Players control a member of a family, which includes a mother, father, son (Billy), and daughter (Sarah), as they traverse around a group of islands, competing against each other to collect the most gold pieces.

In addition to picking up random Help Cards that allows them to gain more gold or steal pieces from other players, players may also encounter brief minigames that require them to use the Wii Remote to fight off an angry octopus or shoot down cannonballs or asteroids heading towards them.

The game features additional downloadable content in the form of new maps and a swimsuit costume for each character.

[2] IGN criticized the game's lack of interaction, noting that the gameplay largely equates to "nothing more than the random, repetitive rolling of dice" by the computer.

[4] Both reviews criticized Family Pirate Party's few mini-games, which they felt should have been the focus of the game as in the Mario title.