War of the Worlds: The New Wave is an asymmetrical deck-building game with a playing board for two players. The game events unfold several years after the original "War of the Worlds" story by H.G. Wells.

The extraterrestrial invasion is occurring once again, but this time the Martians have arrived on a giant spaceship that lands in one of the backwater districts in Scotland. During the game, one player commands the alien forces, and the other one leads the UK self-defense units. The main objective of the invaders is to completely annihilate the population of Great Britain, while the opposite side needs to deal enough damage to the Martian army.

The game is played with two asymmetrical decks of cards, a playing board, tokens, and miniatures.