The Ancient Art of War at Sea

Last updated: January 23, 2025

Overview

The Ancient Art of War at Sea is a real-time naval strategy game released in 1987 by Brøderbund Software, developed by Dave Murry and Barry Murry at Evryware, Inc.¹ As the sequel to the groundbreaking 1984 title The Ancient Art of War, this nautical follow-up translates the successful formula of tactical combat into the age of sail, allowing players to command fleets of frigates, ships-of-the-line, and flagships in battles spanning from the Spanish Armada to Trafalgar.² The game represented a significant evolution in computer wargaming, replacing the turn-based mechanics that dominated the genre with real-time combat that the developers felt was more authentic to actual warfare.³

The game challenges players to face off against five of history’s greatest naval commanders, each employing unique strategies based on their historical tactics.⁴ Players can engage in eleven pre-arranged campaigns and scenarios covering both historical engagements and imaginative “what if” situations.⁵ The game’s scope ranges from Caribbean pirate encounters to the decisive Battle of Trafalgar, offering a comprehensive education in naval warfare of the sailing era.⁶

What set The Ancient Art of War at Sea apart from contemporary strategy games was its powerful game editor, allowing players to create their own naval battles, design custom continents and oceans, and determine every detail from fleet composition to the dangers of the waters.⁷ This feature meant that, as the game’s marketing proclaimed, “You can play thousands of times… yet never play the same game twice.”⁸ The title went on to sell more than 100,000 copies and won two CODiE Awards in 1988 for Best Packaging and Best Action/Strategy Program.⁹

Game Info

Developer: Evryware, Inc.¹ Designer: Dave Murry, Barry Murry¹ Publisher: Brøderbund Software¹ Engine: Custom Platforms: MS-DOS, Apple II, Macintosh, PC-98² Release Year: 1987 Series: The Ancient Art of War Protagonist: Fleet Commander (Player) Sierra Lineage: Affiliated (Evryware later worked with Sierra)

Story Summary

The Ancient Art of War at Sea is set during the era when naval supremacy determined the fate of nations. As the game’s historical framing explains, “By the mid-19th Century, no nation could hope to command its own destiny unless it could command the seas as well.”⁸ Players take command of a fleet during this pivotal period of naval history, facing opponents whose strategies are based on actual historical commanders and their documented tactical approaches.¹⁰

The game does not feature a traditional narrative storyline but instead presents a series of tactical scenarios drawn from real historical conflicts. These range from the attempted invasion of England by the Spanish Armada in 1588 to Lord Nelson’s triumph at Trafalgar in 1805.⁵ The historical scenarios are supplemented by fictional engagements that test players’ mastery of naval warfare principles in imagined situations.⁵

Players face five distinct AI opponents, each representing a famous naval commander with their own characteristic approach to combat. These include such legendary figures as Blackbeard, John Paul Jones, and Lord Admiral Nelson, with battle locations spanning the Caribbean, the Straits of Juan de Fuca, and the waters off the coast of Spain.¹¹ The core objective across all scenarios remains consistent: capture all enemy flagships while protecting your own command vessels from seizure.²

The thematic framework draws inspiration from the same strategic principles that informed the original game—the teachings of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War—but applies them to the unique challenges of naval combat, where wind, weather, and the positioning of ships create a three-dimensional chess match of sail and cannon.³

Gameplay

Interface and Controls

The Ancient Art of War at Sea presents a top-down perspective on naval combat, functioning as a semi real-time strategy game.² Players can command their entire fleet from a strategic overview or zoom in to give orders to individual ships.⁴ The interface supports both keyboard and joystick input on the IBM PC version, with mouse control available on certain platforms.⁵

The game operates on a real-time clock, a revolutionary approach for wargames of the era. As co-designer Barry Murry explained, “You don’t take turns when fighting real battles so we replaced it with real time play.”³ This design philosophy created a more immersive and demanding experience than the turn-based strategy games that dominated the market at the time.³

Structure and Progression

The game offers eleven pre-designed scenarios that players can tackle in any order, plus the ability to create unlimited custom scenarios through the built-in editor.⁴ The scenarios span multiple difficulty levels and historical periods:

• Five Imaginary Scenarios: Fictional engagements designed to test specific tactical skills⁵
• Four Historical Scenarios: Recreations of actual naval battles from 1588 to 1805⁵
• Two “What If” Scenarios: Alternate history situations exploring how battles might have unfolded differently⁵

Players select their opponent from among the five historical commanders, each presenting a different challenge level and tactical approach. Getting into the game is straightforward—“a simple affair of choosing your opponent and battlefield”—allowing players to quickly begin commanding their fleets.¹¹

Ship Types and Combat

The game features three distinct ship classes, each with specific capabilities:²

Ship Type	Guns	Crew	Special Features
44-gun Frigate	44	250	Fast, maneuverable scout vessel
74-gun Ship-of-the-Line	74 (+10 carronades)	600+	Main battle ship
130-gun Flagship	130 (+22 carronades)	875	Command vessel, primary objective

Combat involves multiple layers of engagement. Players can aim and fire cannon at enemy vessels, maneuver to take advantage of wind conditions, and execute grappling maneuvers to initiate hand-to-hand combat between crews.⁴ Ships can be organized into squadrons of up to three vessels for coordinated attacks.¹²

Puzzles and Mechanics

Rather than traditional puzzles, the game challenges players with tactical problems related to naval warfare. Wind mechanics play a crucial role—ships cannot sail directly into the wind and must tack to make progress against it.¹² Merchant ships in certain scenarios move at 75% the speed of an undamaged frigate, creating opportunities for interception and commerce raiding.¹²

The game includes a practice mode that allows players to experiment with ship positioning and tactics before committing to battle.¹² Combat between ships can proceed to boarding actions, though some players have noted that “the computer cheats start to finish while grappling,” suggesting the hand-to-hand combat system may be unbalanced.¹²

A critical strategic element is that players cannot build new ships during a scenario—they must capture enemy vessels through boarding actions to replenish their fleet.² This creates a premium on preservation of existing forces while simultaneously requiring aggressive action to seize enemy ships.

Reception

Contemporary Reviews

The Ancient Art of War at Sea received strong praise from gaming publications upon release. Computer Gaming World reviewed the game in their November 1987 issue, noting that it “offers a powerful editing system and an enjoyable, playable game.”¹³ The publication later gave the game 3 out of 5 stars in their 1990 retrospective survey, describing it as playing “well as a game, but not as a serious study” of naval warfare.⁹

Dragon magazine’s reviewers Patricia and Kirk Lesser were particularly enthusiastic, awarding the game 5 out of 5 stars in their January 1988 review and declaring it a “must have” title for strategy game enthusiasts.⁹ COMPUTE! magazine’s Keith Ferrell provided an extensive review in their January 1988 issue, calling it “the kind of game that won’t be gathering many barnacles on my shelf. I’ll be sailing this one for some time to come.”⁵

The technology columnist Jerry Pournelle, writing in BYTE magazine, described the Ancient Art of War series as “about the best strategic computer war game they’ve encountered,” adding a strong “Highly recommended” endorsement.¹⁴ This praise from a prominent mainstream computing publication helped establish the game’s credibility beyond the dedicated wargaming community.

Awards

The game earned significant industry recognition at the 1988 CODiE Awards, winning in two categories:¹⁵

• Best Packaging (1988)
• Best Action/Strategy Program (1988)

Modern Assessment

The game maintains a positive reputation among retro gaming enthusiasts. Computer Hope describes it as “an excellent game for teaching young and old how sea battles are fought, strategies that naval ship captains used, and historic naval opponents.”⁶

Aggregate Scores:

• MobyGames: 60/100¹
• Abandonware DOS: 4.03/5.00¹⁵
• MyAbandonware: 4.43/5¹¹
• VideoGameGeek: 8.31/10¹⁰
• GameSpot (User): 8.7/10¹⁶
• Glitchwave: 0.5/5.0 (limited reviews)¹⁷

The game is now classified as abandonware and is available for free play through various preservation sites, where it continues to attract players interested in classic strategy gaming.¹¹

Development

Origins

The Murray brothers—Dave and Barry, working at their company Evryware—created The Ancient Art of War at Sea as a sequel to their 1984 breakthrough hit The Ancient Art of War.³ Their original game had pioneered real-time strategy mechanics based on the teachings of Sun Tzu, and the naval sequel aimed to apply the same philosophy to a different domain of warfare.³

The development philosophy remained consistent with the original: “Our goal was to make a wargame that was easy to use, offered realistic action, detailed graphics and would present the player with a variety of strategic and tactical challenges,” Dave Murry explained.³ The brothers conducted extensive historical research to ensure the naval scenarios reflected actual tactics and ship capabilities of the era.⁵

The Murrays had previously worked with Sierra On-Line but moved to Brøderbund for the Ancient Art of War series after receiving a more attractive royalty offer.¹⁸ As Sierra founder Ken Williams later explained, “One of my ‘rules’ was to never be the ‘high bidder’ on anything,” which led to the loss of the talented design team to a competitor.¹⁸

Production

Development took place with the authors described as “talented historians as well as game designers,” bringing both scholarly rigor and gaming expertise to the project.⁵ The game engine remained “virtually unchanged from previous title,” but the scenarios were “more detailed” and featured “larger maps” to accommodate naval warfare’s expansive theater of operations.¹¹

The game was designed for single-player experience, pitting the human commander against AI opponents programmed to reflect the historical tactics of famous admirals.¹⁰ Each AI opponent required careful balancing to provide distinct challenges while remaining true to their historical counterparts’ documented strategies.

Development Credits:¹

• Designers: Dave Murry, Barry Murry
• Publisher: Brøderbund Software, Inc.

The development team also included DeeDee Murry, who contributed to the Murray brothers’ game designs.¹⁴ The family-based development team would later go on to create the Manhunter adventure game series for Sierra.¹⁴

Technical Achievements

The Ancient Art of War at Sea represented significant technical achievement for its era. The DOS version supported CGA graphics with a limited palette of four colors (black, white, pink, and baby blue), though a rare Tandy 16-color version also exists.¹ The game demonstrated that complex real-time strategy could function on the limited hardware of mid-1980s personal computers.³

The game’s scenario editor was particularly innovative, allowing players to create custom naval battles, design their own continents and oceans, and specify every detail of fleet composition and environmental hazards.⁷ This feature extended the game’s replay value enormously and established a template for user-generated content that would become standard in later strategy games.

Technical Specifications

DOS Version:⁶

• Operating System: DOS 2.0 or higher
• Processor: 286 or higher
• Memory: 256 KB RAM
• Graphics: Color graphics card or EGA graphics card in CGA mode
• Sound: 100% Sound Blaster compatible sound card
• Drives: 5.25” Floppy disk drive
• Controls: Keyboard, Mouse/Joystick optional
• Compatibility Note: Not compatible with MS-DOS 3.2 or PC-DOS 3.2⁵

Apple II Version:⁶

• Hardware: Apple IIe/IIc/IIgs
• Memory: 128 KB RAM
• Media: 5.25” Floppy Disk

Macintosh Version:¹⁹

• Hardware: Macintosh 512E, Macintosh Plus, or Macintosh SE
• Memory: 512K RAM
• Media: 800K Disk
• Input: Mouse required

Version History

Version	Date	Platform	Notes
1.0	1987	Apple II, DOS	Initial release1
1.0	1987	Macintosh	Mac port2
1.0	1988	PC-98	Japanese release1

The game was released under the Japanese title アート・オブ・ウォー 海戦版 (Art of War Kaisenban).²⁰

Technical Issues

The DOS version exhibited compatibility problems with MS-DOS 3.2 and PC-DOS 3.2, requiring users to run earlier operating system versions.⁵ Modern players can run the game through DOSBox emulation, which is fully supported as of DOSBox version 0.60.¹¹

Some players have noted apparent AI imbalances in the grappling/boarding combat system, with one experienced player advising: “Don’t bother grappling unless can find a trick to win it. I am fairly sure the computer cheats start to finish while grappling.”¹²

Easter Eggs and Trivia

• Box Art: The game’s box features “The United States Frigate President Engaging the British Squadron” (1815), a painting by Fitz Henry Lane depicting a famous naval engagement.⁹
• Packaging Controversy: The original release of the first Ancient Art of War game faced an embarrassing recall when Brøderbund discovered that decorative Chinese/Japanese writing on ancient vase artwork was “x-rated” when translated. As Ken Williams recalled, “Broderbund had to recall all the copies of the game that had been shipped to retail.”¹⁸
• Sun Tzu Inspiration: The entire Ancient Art of War series draws its name and strategic philosophy from Sun Tzu’s ancient Chinese military treatise, with the developers conducting “a ton of research” to incorporate authentic tactical principles.³
• Trilogy Plans: The Ancient Art of War at Sea was conceived as part of a planned war game trilogy, with the third installment (The Ancient Art of War in the Skies) eventually releasing in 1992.³

Legacy

Sales and Commercial Impact

The Ancient Art of War at Sea achieved commercial success, with the series collectively selling more than 100,000 copies.⁹ This made it one of the more successful strategy games of the late 1980s and helped establish Evryware’s reputation as a leading developer of innovative wargames.³

The game’s dual CODiE Awards in 1988 for Best Packaging and Best Action/Strategy Program demonstrated industry recognition of both its presentation and gameplay quality.¹⁵ The success of the naval sequel confirmed the viability of the Ancient Art of War concept and paved the way for the aerial combat sequel that would follow in 1992.

Series Context

The Ancient Art of War at Sea occupies the middle position in Evryware’s trilogy of real-time strategy games:

1. The Ancient Art of War (1984) – Land-based tactical combat
2. The Ancient Art of War at Sea (1987) – Naval warfare
3. The Ancient Art of War in the Skies (1992) – World War I aerial combat²¹

Each game applied the same fundamental design philosophy—real-time combat, historical opponents, and powerful scenario editors—to different military domains. The naval installment specifically expanded the map scale to accommodate oceanic battlefields and introduced the unique challenges of wind-dependent movement and ship capture mechanics.¹¹

Fan Projects

In 2014, Evryware released The Ancient Art of War 2 as a freeware title, providing a light facelift of the original game “nominally updated for a contemporary gaming context.”²² This updated version was released for Windows, Macintosh, Android, iPhone, and iPad platforms, making the series accessible to modern audiences.²²

Related Publications

• Instruction Manual: Comprehensive guide to game mechanics and controls⁴
• Quick Reference Manual: Condensed gameplay reference card⁴
• Illustrated Guide to Naval Strategy and Tactics: In-depth historical treatise on naval warfare⁴
• The History of War at Sea: Historical companion covering the development of naval combat⁴
• Game Manual (126 pages): Apple version manual archived at Internet Archive²³

The extensive documentation package contributed to the game’s educational value and its CODiE Award for Best Packaging.¹⁵

Critical Perspective

The Ancient Art of War at Sea represents an important milestone in the evolution of real-time strategy gaming. While the original Ancient Art of War is often cited as one of the first RTS games,¹⁴ the naval sequel demonstrated that the formula could successfully translate to different warfare domains. The game’s emphasis on historical authenticity and educational content set it apart from purely entertainment-focused competitors.

The game’s lasting influence can be seen in its design priorities: real-time rather than turn-based play, historical accuracy in unit capabilities and AI tactics, and robust scenario editing tools for user-generated content. These features would become standard expectations in the strategy genre that followed. However, the game’s limitations—particularly its simplified combat mechanics and AI quirks in boarding actions—prevented it from achieving the status of a true naval simulation.¹³

Modern players approaching The Ancient Art of War at Sea will find an accessible introduction to age-of-sail tactics wrapped in period-appropriate graphics and an engaging strategic challenge. While it may not satisfy serious naval history students seeking simulation-level detail, it remains an enjoyable and historically educational experience that achieves the Murry brothers’ stated goal of making wargaming “easy to use” while still presenting “strategic and tactical challenges.”³

Downloads

Download / Preservation

• Internet Archive – MS-DOS Version – Playable in browser
• MyAbandonware – Multiple platform downloads

Manuals & Extras

• Game Manual (Apple Version) – 126-page manual PDF

Series Continuity

The Ancient Art of War at Sea continues the strategic warfare series that began with the land-based original in 1984. The game applies the same real-time tactical principles established in the first game—derived from Sun Tzu’s military philosophy—to the domain of naval warfare. Players familiar with the original will recognize the accessible interface, historical opponent selection, and powerful scenario editor, now adapted for ship-to-ship combat with wind mechanics and boarding actions.

The series would conclude with The Ancient Art of War in the Skies (1992), which brought the formula to World War I aerial combat. The Murry brothers who created all three titles would also develop the Manhunter adventure game series for Sierra, demonstrating their versatility as game designers across multiple genres.

• Previous: 1984 - The Ancient Art of War
• Next: 1992 - The Ancient Art of War in the Skies

References

Footnotes

1. MobyGames – The Ancient Art of War at Sea – developer, publisher, platforms, release dates, ratings, ship types, technical details ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

2. Internet Archive – Ancient Art of War at Sea – gameplay description, objective, ship types, platforms ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

3. Games Domain Interview (Archived) – developer quotes, design philosophy, real-time mechanics, sales data ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²

4. Apple Rescue of Denver – Apple II Version – included materials, game features, scenarios ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

5. Atari Magazines – COMPUTE! Review – Keith Ferrell review, scenarios, historical context, compatibility issues ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²

6. Computer Hope – Game Information – technical specifications, educational value ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

7. GOG Dreamlist – game editor features, scenario creation ↩ ↩²

8. Lutris – Game Overview – marketing quotes, historical context ↩ ↩²

9. Wikipedia – The Ancient Art of War at Sea – reviews, sales, box art, ratings ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

10. VideoGameGeek – ratings, release information, description ↩ ↩² ↩³

11. MyAbandonware – opponents, locations, engine comparison, ratings, DOSBox support ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

12. GameFAQs Forum Post – gameplay mechanics, squadron system, grappling issues ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

13. Computer Gaming World Museum – November 1987 coverage ↩ ↩²

14. Wikipedia – The Ancient Art of War – series information, developer background, BYTE review ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

15. Abandonware DOS – CODiE Awards, ratings ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

16. GameSpot – user rating, release dates ↩

17. Glitchwave – user ratings, genre classification ↩

18. Sierra Gamers Forum – Ken Williams quotes, packaging recall, business history ↩ ↩² ↩³

19. Apple Rescue of Denver – Mac Version – Mac technical specifications ↩

20. MyAbandonware – Play Page – Japanese title, DOSBox configuration ↩

21. IMDB – sequel information, country of origin ↩

22. MobyGames – The Ancient Art of War 2 – 2014 remake details ↩ ↩²

23. Internet Archive – Game Manual – manual page count, technical specifications ↩