Sail Away 64

Can you sail a boat in realistic wond conditions? Now you can find out in Sail Away 64, a homebrew game for the Nintendo 64 by Kunstbanause, released on 19 October 2026.

You can get the ROM from its download page by using the password realwindwaker. You can also check out the itchio page.

About Sail Away 64

If you’ve played Zelda:Wind Waker, you already have a kind of idea of what to expect with Sail Away 64 except that this time you can’t change the wind at will. You play as the skipper of a boat in a small archipelao, and you have to explore and perform tasks. It’s a very open-ended game, you can explore and sail around as you please but there are some objectives to keep you centered.

The main draw is that your ship is completely motorless, so you have to use the wind to your full advantage. You can control the ship by steering the rudder (of course), but also by trimming the sail ie tightening/pulling it in. When you pull it tight, you force the sail to catch the wind if you are sailing perpendicular to its flow; otherwise you should just let it loose. If you try to sail against the wind, your ship will just stall so you’ll have to zigzag diagonally to make your way against the wind.

There are several hazards along the way like a maelstrom, storms and of course crashing into the islands themselves. There are also buoys that boost you, ramps that you can jump from, and wind tunnels to help you along the way. Discovering new parts of the game unlocks new skills.

The main repeatable quest is to pick up a stray worker or cargo box and return them to port. There’s no real reward other than getting you moving along. And that’s about it, the game just repeats forever and you can explore as much as you like.

Review and conclusion

Sail Away 64 is a great ‘cozy’-style game. You can take your time pursuing objectives, and if you capsize in a storm or get sucked into a maelstrom you just start where you left off. There’s not much of a challenge unless you really want to go for a full speed run of all the abilities.

The sailing controls really make you think about how you position yourself. You need to get a handle of pulling the sail in and your angle of travel in order to make it around efficiently. I think it’s mostly realistic, except that sailing against the wind keeps you still where in reality it would push you back slightly.

There are several unlocks that I couldn’t find and a mysterious atoll that I couldn’t get into. There’s a ramp nearby, maybe that has something to do with it, but the angle is off.

The graphics are wonderful, it runs well once you disable a lot of the effects, and the draw distance shows far away landmarks very well. The water is also one of the best I’ve seen in a homebrew game.

Definitely give Sail Away 64 a try, just remember to have patience and give it the time it deserves.