Your ship of 64, of whom 16 are able-bodied seamen and 48 are paying passangers, leave from a noted port in the Old World to come make a life in the New.
However, something goes wrong. Your ship goes awry in a storm, and your ship is thrown onto a sandbar. You have ten minutes to evacuate the ship and whatever useful gear you can get off.
The 64 stranded people aren't just anyone. They're randomly chosen from a roster of 256 characters at the start of the game -- and they all have interactions with each other. This man might be a true gentleman towards the ladies, but have a seething hate of Jews; this lady might be slovenly, but have skills that others begrudge her for; this man might be a rabid Englishman, and will only talk with those who speak good King's English; another man might be a contract laborer, and drunk (and wreckless) in his newfound 'freedom'.
You have to organize these people, take care of food, clothing, and shelter, and try to find a way home. You don't know if rescue will come in a year or a decade, if indeed it ever will come at all. Deal with droughts, savages, passing pirates, marraige, death, and usurpers, as this motley cross-selection of the population of Europe circa 1700 has to find a way to live together in peace.-- Almafeta, Dec 20 2003 Schiffbruch http://www.fullgames.sk/hra.asp?id=667video game [Spacecoyote, Nov 17 2007] Sid Meier's Pirates! http://en.wikipedia...rates%21_%282004%29video game [Spacecoyote, Nov 17 2007] I work in Quality Assurance, close enough to this for me...-- normzone, Dec 20 2003 Before I checked the category, I thought this was another idea for a reality show...-- DrCurry, Dec 20 2003 tragically afterbaked on the Titanic.-- neilp, Dec 20 2003 DrCurry: Isn't that Survivor?-- Almafeta, Dec 20 2003 There are some similar games out there [links]...this would make great reality TV (Survivor isn't about surviving)-- Spacecoyote, Nov 17 2007 sp: passengers-- Klaatu, Nov 17 2007 theres a civ builder game called Anno 1701 thats basically this....-- rascalraidex, Nov 18 2007 Sims shipwrecked already stole a (similar) idea, albeit no boat, not as many people, and have less scripted and not as many interactions possible... I reckon it's similar-- xxobot, Nov 18 2007 random, halfbakery