Unlike the other Empire Builder games, it is set in a fantasy world with dragon-based locomotives.
The goal of Iron Dragon is to connect seven of the game’s eight major cities with rails and amass 250 gold pieces.
Players spend money to build railways and earn money by using them to deliver goods such as dragons, wands, spells, pipeweed, gems, wine and ale.
Demand cards indicate three different combinations of good requested, city to which to deliver, and payout; generally longer distances between good production regions and destinations yield higher payouts.
Players can upgrade trains for speed and cargo capacity, hire foremen to reduce building costs in various terrain, and even set sail to deliver cargo.