Jara-Tava: The Isle of Fire is a traditionally-styled graphical text adventure. Your recently deceased uncle has bequeathed you a map purporting to show the location of Captain Kidd's treasure, sending you on a quest to explore the remote South Pacific islands of Jara-Mau and Jara-Tava. Can you survive the shark-infested waters and an imminent volcanic eruption to make off with the fabled treasure? As in most parser-driven games, actions are achieved by typing simple commands: "Inventory," "South," "Get sword," "Tie rope," etc. A static first-person view illustrates the current scene, and the player can examine the map in their inventory to see the overall layout of the island. The Amiga port adds the ability to access some of the most common commands (such as movement, inventory, and the map view) by clicking with the mouse. Despite the game's short length, there are multiple distinct solutions to the challenges encountered: the manual states there are four ways to travel between the islands and three ways to find the treasure.