BURN RATE puts the players in the role of a dot-com CEO, trying to keep their startup afloat. The challenge of the game is to keep a startup in business and lose money as slowly as possible. Opponents try to force each other to flame out quickly with money-wasting dot-com projects, over hiring, and incompetent vice presidents.

The mechanics of the game are based on real life. A player's employee [cards] have a skill number, and their skill allows the play of cards that represent their actions. For example, a FUNDING card with a skill pre-requisite of 2 requires an Finance employee with a minimum skill of 2 to play it.

A players bank account is debited each turn based on their current situation, or "burn rate". A player wins when all the others have run out of money.