Bones of the Caribbean is a small format, competitive game for 2-5 players in which you play as pirates vying for the most reputation by raiding islands, burying treasure, stealing plunder, navigating storms, and attacking rivals. The ultimate scourge takes the prize of the seas. The game uses "take that" and press-your-luck mechanisms. You roll to take actions, but pressing your luck might cause you to get scurvy. Every result allows you to interact with another player in some fashion, whether you're digging up a rival's treasure, attacking their ship or island, plundering the sea, causing storms to damage other ships, or creating a mutiny on someone's ship. Along the way, you'll score points for building ships, hiring a crew, taking plunder, burying treasure, and winning combat.