Puzzle Pirates is a massively multiplayer online game developed by Three Rings Design. The player takes the role of a pirate, adventuring on the high seas and pillaging money from roaming enemy ships (human or computer-controlled). The mechanics of Puzzle Pirates are driven by puzzles. For example, to effectively sail a ship, crewmates must play puzzles representing work at the sails for speed, pumping bilge water to remove it from the ship, and carpentry to fix any damage the ship may take.

Puzzle Pirates is open-ended and community-driven. Over time, pirates can join a crew, progress in rank within that crew, buy and run sailing vessels and shoppes, and perhaps even become captain of a crew, royalty within a flag (an alliance of crews), or governor of an island. Islands are governed and shoppes are managed exclusively by players. From time to time, players are also called upon to help expand the game, whether it be new puzzles (developed on Game Gardens), island objects to be used on new oceans (servers), or artwork used for a variety of purposes in-game.

Players are encouraged by Three Rings to use words and phrases such as ''Yarr!'' and ''Ahoy there, matey!'' instead of ''Hi'', etc. and Ocean Masters - the moderators of Puzzle Pirates - use these phrases and more. The tips which appear in the game''s News, which is updated regularly, use terms such as ''Jackanapes''. As of December 2008, there are 4 million pirates registered to the game