Tales of Pirates is a 3D Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game developed by the Chinese company MOLI. Tales of Pirates is published by IGG (Internet Gaming Gate), who have also published three other games, Voyage Century Online, WonderLand Online and Myth War Online. Several versions of the game are available for specific countries or regions such as an older version Pirate King Online.

Once an account is created, players are able to log in to a server and choose a character to begin the game. All characters start at level 1 and initially level up through very simple introductory quests designed to teach the player about the game. These quests take a few minutes to complete and will give a new player an idea of how to move, control their character and other simple concepts. At level 10 a character can choose a specific first class related to the character they chose. A "Lance" character can become an Explorer, Hunter or Swordsman. A "Carsise" character can become a Swordsman. A "Phyllis" character can become a Hunter, Herbalist, or Explorer. An "Ami" character can become an Herbalist or Explorer. Starting at level 15, a player may purchase a ship with which they may sail on the water. Certain elements of the game can only be accessed in this way.

The game is based on the adventures of Lance, a human raised by demons, Phyllis, a girl with a shortened lifespan (which does not affect gameplay), Ami, a perpetually-young little girl, and Carsise, a half-demon. The world they live in is made up of multiple continents and islands in which they travel by foot or by ship, killing monsters and other obstacles in their way with a wide variety of weapons. The largest cities are all ports, although their climates are quite different, ranging from Shaitan`s deserts to Icicle`s frozen plains. It is in these cities in which newer characters slowly build up their skills and fighting prowess before adventuring into the unknown. Each fighting class does all of its class advancements in their corresponding city, e.g swordsmen change classes in Argent, hunters in Icicle, herbalists in Shaitan, etc.

Tales of Pirates is free to play, but some players may choose to further customize their characters appearance or enhance them by purchasing point cards via several methods of payment, which allow players to buy special items. Updates are added on a regular basis and there are special promotions at the end of every month.

The game also contains three dungeon-like areas called mazes. The three mazes open in rotations of 3 hours each, and each maze has its own ranged level requirements. The mazes are also one of the few PvP areas in the game, enabling players to fight not only the monsters in the maze, but each other as well.