In the games, the player takes up the role of a captain (also called commodore in some translations) and manages a seagoing fleet to participate in trades, privateering, treasure hunting, exploration, and plain piracy. Even though the series is largely open-ended, there is still a loose plot which requires the player to follow certain paths, and deviating from these paths may stall the progress of the story.

The two protagonists are as follows: * Miranda Verte: Genoese adventurer who mistakenly thought the treasure hunter, Pietro Conti, had asked for her hand in marriage, and sets off to find him. Her quest eventually leads to a plot relating to an ancient civilisation in South America, which were touched on by Pietro's previous adventure.

* Salvador Reis: Pirate and adopted son of Hayreddin Reis (aka Khayr ad-Din). His adventure involves rising to fame as one of the Algerian pirates, compete for domination with enemy pirate clans and also struggle for power within his own clan.