Nomad is a space exploration, trading, and combat game. Its basic gameplay mechanics revolve around trading with various alien races (based on bartering rather than currency), as well as defending the ship against hostile crafts in action-oriented space combat. Compared to other space simulations, the game is more story-driven, featuring scripted conversations with characters and information-gathering. The game world includes several hundreds of planets and eleven alien races. The player-controlled ship can be customized with weapons (such as missiles), loaders, shield generators, engines, scanners, and jamming devices.

A human astronaut is sent by the OESI (the Organization of Earth's Special Intelligence) on an exploration mission, but their ship gets stranded in the orbit shortly following the launch, due to a malfunctioning engine. The protagonist is rescued by Granger Tinker Brin O'Keef, a member of the galactic Alliance, which fights a highly advanced mechanized race known as the Korok set to destroy all life in the galaxy. The protagonist then decides to join the Alliance and help them in their battle against the Korok.