Gladiator: Quest for the Rudis is a board & card game designed for 1 to 6 players (solo-play rules are included). Moment to moment the contest requires tactical decisions of movement, positioning and the selection of your attack and defense, while important strategic options always loom, such as how much of your stamina to expend as you risk becoming fatigued.

The gladiatorial contests in the game offer a very detailed simulation of many aspects of the historical battles, but gameplay itself is not slow or tedious as a result. That is, despite an enormous historical fidelity, Gladiator: Quest for the Rudis plays quickly and easily like the best modern board games. This is due in large part to the innovative card-based game play. There are no dice, and for the multi-player game, no books full of tables to consult, no other resource whatsoever to consult except for the cards themselves.