The idea of the game is to collect 20 points of treasure in the Safety Zone or in the space marked Docks of the home port.
A player collects treasure by sailing from home port to visit Treasure Island or another port or by attacking an opponent's ship. The draw of a chance card may give treasure or crew. Crew may add fighting value or sailing strength or both, to a player’s ship. On attacking an opponent’s ship, treasure or crew are taken by the player with the most fighting value. Fighting value is therefore important for defence as well as attack.

This is a classic game from Waddington's, with various editions being produced over the years. This earlier edition is designed for up to six players, whereas later editions were for up to 4 players.

The ships in this edition are also simpler in design, whereas later editions (and the earlier 1st edition), included masts and sails in the design. A real collector's item.