In the era of Victorian England, with technology rapidly advancing and the human population increasing, Earth faces serious needs for fuel, land, and other natural resources. Fortunately, automated missions sent to Mars have discovered celerium, an ore that can be burned to produce ten thousand times more energy than a steam engine, as well as sylvanite, the densest substance ever found. Even more impressively, the missions found ice that can be used in the planet's terraforming process, bringing the idea of colonizing Mars closer to reality.

As the head of a mining company, these metals and ice found on Mars could make you unimaginably rich – if you get there before your competitors. You have ten rounds to send your astronauts into space, take control of the planet's resource-rich areas, and collect as much celerium, sylvanite, and ice as possible. At your disposal is a team of nine professionals, each with unique abilities, such as helping your astronauts traverse the Red Planet or sabotaging spacecraft before launch.

In each round of Mission: Red Planet, players start secretly by placing one of their character cards. This card determines when they will board astronauts onto the spacecraft waiting to launch to Mars and which special action they will perform during the round. Each spacecraft has a predetermined destination, and until an astronaut disembarks in an area, no one knows which resource they will find. Players collect resources (which are worth points) three times during the game, while each player also has a secret mission card that could earn them extra points at the end. During the game, players may acquire an additional mission or a research card that changes the value of the resources they will find on Mars.