Third Reich is an adaptation of the famous boardgame of World War II Grand Strategy. You may lead either the Axis or the Allies against a human or computer opponent. It will take several play sessions before a new player becomes completely familiar with the game.

The game is turn-based where one turn represents a period of three months. Each Game Turn contains two Player Turns. Player Turns are further sub-divided into Movement, Combat, Unit Construction, and Strategic Redeployment phases. There is a separate Year Start Sequence between each Winter and Spring Game Turn, during which Strategic-Warfare Resolution and Construction take place. The map is divided into three separate Fronts—Western, Eastern and Mediterranean—by thick red lines. At the beginning of a side's Player Turn, each of its Major Powers selects, separately for each of the three Fronts, an Offensive, Attrition or Pass Option.

Depending on the scenario being played, victory is determined by the number of red-printed Objectives a side controls at the end of play, or by the number of Allied Major Powers that fall to the Axis, or by the turn on which the last Axis Major Power falls to the Allies. A Major Power is conquered when the enemy has captured its Capital and still controls it at the end of the opposing side's next Combat Phase.