In Dragon's Eye, Shanghai® enters a new dimension. The Dragon Slayer must challenge the Dragon Master's efforts to bring the dragon to life.

The Dragon Slayer has two main goals: the primary goal is to slay the dragon. If the dragon's "heart" and "limbs" (the eight spaces in the center of the Dragon Display) are cleared during the game, the dragon is slain and the Slayer wins instantly. The secondary goal is to keep the dragon from coming to life. If all 144 tiles have been drawn and the Dragon Display is neither completed nor emptied, the game ends and the players' scores are then compared to determine a winner.

The Dragon Master's primary goal is to bring the dragon to life. To succeed, the Master must fill in the dragon's heart and limbs two layers deep, and the rest of the display one layer deep. The Master's secondary goal is to get a higher score than the Slayer.

When you start the Dragon's Eye game, the Dragon Display is on the left side of the screen with eight tiles in place. You play the role of the Dragon Slayer, and the computer plays the role of the Dragon Master. On the bottom-right side of the screen is your six-tile hand, your opponent's three-tile hand (at the top of the screen), and three boxes: one that says FLIP and two that are blank. (The words DRAW and DONE will appear in the two blank boxes once the options are available.) The Dragon Master's hand is turned away from you, and your tiles are face up.

The screen also displays your score and the Master's score (both zero at the beginning), and an indicator showing the number of tiles in the draw pile. A gloved hand indicates which player's turn it is. The Slayer always goes first.

To slay the dragon, try to remove tiles by making matches. As the Dragon Slayer you'll remove a matching pair of tiles as you did in Shanghai® II: highlight the first tile, and then select the matching unblocked tile to remove the pair from the Dragon Display.

If the pair isn't removed, make sure that:
• The tiles match.
• Both tiles are unblocked.
• The tip of the cursor is inside the tile.
• At least one of the tiles is on the Dragon Display
(you cannot remove two tiles from your own hand).

You can match a tile from the Dragon Display with another tile from the display, or with a tile in your hand. You can continue your turn until you run out of matches to remove from the Dragon Display. Anytime you have less than five tiles in your hand, the DRAW box will appear; you can then move your cursor to the DRAW box and use one of the select tile buttons to add another tile to your hand.

You can only end your turn if you have five or less tiles in your hand. If you have six tiles in your hand and can't make a match, you must place one of your tiles on the Dragon Display. You'll find that where you place your own tiles on the Dragon Display is an important part of a winning Dragon's Eye strategy. Once you do this, your turn is over; move the cursor to the DONE box and press one of the select tile buttons. The Dragon Master will place a tile on the display, and then it will be your turn again.