In reviewv1.0.0

Tradewind

A sea that trades while you work.

Tradewind is an idle game on a sea chart that spreads across your Stream Deck. Every key is a window onto one sea: ports on islands, open water between them, and ships sailing from key to key across the gaps. You open trade routes, grow your ports from hamlets into capitals, find new ones in the fog, and in time sail on to a new sea. It goes on trading while the computer is off.

One price, the whole game. No ads, no purchases, no network.

€2.49

Coming to Elgato Marketplace

The listing is on its way, and this button turns into a link the moment Elgato publishes it.

Or try Tradewind Lite, free ↓

The sea at its real speed, while a day's light passes over it

Three things to do

Open a route, upgrade a port, sail on to a new sea. That is the whole game, and it lasts for months.

Tap a port. Its ledger: what it makes, what it wants, what it earns, and one button to grow it. — Tap a portIts ledger: what it makes, what it wants, what it earns, and one button to grow it.

Tap Route, then a port. Gold rings mark where a route pays double: the port there wants what this one makes. — Tap Route, then a portGold rings mark where a route pays double: the port there wants what this one makes.

And it trades. Ships carry each port's goods to the other, all the time, and gold comes ashore with every one. — And it tradesShips carry each port's goods to the other, all the time, and gold comes ashore with every one.

From a hamlet to a capital

Tap Upgrade for a level, hold it for more. A port is rebuilt as it grows, and every stage brings a berth for one more route: a hamlet becomes a village with a warehouse and boats at the pier, then a town, a harbour city with its own lighthouse, and a capital with a domed hall.

Village, level 10: a second berth — Villagelevel 10: a second berth

Town, level 25: a third — Townlevel 25: a third

Harbour city, level 45: a lighthouse — Harbour citylevel 45: a lighthouse

Capital, level 70: twice the goods — Capitallevel 70: twice the goods

The sea keeps your own time of day

The chart is drawn in the light of the hour it is where you are. Morning turns to noon, the golden hour warms the sand, and at night lamps are lit in the windows, the ships carry lanterns, and the lighthouse beam sweeps across the keys. Nothing is fetched for this: it reads your clock.

Fog to lift, and a sea that waits for you

The fog. Only two ports are in sight at first. The fog gives up the rest in its own time, from within the hour to a few days, or sooner for gold. — The fogOnly two ports are in sight at first. The fog gives up the rest in its own time, from within the hour to a few days, or sooner for gold.

Sail in. When it has lifted, a tap sails in, and a new port with new goods comes out of the cloud. — Sail inWhen it has lifted, a tap sails in, and a new port with new goods comes out of the cloud.

The captain's log. The ships trade on while the computer is off, for up to three days. Coming back, the log says what happened. — The captain's logThe ships trade on while the computer is off, for up to three days. Coming back, the log says what happened.

Then sail on to a new sea

Once every port is found, expeditions sail beyond the chart. Seven of them bring home the chart of the next sea, with its own ports, goods and colours, and in every new sea everything earns double. Each sea takes two or three weeks.

Spice Reach: sugar, pepper, tea, silk and cocoa — Spice Reachsugar, pepper, tea, silk and cocoa

North Ice: furs, lamp oil, iron, salt and amber — North Icefurs, lamp oil, iron, salt and amber

Pearl Banks: pearls, coral, indigo, sponges and shells — Pearl Bankspearls, coral, indigo, sponges and shells

The rest of it

Wants: Every port makes one thing and wants another. A route that brings it pays double, and the chart shows it in gold.
Berths: Each stage of a port brings a berth: one more route. Close a route any time to open another.
A sea with a life: Gulls over the busiest harbour, a whale now and then, bell buoys, seals on the sandbar, an old wreck. No two keys of open water are alike.
Messages in bottles: Now and then one drifts in. Tap it for its gold; let it go and nothing is lost.
One useful hint: The Infobar and the treasury always name the one most useful thing to do next.
The Tradewind key: For any page: a ship sailing round an island, and your gold. A tap opens the whole sea, and the menu brings you back.
Calm: One switch stops the gulls and the sparkle, and the ships move more gently.
Sound: A soft coin as a ship ties up, the ship's bell when a port grows, wind when the fog lifts. All of it can be turned off.

Two editions

Tradewind Lite is free and stays free. It has Home Waters with three of its ports, which is enough to find out whether a sea on your keys suits you. Tradewind is the whole game. A Lite sea is not carried over.

	Tradewind Lite · free	Tradewind
Ports	Saltmere, Brightwater, Kestrel	All five of every sea
Routes, upgrades, the fog	Yes	Yes
Expeditions and new seas	No	Spice Reach, North Ice, Pearl Banks and on
Trades while the computer is off	Yes, up to three days	Yes, up to three days
Profiles for every Stream Deck	Yes	Yes

On every Stream Deck

Put the Tradewind key on any page and tap it, or choose one of the Tradewind profiles, made for the Neo, MK.2, Mini, Plus and XL. The ports keep their places on the chart whatever the deck; on a bigger one there is simply more sea between them. The last key is always the harbour office, with the treasury and the menu.

The same sea on a Stream Deck XL: five ports spread across thirty-two keys of open water

On a Neo, the Infobar keeps the log

At sea. The treasury, what the sea earns a minute, and the next thing worth doing. — At seaThe treasury, what the sea earns a minute, and the next thing worth doing.

Opening a route. What to tap, and what pays double. — Opening a routeWhat to tap, and what pays double.

Requirements

Stream Deck app: 7.6 or newer
Platforms: macOS 12+ and Windows 10+
Devices: Any Stream Deck with six keys or more (Lite: four); best with eight. The Infobar action needs a Stream Deck Neo
Internet: Never. It does not use the network.
Permissions: None

What it doesn't do

No ads, no gems, no timers to buy off, no purchases of any kind. No account, no network, no analytics. The sea is kept on your computer and nowhere else.

Version

v1.0.0

First release. One sea chart across all your keys, with ships sailing from key to key. Trade routes with double pay where a port gets what it wants; five ports a sea that grow from hamlets into capitals; ports in the fog; the light of your real time of day; the captain's log after time away; expeditions and new seas. The Tradewind key for any page, profiles for every Stream Deck, and the Infobar on a Neo.