In the board game Shadowrun: Takedown, you and your friends assume the roles of runners, serving as mercenaries and deniable assets for powerful mega-corporations. The corps have hired you and your crew to handle the covert tasks they prefer not to have on their official payroll. Engage in these missions, survive, and strive to achieve legendary status with 1-4 players per copy of the game.

Over the course of the campaign, players will have the opportunity to evolve their runners to fit their play styles, whether they're hacking, sneaking, or brawling. Players can gain gear to augment their abilities or enhance their bodies through integrated cyberware and magical upgrades. The game offers a range of balanced character and gear advancements, allowing characters to develop over the course of a progressively challenging campaign.

Players select their roles, each providing unique stats that influence the gameplay for all characters. This game introduces the Mastermind role, the runner who keeps an eye on it all, seeing things the others can't. The Mastermind can grant special bonuses to players during missions, along with their own role-specific benefits.