In Clockwork Islands players take over the role of explorers in a mysterious land with undiscovered riches and dangers. The game uses worker placement to assign crew to various tasks to include: scouting, gathering food, exploring ruins, etc. Players gather clues to determine the location of various runes that are located on the islands. The game includes hundreds of event and clue cards to ensure each game is unique. The objective of the game is to obtain the most Victory Points by collecting various items such as legendary artifacts, ancient cultural items and even gold.