Welcome to the world of the Gnomes of Zavandor.

Like most gnomes, you have two great passions: sparkling gems and wondrous machines. The sought-after gemstones can be found around the mining town of Diamantina. They can be bought and sold at the gem exchange, shady traders are always willing to engage in a little wheeling and dealing, and then you can use the gems to claim valuable mining rights, artifacts and jewellery. Who will become the most successful gem trading mogul?

Zavandor is a fantasy setting which revolves around a capitalist economy based on trading in gems - sapphires, rubies, mystical gems etc. Other games in the family include Mines of Zavandor, and The Scepter of Zavandor.

Gnomes of Zavandor mempunyai dua papan tengah. Yang pertama ialah grid dengan penanda yang menunjukkan harga semasa bagi setiap jenis permata, dan juga menunjukkan sama ada harga akan naik atau turun giliran seterusnya. Permata boleh dibeli (atau dijual) secara tunai dalam fasa pertama setiap pusingan. Membeli permata menjadikannya lebih berharga dalam giliran berikutnya; menjualnya mengurangkan nilainya, dan ini ditunjukkan pada grid. Permata ini boleh digunakan untuk membeli jubin dari papan kedua, arena berbentuk bintang yang menampilkan jubin 'hak perlombongan' yang diletakkan secara rawak di sekelilingnya. Kedudukan di papan menunjukkan kos untuk membeli hak perlombongan ini; kos akan menjadi pilihan campuran permata berwarna. Pada penghujung setiap pusingan, pemain memperoleh permata baharu mengikut hak perlombongan yang telah mereka perolehi dan ini menjejaskan ekonomi pusat, secara amnya mengurangkan nilai permata yang berkaitan apabila ia dibeli dengan wang tunai, pada pusingan akan datang.

The initial phase of the turn involves buying gems, selling gems, taking gold, trading with the central supply, and purchasing cards and tokens (with gems rather than cash). The items available for purchase include equipment improving your efficiency, jewels providing victory points, and mining rights. The second phase of the turn involves mining for new gems. Each player takes the gems they are allowed according to their mining rights. At the end of each turn, the market values are adjusted according to the actions which have occurred; the price of the available equipment is discounted (this rule is optional); and another area of the star-shaped board becomes accessible with more mining-rights available to purchase in the next round.

The game continues until one player has reached a victory-point target, dependent on the number of players in the game. Victory points are achieved by purchasing mining-rights, equipment, and most significantly (but also most expensively) jewellery.