Gold seekers come over sea (by ship) and over land (by horse). With the gold they have found they can buy tools. These tools give you extras during the game and you will need them as well. The goal is to collect 6 points, the tools are worth 1 or 2 points.
In a game turn you roll the dice and walk/sail exact the amount on the board. There you can have special actions. These are: collection coins, collecting cards (you can use them during the game) or flipping over tiles (water becomes land, en land becomes water). Most of the tiles have on the reverse side special events that will happen. Some are good, like collecting gold, some are bad like a storm.
To buy tools you have to go to the shops, which are on the side of the game board. You have to walk/sail of the board to collect them.