Ahoy me hearties

I have never had any talent for video or computer games where you fight with fists or swords or things but I think I can make it as pirate. I found the game, Puzzle Pirates, through a credit in the back of a romance novel. Yes, I am one of those odd people who actually reads the author's notes at the end of the book. So the whole game is set in this 18th century pirate island world. Everyone has a pirate name(I am Brazen Becky) and there are piratey things to do like brawling and bilging and sailing, except all of the activities are puzzles. Brawling is like the popcap game dynomite. Bilging is like Bejeweled. Drinking is like a mah Johng game I have. I'm not brilliant at them but I am definitely holding my own.
So from each "mission" like bilging or sailing, I earn pieces of eight. I have already bought a table and am planning to paint my shack soon. Some people buy clothes or buy businesses with their money.
This brings me to the educational part of the game. The economy in the game is real. Players own all the ships and businesses. Each island has natural resources and players trade them to other islands where they are turned into consumer goods, bought by the players. Each game is a critical thinking game, emphasizing spacial relations and patterns. Now my girls spend as much time socializing as playing the puzzles but one of the rules of the game is you must stay in pirate persona so it is pretty safe. The game even has a filter that piratizes any bad language.
So anyway, I have been spending a couple hours a day playing this game. It is so easy to have the time pass while you are playing. Arrrgh! I love the fresh sea air!