Wow people. I'm almost insulted by the reviews you have on this website. The best age to play this is age 10!?!?!?!??! I wasn't allowed to play M games back when i was 6 and 7, and so i played this. It actually gave me an okay storyline, and it gave me morals too. I NEVER attacked a ship from my own race, even if it had lots of stuff i could use. I never plundered one of my own towns, and i NEVER hit another ship unless I was trying to rank up or had a very specific reason. For the sexual part, i was never staring at the ladies because they don't give very good advice anyways. This game actually is fun with friends too. Some of the best times I ever had playing this game were when I had two other friends at the computer; I would steer the ship, one friend would fire the guns, and one would duel in the sword fight. And as for attacking towns, the strategy was ALWAYS fun. I learned about tactics and strategy's to help destroy my opponents, or, if I didn't have enough troops, distract the enemy troops while my soldiers snuck up to the walls. All I can say is that it's really stupid that people rate this game to be playable anywhere above nine, because by that time we've experienced better games, and so want those. For me, this was one of the best games I ever played, and I still sometimes play it today!