Quick jobs on a rolling pirate ship

Deck Hands puts a round green parrot to work as the only crew of a leaky pirate ship. Every job is one word and a few seconds long: swab the deck, hoist the sail, bail the bilge, all while the whole ship rolls with the swell. Twelve quick duties, a pace that keeps rising, a goofy kraken every tenth day and ranks from Swabbie to Terror of the Seven Seas.

Play Now

Genre: Microgames
Controls: Touch
Mouse
Devices: Desktop
Tablet
Mobile
Released: 2026

Did you like Deck Hands?

Deck Hands

Deck Hands is set on a leaky pirate ship with a very small crew: one round green parrot does all the work. The ship never stops rocking, so every job leans with the swell, and some of them use it: the cannon's aim sways with the roll and the mop bucket slides from rail to rail. Between duties a wave washes over the screen, and with it comes a small sign for the part of the ship, one big word, a hand showing what to do and a few seconds on the fuse along the top. Do the job and the parrot is delighted. Get it wrong and it ends up soaked, sooty or tied up in its own rope.

There are twelve duties. SWAB! scrubs purple goo off the deck without bumping the sliding bucket. HOIST! climbs the rope wing over wing: tap left, tap right, never the same wing twice. FIRE! sends cannonballs ahead of a drifting raft of barrels, BAIL! flicks bucket after bucket out of the hatch, and DIG! mashes each X on a tiny island for an old boot, a cross crab or the treasure chest. STEER! threads the ship through the gaps in a reef, BALANCE! keeps the parrot upright on the plank, FISH! lets go the moment a fish bites, and UNLOCK! opens the captain's chest one bobbing pin at a time. You tap, hold, drag, swipe, rub, trace and mash, and the first days start with the easiest duties.

A voyage is endless and lasts until all three life rings are gone, one for every duty you fail. The pace creeps up day by day, with a ROUGH SEAS! sign every five days, up to about twice the speed. Every tenth day brings the KRAKEN!: a huge, goofy kraken grabs the ship, and you tap each tentacle to tickle it until it giggles and lets go. Manage it and it is HUZZAH!: the parrot moves up from Swabbie to Deck Hand, Bosun and on to Terror of the Seven Seas, and a lost life ring comes back. The CAPTAIN'S LOG shows the day you reached, your best day, the duties done and your rank. Your best day is saved in your browser, and every duty you have met waits in SHIP'S DUTIES to be practised on its own.

Tips for Deck Hands

Deck Hands mixes rhythm and timing. HOIST! is a steady left, right, left: two taps on the same wing let the rope slip, and so does stopping. BAIL! wants flick after flick, and DIG! quick taps on each X in turn. FIRE!, FISH! and UNLOCK! want one well-timed move each: the cannonball takes a moment to fly, so aim ahead of the raft, and you have two spare balls; let go of FISH! the moment a fish bites; tap UNLOCK! only when the marked pin's notch sits on the gold line. On SWAB! never touch the sliding bucket: scrub the goo above and below its path first.

The ship never stops rolling, and the cannon's aim, the hook, the bucket and the pins all move with it. BALANCE! is won by lasting: short holds and releases keep the parrot upright until the sea calms. The hand under the word shows the move. The first three days bring only BAIL!, DIG!, FIRE! and HOIST!; then the pace creeps up every day, with a ROUGH SEAS! sign every five, until it holds at about twice the start from day 46. Quick taps count for more at speed, so a steady rhythm keeps up. On the KRAKEN! tickle the tentacle that has held on longest first.

Frequently asked questions

Is Deck Hands free to play?

Yes. Deck Hands is free to play in your browser on Kiloo. There is nothing to download, no account to make and nothing to buy. Your best day and the duties you have met are saved in the browser on this device, so they are there when you next set sail.

Can I play Deck Hands on my phone?

Yes, upright or sideways. Every duty is done with one finger: tap, tap fast, tap left and right in turn, hold, drag, swipe, rub or trace, as the hand before each duty shows. On a computer the mouse does the same, Space or Enter presses SET SAIL and BACK ABOARD, P or Esc pauses and M mutes.

How do I get past the KRAKEN! in Deck Hands?

Every tenth day nine tentacles rise one after another and hold on to the ship. Tickle each with three taps until it lets go; leave one too long and the kraken lifts the ship for a closer look, which costs a life ring. Missed taps do no harm. Clear it for HUZZAH!, the next rank when there is one and a life ring back.

How do I practise one duty in Deck Hands?

Open SHIP'S DUTIES with the DUTIES button on the title screen or the CAPTAIN'S LOG. Every duty you have met has a card; tap one to do it again and again, from the first day's pace upwards, with three life rings. Practice never changes your best day. The KRAKEN! joins the list once you have met it, with six tentacles that need two tickles each.