Rust Buccaneers is a vehicular combat arcade game with a modern-day pirate theme and various tactical elements. The player controls modern-day pirate ships in an open sea environment from a third person view and takes part in shoot’em up type action.
The gameplay consists of raiding cargo and passenger ships and battling against patrol boats, which raises the player’s infamy. In addition to infamy, the player can also collect loot from the destroyed ships, which can be exchanged into money and used to buy various items and upgrades. The player can also collect short term power-ups from the destroyed patrol boats.
The game has a single player campaign of and an arcade style quick game mode. Multiplayer modes include co-op and one-on-one modes. At this point the multiplayer modes can be played only locally.
The aim is to create a fast-paced arcade-like game with a high replay value.