In Ore: The Mining Game, players assume the roles of clever industrialists competing for fame and fortune. Ore takes place during the industrial revolution, and aims to simulate the complexities of effective supply chain management.

Players take turns carefully placing their workers on one of several locations:
- In mines, to collect one of five different resources (lead, coal, copper, iron, or gold);
- In distribution, to secure lucrative contracts that allow for players' operations to scale.

Each player starts with $5+ and 4 workers. Early on, players have very limited means. However, by mining resources, acquiring assets, securing contracts, and expanding their operations through new initiatives, players become more readily able to generate more and more amounts of income.

Mines become exhausted after they have been mined for a certain number of turns, and, once exhausted, they are replaced by subsequent mine cards. Similarly, a limited number of assets, initiatives, and contract cards are available for players to take, and, after being acquired, they are replaced until their respective decks run out.

The game ends at the end of Turn 7.

At that point in time, the player with the greatest amount of victory points from buildings, Money, and completed contracts is declared the winner.