Players in Tiger & Dragon draw tiles from their hand to participate in waves of attack and defense. Be the first player to clear their hand to score points based on one of the ten score cards used in this round.

The game contains 38 tiles: 36 numbered tiles with one 1, two 2's, etc. up to eight 8's, along with a tiger and a dragon. Shuffle the tiles face down, then each player takes tiles based on the number of players, with the starting player taking one additional tile. For example, with four players, the starting player takes ten tiles and all other players take nine. At least one tile remains out of play.

The starting player attacks by playing a tile from their hand. The next player can choose to either pass or defend the attack by playing the same tile. Note that the dragon defends against every odd numbered tile and the tiger against every even numbered tile. After defending, you place your own tile to attack. If a player passes, the next player can either pass or defend. If all other players pass your attack, place a tile from your hand face down and then choose a new tile to attack again. When attacking with the dragon or tiger, a player can defend with any odd- or even-numbered tile, respectively.

The first player to empty their hand wins the round and scores points based on the last tile they played and the specific scorecard for that round. They get 1 bonus point for each time their attack remained undefended. At the end of a round, if a player has scored 10+ points, they win.