The Bleach Trading Card Game is played with two people. Each player must have a total of at least sixty-one cards: a Guardian card, a sixty-card 'main deck' and a Side Deck consisting of a number of energy cards dictated by your Guardian card. There are two ways to win: deplete your opponent's Power (printed on their Guardian card) to zero, or if your opponent attempts to draw or discard a card from their deck and fails.

A standard player's turn in the game consists of three steps: The Resource Step, the Main Step and the End Step. The Resource Step has players drawing cards and putting Energy cards into play, the Main Step is where players can attack and play cards, and the End Step is a formal conclusion to the turn.