Lost Sands was the 4th limited-time Adventure in Sea of Thieves that placed players at the center of a faction driven conflict over the fate of the Golden Sands Outpost, which had been left abandoned and shrouded in supernatural fog during the event.

Players chose between aiding Merrick in rebuilding the outpost or siding with the Servant of the Flame to keep it in ruin, contributing to a global, community wide score through actions such as delivering supplies, sabotaging shipments, releasing Soulflame Rowboats towards Golden Sands (Reaper) or deploying cursed relics. The game kept track of the number of times players had completed these actions.

Unlike traditional linear events, Lost Sands introduced a branching, player influenced narrative where every contribution directly impacted both the story outcome and the physical game world, with dynamic changes occurring throughout the event as each side gained momentum.

Players could check which side was winning by checking out the Adventure Tab or by physically looking at Golden Sands Outpost.

If the Adventure Tab had an image of Merrick and the fog around the Outpost was thin, then the Hunters were winning.

If the Adventure Tab had an image of both Merrick and the Servant, and the fog was a bit thicker, it’d be even.

If the Adventure Tab had an image of just the Servant, and the fog was thick with glowing Reaper Apparitions, the Reapers were winning.

The consequences of the choices were not revealed until the end results. Most of the player’s actions ended up supporting Merrick’s path, so the adventure resulted in a permanent world update, turning Golden Sands into the first Port in Sea of Thieves. Had the other path won, a different fate would have impacted Golden Sands.

Official Sea of Thieves Annoucement