The goal of the game is to reduce your opponent's health to zero, from it's starting total of 20.
Each player begins with a deck of 40 cards - each card has a maximum number of copies allowed in a deck. Each card has three main sections: a "top zone", a "bottom zone", and an "initiative" (a number). The players begin the game by drawing up to their maximum hand size (5 cards).
On each turn, both players select two cards from their hand and places it face down in front of them; they then simultaneously turn all cards face up, and the player with the highest single initiative value on the board is the first to act.
The first player chooses the top zone of one card, and the bottom zone of the other - the effects in each selected zone take effect this turn (starting from the selected top zone). The second player then follows suit.