You are one of the Dream Sheep, the sheep that people count in order to drift off to Dreamland! Each time you jump the fence, you help your person fall asleep easier — but the Nightmares that haunt these dreams threaten a rude awakening...

On a turn in Sheepy Time, you play one of two cards in your hand to move around the circle, potentially activating neat effects, while jumping the fence each time you complete a lap to put yourself in position to earn more points. When refilling your hand, however, if you draw a Nightmare card, you have to activate the Nightmare — and if it crosses your path, your human may be scared awake, which means you'll earn no points this round. How far do you dare push your Zzzs to prove you're the dreamiest sheep of all!

遊戲在一張藍白相間、雲朵狀的圓形可愛版圖上進行，版圖以從1到10的數字標記劃分為10塊均勻的區域。數字10和1之間有一個柵欄，小羊們要不停地跳躍柵欄拿分，夢魘也會上場追擊小羊。

《眠羊時間》的核心機制是通過手牌管理來制訂移動計劃，決定如何讓小羊移動，何時在哪個區域放置瞌睡標記來和自己的移動形成聯動，休息階段選擇哪種睡眠板塊來提升自己的移動效率。

玩家無法預判什麼時候會抽到可怕的夢魘卡，因此《眠羊時間》不可避免地會受到大量運氣成分的影響，本質上是一個賭運氣的遊戲。