Dragons is a two player game in which each player leads an expedition composed of men, hobbit, dwarves, elves, and wizards, in search of treasure in an ancient and unexplored dungeon: full of goblins, trolls, and other generally nasty things similar to those found in the Mines of Moria. The dungeon changes from game to game, indeed from turn to turn, with each player building the dungeon as he goes along.

There are three different levels that can be played each with different sets of victory conditions:
- The first is called ‘In Search of Gold’. In this system, the first player to get out of the dungeon with 2000 or more gold pieces wins.
- The second set of victory conditions is called ‘The One Great Ring’. The first player to have a character leave the board through his opponents starting edge with the Ring wins.
- The third version of Dragon is called ‘The Lonely Mountain’. In this game, the first player to kill Smaug the Dragon wins.

There are no fewer than three permutations of this game, contained in no less than two different box designs. In the earliest variant, counters were printed in blue on an oversized label sheet (referred to in the rules as "peel-and-stick" pieces). Additionally, several components -- notably, the room/passageway pieces (referred to in the rules as "cells") and some of the treasure counters -- were mounted on ~1/32" thick cardboard. Later variants featured both the counters and room/passageway pieces on a single heavy card stock sheet, with the room & passageway pieces being perforated.

One early version appears as follows:

• Box: 9-3/4” x 7-1/2” x 1-1/2” high
• 1 large game board made of heavy newspaper type paper printed on both sides: rules are printed on this sheet alongside all three dungeon layouts (22” x 35”)
• Supplemental Rules sheet (7” x 8-1/2”)
• One sheet with Room Treasure Chart and Key (8-1/2” x 14”)
• One label sheet of blue and white "peel-and-stick" counters (12-1/4” x 8-3/4”)
• 104 mounted pre-cut passageway tiles
• 20 mounted room tiles on two sheets, requiring cutting
• 44 mounted Treasure counters, on two strips, requiring final cutting
• 1 six-sided die

In the Supplemental Rules, early versions of this style make note that "the solitaire version of Dragons was not yet complete" and offer game owners the chance to obtain this supplement by mail for free. It also notes that the game itself was available from its creator for $6.00.

More common editions of the game consist of the following materials:

• Box: as above
• 1 Game board: as above
• Miscellaneous Rules sheets (two sheets are 8-1/2” x 14”, and one 8-1/2” x 11”) [replaces the Supplemental Rules sheet and adds optional rules]
• One sheet with Room Treasure Chart and Key (8-1/2” x 14”)
• One heavy card stock sheet with 126 perforated Dungeon room/passageway "cells" plus the Character, Monster, and Treasure/Items pieces. (23” x 27”)

In some cases, the 23” x 27” card stock sheet was pre-separated into three sections: one containing "Character, Monster, and Treasure/Items pieces", and two containing rooms & passageways.

Also, in the later editions, one variant combines the "Miscellaneous Rules" and the "Room Treasure Chart and Key" sheets into one double-sided unlabelled "additional and optional rules" sheet (11” x 17”). For purposes of game play, a notable difference between these two versions is that the latter omits the notes correcting two of the map board's monster room illustrations.

The above later editions do not appear to have rules for solitaire play. It is unclear as to whether these were ever completed, or remained available only from the author, as they were not mentioned in subsequent editions.

The later editions do offer optional rules for a "Wondering Monster" [sic], witches, teleports ("tellstar"), and the crown of "Yevrah", plus additional pieces to support these rules.