Here’s To Assassin’s Creed Origins’ Helpful Boat Guy

Sometimes in Assassin’s Creed Origins, you’ll have to cross a body of water and you won’t have a boat. Fortunately, there’s this guy who really, really wants to let you use his.

Origins tends to sprinkle its beaches and docks with boats your protagonist Bayek can freely use. Sometimes, however, you’ll find yourself out in the middle of nowhere with an objective directly on the far side of a lake. You dutifully start swimming, and more often than not, this will happen:

This dude just sort of pulls up and sits there. If you keep swimming, he’ll slowly follow you. Wherever you go, he goes, too.

The first time I noticed this guy, I got annoyed. I think I was trying to sneak into an enemy base or something, and I couldn’t figure out what he wanted. Buzz off, guy! I’m trying to swim over here.

Then I realised, this is the game being helpful. It noticed that I was out in the water without a boat and thought it’d send one my way. The more times it happened, the surer I became. If you swim out into open water without a boat, Assassin’s Creed Origins will helpfully dispatch this dude to come and offer his boat to you.

When you climb onto the boat and face the guy, a “borrow” prompt pops up. I love this. Borrow. It’s so much kinder and gentler than in a game like Grand Theft Auto. I’m not stealing your boat, I’m borrowing it! I really appreciate it, man. Medjay’s duty and all that. You understand. I swear I’ll give it right back when I’m done.

OK, sometimes things don’t go according to plan. I still appreciate you, Assassin’s Creed guy who shows up to let me borrow (and sometimes crash) his boat. I’m sure you’ll get a new one, and the next time I go swimming in deep waters, you’ll be there for me.