Keyside takes place on a busy island with 12 harbours and a myriad of ‘quays’.

Each player controls a team of 18 workers, known as ‘keyples’, who will work in the farms, harbours, markets, quarry, wheat fields, and woods. Players use their 6 dice to either direct the boats to their chosen harbours or to join the other players on their turns and, in both cases, set their team of keyples to work.

Once the dice are played (phase 1), then the harbours are activated (phase 2) and players gain actions and resources where their keyples are present.

After three rounds (years), players score points depending on where their keyples are located, most notably in the harbours, and from the cottages, houses, and headlands they have built and from skills they have collected.

The player with the most points wins the game.