Dream Shift is a solo print-and-play card game. It is designed to be quick and fun. In Dream Shift, the player must battle his or her nightmares in a constantly shifting dream world. Each dream setting or nightmare is a manifestation of the dreamer's subconscious attempting to communicate with the conscious mind in order to resolve various issues. Maybe the dreamer needs to learn something about him- or herself. Perhaps he or she has some fear or guilt that must be overcome. The Dream deck contains both Setting and Nightmare cards. The player begins with one Setting and one Nightmare, and must resolve issues presented by these cards in order to draw a new Dream card to replace either the Setting or the Nightmare. To do this, the player has access to Power cards. These allow the player to resolve issues on the Setting and Nightmare cards, which will shift either the Setting or the Nightmare and present new issues to resolve. The player must make careful use of his or her Power cards to strategically draw additional Power cards or to shift the dream. The game ends when the Dream deck is empty, or when the player is "stuck" with no Power cards to resolve the issues presented.