In a game of Dreamblade, two players engage in a duel. The game is won by the first player to win six turns. Each turn is won by the player with the most "conquest points," earned by controlling territories and destroying your opponent's creatures.

Each player begins with a warband composed of no more than 16 miniatures. In the course of the game these miniatures are put into play where they are used to accumulate conquest points towards winning the turn, and from there the game. There are two types of miniatures, creatures and locations. The miniatures, along with the playing area, and special six-sided attack dice comprise the unique elements of the game.