The goal of Big Cheese is to have the most Brownie Points at the end of the game. You get Brownie Points by giving items to the Big Cheese.

You can buy items at auction, competing with other players to find the best deals. Auctions are running at all times. Bids are hidden, so no one will steal your auction at the last moment. Instead, it is up to you to devise your own bidding strategy.

You can also get items from the Wheel Of Cheeses game show.

Each turn, all players receive a cash stipend. This income has a base value of $10,000 per turn, but this number can go higher if you own items that provide extra income. Players are reranked at the end of each turn. Rank is used to break ties in auctions and determines which auction block you will be in next turn.

Some items have special abilities, called Specials. Items may have more than one special ability, but some special abilities (e.g. Warehouse Special or Liquid Special) may use the item up, thus forcing you to choose between specials.

You have a Warehouse which holds your current items (also known as Assets). The Warehouse can only hold a limited number of unique items. If you have multiple identical items, they will share a single slot in the Warehouse. Identical items have the same name and id number.

If your Warehouse is getting full, you can Donate some of your Assets. Donating an Asset removes it from the game, but its value is added to your Brownie Point total.