In Port Royale 3‎,‎ players will embark upon an epic adventure through the Caribbean during the turbulent 17th century where the naval powers of Spain‎,‎ England‎,‎ France and the Netherlands all fight for supremacy in the colonies‎.‎ Players take on the role of a young captain trying to build his fortune and reputation in the new world colonies‎.‎ The campaign consists of two different paths for the young protagonist to follow‎:‎ adventurer and trader‎.‎

Following the path of the adventurer will lead the player on a naval conquest where they must gain notoriety through raids‎,‎ piracy‎,‎ bounty hunting‎,‎ plundering and conquering cities as they strive to build their new Caribbean empire‎.‎ The route of the trader sees the player using their economic know‎-how to become the most powerful trading tycoon in the New World by setting up trade routes‎,‎ building production facilities and developing cites‎.‎

In free‎-play mode‎,‎ the player crafts a combination of the two paths‎,‎ creating a unique and challenging scenario on the path to increase wealth and power‎.‎In addition to the single‎-player campaign‎,‎ there are robust multiplayer modes where players can go head‎-to‎-head using commercial‎,‎ economic and conquest simulations to allow for fast‎-paced gameplay‎.‎