From the Opstelten Speelgoed website:
The story starts hundreds of years ago. The oceans and seas are controlled by pirates. This is also the case in this game. Beware, or pirates will steel your gold coins, even before you have made your first move towards finding the treasure of Lame Max, the notorious pirate king of ancient times. The treasure of Lame Max was not lost when his ship was sunk. Scattered across the playing field are old coins, which you should try to gather and keep safe from competing pirates! It is your goal to retrieve most of Max’s treasure and become the next Pirate king.
The pirate game is intended to stimulate counting, comparing and playing together for children at a young age. The different game variants are constructed in such a way that the game follows the development stages of the children in the period between ages 3 and 9, for children interested in board games a crucial time. Whereas the younger players depend on a simple game structure and a relatively short playing time, they gradually develop towards a stage where they will want to have control over the game development, their progress as well as that of their opponents. In fact they desire that their own strategic insight can make the difference between winning or losing. In the most elaborate game variant the Pirate game is a challenge even for grown ups!