In game terms, players face off on opposite sides of a game board with each player having six spaces for playing cards: three for military conflict, two for control of power discs, and one for control of resources.
After playing cards on a turn, each card does damage equal to its strength to any opponent's card on the other side of the game board. If no opponent's card is present, then with military power the player does damage directly to the opponent, swinging a pendulum of strength in their favor. If you reach a total of 7 on the pendulum, you win. Your troops can also grant you an additional card at the end of the turn (three instead of two) or tokens that make it cheaper to play cards.