In Tabloid Tycoon you become the head of a newspaper company. You must manage staff and budget to create a successful newspaper empire. The game simulates different weekly aspects of running a newspaper company including finding leads, putting photographers and reporters on a job, planning sabotage on rivals, settling lawsuits and making stories. Along the way you can encounter special shortcuts, win awards, buy things from vehicles to gadgets to improve your paper. With more money, prestige and public praise you can make your newspaper bigger and upgrade your facilities.

The news stories can range from funny, weird, to plain bizarre and can be randomly generated and edited. The game also comes with a custom story editor to make your own stories with custom photos. You can save your newspapers to html. Modes of gameplay include scenarios, enterprise, and freeplay.