How to play

Fly it. Bank it. Outlast them.

Everything a new captain needs: the controls, how a match runs, where Renown comes from, and how to still be flying when the storm closes. Five minutes here saves you a lot of sinking.

Controls

Two thumbs. Your guns do the shooting.

Built for landscape iPhone and iPad. There's no fire button to mash: Sky Armada Royale is about where you put your ship.

LEFT THUMB

Steer

Touch and drag anywhere on the left side of the screen. Let go to slow down.

DRIFT

Slide and charge

Hold DRIFT and your stern swings out. A long slide charges your storm vanes; let go to BOOST.

AUTO

Broadsides fire themselves

Your cannons are on your sides. Turn a side toward an enemy and it fires on its own.

READ

Lanes show every shot

Before any volley lands, its lane is drawn on the sea: green for yours, red for theirs. Slide out of the red.

The match

About four minutes, start to finish.

Until the Final Squall, getting sunk isn't the end: you relaunch a few seconds later. What you lose is whatever Renown you were carrying.

  1. Gather

    Eight captains launch. Grab crates, sink raiders, hold relays and chase the treasure balloon for Renown.

  2. The first Reckoning

    The two captains with the least banked Renown are cast out. Eight become six.

  3. Dusk

    The light turns. The Dusk Herald starts talking, and she isn't on your side.

  4. Nightfall

    Duskbound raiders hunt everyone. Sinking one is worth Renown and patches your hull.

  5. The second Reckoning

    Only the top three by banked Renown go on.

  6. The Final Squall

    Three captains, a shrinking storm wall, no relaunches. Last ship afloat wins.

Night falls over the Final Squall.
The Final Squall: three captains left, nowhere to hide.

Renown

Renown decides who survives.

New Renown shows as CARRYING on your panel, in orange. It doesn't count yet.

SourceRenownNotes
Glowing crate+5Also upgrades Guns, Reload, Speed or Hull for this match (up to 9 levels each).
Raider+15 to +20Raiders patrol everywhere and shoot back.
Rival captain+40Plus everything they were carrying, which spills as a chest anyone can grab.
Dark relayPays while you hold itStay inside the violet ring. It pays whoever is inside, so expect company.
Treasure balloon+80Plus three upgrades. It's fast: boost to catch it.
Duskbound raider+30Night only. Each one also patches 25 hull.
EventsVariesSupply drops, the galleon boss, Gold Rain, Port Rush and more. See Events.

Banking

Bank it, or lose it.

  • Only banked Renown counts at a Reckoning. Carried Renown is just a promise.
  • Fly into a lit bank spot's cyan ring and stay for a second. Every arena has five, spread far apart, from big harbors to lantern islets.
  • Follow the cyan arrow. It appears when you're carrying a lot, or when a Reckoning is close.
  • Sink, and it spills. Everything you carry drops as a chest. Rivals know this, and they'll hunt a fat captain on the way home.
  • The storm closes ports. Late in the match the far ports go dark, so the last runs home get crowded.
A fight over a lit bank spot.
Every bank spot becomes a battlefield near a Reckoning.

The Reckoning

Stay above the red line.

8 → 6

The first Reckoning

At 1:50 the two lowest banked captains are cast out. A red line on the standings shows the cut.

6 → 3

The second Reckoning

At 3:20 only the top three go on. Banking late is a gamble; banking early is a target on your back.

STORM WALL

Stay inside

The storm wall closes in all match long. Outside it, your hull burns.

LAST SHIP

The Final Squall

No relaunches, no banking, one ring of storm. Win, and the match goes into your Top 10.

Combat

Drift into position. Fire from the side.

Broadsides and explosions around the galleon boss.
  • Drift to charge. A long slide charges your storm vanes through three tiers. Let go for a burst of speed.
  • Drift Shot. Fire a broadside while drifting and it rakes: more shells, more Renown, a bigger callout.
  • Turning fans your shot. Swing your ship while a volley charges and the lane flares into a cone.
  • Watch for the red ring. When a rival's volley is winding up on you, a red dashed ring tightens around your ship.
  • Hull upgrades last one match. Everyone starts equal; crates decide who's strongest by the end.

Duos

Two captains, one crew.

  • Four crews of two. Your crewmate is an ally: no friendly fire, rams included. You start side by side.
  • Queue with a friend or a stranger. Bring a party of two, or get paired with another solo captain. Bots fill empty seats.
  • The Reckonings cut whole crews by banked Renown together: four crews, then three, then two.
  • Pull your crewmate up. In the Final Squall a sunk ship goes down for 10 seconds. Stay near the wreck to bring it back at 40% hull.

Progress

Every match counts.

Offline and online each keep their own rank. Nothing you can buy makes your ship stronger.

Squall Rank 1–50

Every match pays XP. Every rank unlocks something: hulls, paints, emblems, trails, titles.

Marks and the Locker

Matches pay Marks. Spend them in the Locker on cosmetics. Marks are earned, never sold.

Challenges

Three daily and three weekly challenges, like "Catch the treasure balloon" or "Win without sinking".

Achievements and titles

Pull off something rare and wear it: "Untouchable", "Bank Heist" and more.

Hull mastery

Fly a class long enough and it rewards you with a mastery paint and look.

Ranked leagues

Online solo matches move your Storm Points: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Storm.

Captain's tips

Things veterans know.

  1. Bank before you're greedy. The captain carrying 200 is the one everyone is chasing.
  2. Never sit in a red lane. One slide sideways beats any amount of hull.
  3. Show them your side. Your guns fire out of the hull, so fly alongside, not nose-first.
  4. Drift into fights. A Drift Shot rakes harder, and the boost gets you out again.
  5. Read the chip. The event chip under your panel always says what to do right now.
  6. Night is a payday. Duskbound raiders hurt, but each one patches your hull and pays well.