Shark Island is a game for 2-5 players in which one player is the shark out to terrorize a small island resort, while the other players are the hunters out to find and stop the shark before it spreads too much terror.

The game takes place over several turns, made up of three phases. The shark tries to hide among debris and other sea creatures, and the hunters try to flush out the shark that can ultimately lead to an all versus one card battle. Special abilities of the shark and hunters can influence the outcome of the game.

The game ends with either the shark collecting enough terror tokens or the hunters killing the shark.