Skull & Bones is a tactical action game set in an open world environment and played from a third-person perspective. Players take control of a customizable pirate captain, and may choose to sail the Indian Ocean by themselves and set off on a single-player campaign, or accumulate up to five other players to ally or engage in combat with in Disputed Waters. Wind positioning can be assessed to gain an advantage in battle. Players may collect additional ships throughout the game, such as sloops-of-war, frigates and brigantines, whose weapons include mortars, broadside cannons, and rockets. Ships can be charged into with brute force and boarded.

It is the Golden Age of Piracy. Renegade captains command the most powerful weapons on Earth: warships. In Skull & Bones, you are an insatiable, upstart pirate captain who has refused the king’s pardon. Having nothing to lose, you sailed from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, an exotic and untamed frontier full of lavish riches.

However, these rich and idyllic waters are also a battleground where far-reaching colonial empires, powerful trading corporations, and ruthless pirate gangs are fiercely competing for their share of these valuable treasures.