While a great time-killer and game itself, be prepared to kill a LOT of time.
NO, this game isn't about killing evil ghost pirates to get gold and items and weapons to use/sell at the shop, NO its not about exploring different islands that hold many monsters that you must kill with your crew, it's about something... better, in my opinion.
It's about having a fun time with your crew.
This is the run-down here - you start as a peasant, and by being hired by people above you, you make enough money for clothes, for betting, for card games, for dueling, or when you're ready, owning your own ship and hiring your own mates to go pillaging and indulge in battle (which is a puzzle :) against other high-time crews.
Whether you lose or not, everybody had a good time, the peasants are satisfied, you just work yourself way back up, getting better every time, while when you need to, take a break, and go play a few games at the parlor or something, getting money for it, and you repeat this process...
...for a very long time. This whole thing sucks a lot of your time, whether its playing games, or, even more tedious, serving in the army/applying for a crew position; a normal pillage lasts thirty minutes to an hour!
Still, if you have a lot of time to kill, and you want a fun game that you can play with actual people and not by yourself like most MMORPG's, then Puzzle Pirates is for you.
Yarr.