The world of Cyberpunk Red is set in the year 2045, during the reconstruction of Night City. Massive megabuildings light up the skies above the rebounding Corpo Plaza, while cyber-enhanced gangs battle in their shadows, each carving out a bloody piece of ground to call their own. In Cyberpunk Red: Combat Zone, you lead a gang through pitched battles or campaigns. Equip your gang, hire your mercs, and build your street cred to dominate the hellish rubble of the Combat Zone and emerge as the new master of the streets.

Cyberpunk Red: Combat Zone is a tabletop miniatures skirmish game, featuring Monster Fight Club's [RE]ACtion system, where every character has a set of skills, abilities, and actions they can use in the game. Actions come in three colors, which match three types of dice (d6, d8, or d12. Which color action a character takes determines what dice they roll.

Gameplay quickly moves back and forth between players. When a character is wounded, their actions get worse - but they also can have a chance to react to the attack by moving away or counterattacking. The character with control of the battle is the one who is currently taking actions with one of their characters. You lose control when your active character runs out of Actions. Characters can try to activate other friendly characters. This creates fast-paced back and forth gameplay, where control of the game passes back and forth, without getting bogged down in phases, upkeep, and accounting.