The plot sees players in the role of a navy captain sent undercover in the Caribbean to retrieve an artifact known as "The Key of Dreams" from notorious pirate Blackbeard.[5] The story mode takes place over 10 levels. Players directly control a sailing ship seen from an overhead view to do battle with. Players can recruit various crew members such as navigators and master gunners to upgrade the abilities of their ship in addition to their weapons which include cannons mines and rockets. In addition to the story mode Pirates: The Key of Dreams also features a single player skirmish mode where the player battles the computer in a variety of arenas as well as an offline multiplayer battle mode that supports up to four players. There will be 35 skirmish/multiplayer battle maps in addition to bonus ships not selectable in the story mode.[6]