In Corsaire, the players take on the role of merchants and privateers - trading in the first half of the game and looting in the second. The cards in the game have a number, one of three suits/colors, and a way to convert resources (e.g. change one red into two blue). In the first half of the game, players are building a pyramid on their side, starting with the base. Whenever a player adds a card to the 2nd level or higher, they can activate that card's trading ability, and then trace that back to the base of the pyramid, activating any cards along the way that they desire. Ultimately the path will trace back to some ship boards in the middle which hold both the cards the players will refill their hands with, as well as a cost to buy the ship board. Once the players' are finished building their pyramid, the looting begins. Players will form 3-card poker type hands on each of the ship boards. They can choose from the cards remaining in their hands or the cards in their pyramid; however, to choose cards from the pyramid, they must "unbuild" the pyramid from the top and can only access uncovered cards. Once the players have both added 3 cards to each board, the boards are evaluated and points are awarded. The player with the most points from the boards acquired during trading and the boards acquired during looting wins.