Best Boat Simulator Games for PC

Why it's here: Sailwind is the best boat simulator on PC for anyone who wants the sea to feel like a real place. You start in a small sloop among quiet islands, then learn wind, cargo runs and celestial navigation with a quadrant before you dare an ocean crossing. Steam players warn it is slow by design, with food, sleep and long empty passages to manage, and it is still in Early Access. Steam: 88% positive, Very Positive, across about 1,800 reviews. Start here if you want a voyage you plan, not a race you win.

Why it's here: Build the boat yourself, then take it into a storm: Stormworks: Build and Rescue is the pick for players who want to engineer the vessel as well as sail it. You design rescue boats and helicopters block by block, program their logic, then run a coastguard service through rough oceanic weather. Threads on r/pcgaming name it the closest thing PC has to a full ship simulator, provided you can get past the dated graphics. Steam: 90% positive, Very Positive, across about 42,000 reviews. Choose it if the workshop is half the fun.

Why it's here: The most realistic sailing sim on this list, and the closest thing to a lesson on a real yacht. eSail has you raise the mainsail, tack, gybe, reef, winch lines and moor by hand around the Shearwater Islands, with challenges once the basics land. Steam reviewers who came from Sailaway rate its rigging far deeper, though they note the world is a coastal island chain rather than an open ocean. Steam: 92% positive, Very Positive, across about 760 reviews. Pick it if you want to learn how a boat actually sails.

Why it's here: Play Sea of Thieves with a regular crew and nothing else here comes close for shared sailing. Sails, capstan, helm and bilge pump are all crew jobs, so a galleon of four runs on shouted orders and the stories come from the voyage itself. Steam players are split on solo play, where rival crews make the open sea merciless and the quiet stretches feel repetitive. Steam: 88% positive, Very Positive, across about 148,000 reviews. Buy it for a crew of friends, not for sailing alone.

Why it's here: Fishing: North Atlantic is the working-boat sim to own if you want the job, not the hobby. It puts you at the helm of commercial vessels off Nova Scotia, running quotas, gear, crew and routes until you can afford the snow-crab boat. Steam reviewers report bugs that have cost saved progress and controls that fight you, which is why it sits below the sailing picks. Steam: 77% positive, Mostly Positive, across about 1,500 reviews. Choose it for long, methodical seasons at sea.

Why it's here: Come to Fishing: Barents Sea after North Atlantic, not before: it is the older, harsher original, run out of a Norwegian port with 14 ships to work through. It is a business before it is a boat game, with bank loans, fuel, yearly quotas and separate kit for longlines, nets and king crab pots. Steam players name crashes and save problems as the main cost of entry. Steam: 77% positive, Mostly Positive, across about 1,200 reviews. Worth it if the Arctic grounds are the draw.

Why it's here: For a trading career rather than a simulator, Sailing Era is the pick, an age-of-discovery voyage in the spirit of Uncharted Waters. You run a merchant fleet between real historical ports in an economy that rewards knowing which cargo sells where, with piracy as one path among trade, exploration and diplomacy across four protagonists. Steam players praise that depth but call the translation rough and the opening hours slow. Steam: 83% positive, Very Positive, across about 380 reviews. Settle into it for a campaign at sea.

Why it's here: Newcomers should start with Sail Forth, where real wind and sail trim come without homework. Tacking and trimming stay at the centre, wrapped in a bright archipelago to chart, a fleet to build and light skirmishes to break up the voyage. Steam players love the charm and the relaxed pace, and the shared caveat is repetition once the map stops surprising. Steam: 92% positive, Very Positive, across about 600 reviews. Hand it to anyone who wants sailing without a manual.