aim to resolve performance issues. We don't yet have an estimated release date for this update, but keep an eye on our socials and Discord for any news. Thank you again for all the valuable feedback, and we hope you're enjoying your life of crime and moonshine in Bootleg Steamer. Good luck on your bootlegging adventures, Captain!
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• Patch Notes·13 Jun 2024Official

  Bootleg Steamer Patch 1.0.2

  Ahoy there, Bootleggers! We're pleased to release a new patch for Bootleg Steamer that addresses some of the feedback we've received since the game launched in April. Patch 1.0.2 Notes: We've added hotkeys to improve the gameplay experience. ESC or Q now opens the logbook (pause menu). M or R now brings up the map. E or F now allow you to interact with locations. I now opens a keybind reference sheet. Number keys 1-0 now activate relevant abilities. ESC now also allows you to back out of gameplay menus. The game is now compatible with widescreen monitors. Bug Fixes: Fixed an issue that caused some ability tooltips to be missing. Added a location to sell ore in Ramsey Bend. Added a location to buy ore in St Mary's River. Some jet streams have been tweaked to avoid collisions with static ships or the environment. Fixed an issue that would cause AI boats to cluster on the map and get stuck. Fixed an issue that would allow players using the Teutonic ship to exit the map boundary. Fixed an issue that caused crewmate hire costs to not display. Leonardo DaPinchi's ability now works as intended. Fixed a UI issue that caused factory menus to overlap when playing the game windowed (5:4). Fixed an issue that would cause the wrong current region to be shown in the pause menu. Opening the map or pause menu now also pauses loading, offloading, and factory restocking. Fixed an issue in the logbook that would show ticks next to captain unlock challenges, even if the player has not yet completed the challenge. Thank you for all of your reports and feedback! We know there are still some issues and bugs to squash, and we are working hard to fix these in our next patch. Known Issues: We are aware that players are still experiencing performance issues when trying to play the game. This is a high priority fix for us that we hoped to release in patch 1.0.2, but it's unfortunately taking longer than anticipated to resolve. Please be assured we are working on it and will release a fix as so...
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• Announcements·2 May 2024Official

  Win a $100 Steam gift card by playing Bootleg Steamer!

  Let's put that to the test... We want to see your top scores from Bootleg Steamer. Whoever proves they're the best bootlegger with the biggest profits will win a $100 Steam gift card! How to Enter: Share a screenshot of your best score from Bootleg Steamer either: On the official subreddit with the 'High Score' flair ➡️ https://www.reddit.com/r/BootlegSteamer Or in our Discord, in the #bs-leaderboard channel ➡️ discord.gg/Junkfish You have until May 16th to submit your scores 🍻 Good luck, Bootleggers! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44662604/26f418513f2eec35160c75f04af6c59b02d09d32.jpg
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• Patch Notes·29 Apr 2024Official

  Bootleg Steamer v1.0.1 Hotfix and Known Issues Update

  Hey Bootleggers! We hope you've been enjoying your time as a 1920's rum-runner so far. We've just got back from an incredible weekend at WASD (huge thank you to anyone who stopped by our booth for some bootlegging!) As we wind down from a very hectic week, we've been working on this small update that fixes a few bugs that have popped up in the game. We've also seen your reports, and have compiled a list of known issues that we will be investigating for a future patch. Bug Fixes: ’Cat Lady’ achievement now triggers as intended. ’The Land of Opportunity’ achievement now triggers as intended. ’In the Footsteps’ achievement now triggers as intended. An issue where completing all of Captain Alosio Ferluga’s unlock requirements didn’t unlock him as a playable captain has been fixed. Whirlpools no longer appear on land (we’ve told them to lay off the moonshine) We are also aware of some further bugs and problems that have been reported, and we are currently investigating/working on another patch for these! Known Issues: The ESC key currently does not bring up the pause menu. Party boats sometimes do not allow a party to start, despite the player meeting the requirements. In certain maps, the ship AI sometimes exhibits strange behaviour & groups of boats can cluster together or get stuck. Loading, offloading, and shipwreck progress doesn’t pause when in the map screen. We’ve also seen your reports that the games UI isn’t fully compatible with widescreen monitors. We are investigating this and hope to have a fix asap! We are actively taking note of all feedback and bugs we see you guys share. If you have experienced any bugs yourself that aren’t listed here, please join our Discord and report them in the #bs-bugs channel. If you have any suggestions or feedback, please share them in the #bs-suggestions channel. (That’s BS as in Bootleg Steamer, not… You know… Anyway!) Thank you for supporting Bootleg Steamer. We hope you’ve been finding fun and success with your bootlegging ...
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