Breaking Ground is an engaging turn-based game that puts you in the shoes of a construction manager, responsible for planning and building home construction projects. Your objective is to complete each project by effectively managing a team of workers with different skills and expertise. Immerse yourself in the captivating world of construction, where you'll encounter challenges, make crucial decisions, and strive to build the best homes possible.

One of the key goals of Breaking Ground is to inspire young women, particularly those in high school, to pursue careers in the construction industry. Extensive research has revealed that a lack of representation and exposure to relevant resources often deter women from considering this field. To address these issues, Breaking Ground showcases women in various construction roles, with a special emphasis on onsite trade positions. Key non-playable characters, such as the foreman, architect, and company president, are also prominently featured. Each character has a detailed profile, allowing players to better relate to them and understand their professional journey. These profiles include a "Learn More" button, which provides a direct link to resources related to the character's specific profession, fostering education and awareness.

In Breaking Ground, players begin by selecting a project and meeting Amanda, the President of Breaking Ground Co., who guides them through the selection process. Amanda outlines the project requirements, such as the number of rooms, the target completion time, and the allocated budget. Once a project is chosen, Architect Lana assists players in selecting materials for the house. With a wide range of options available, players can customize their projects to a high degree. However, they must carefully manage their budget to ensure they have enough funds to pay their workers.

To construct the house, players work closely with Construction Foreman Angela, who guides them in hiring workers. The game offers four types of workers: general laborers, carpenters, plumbers, and electricians. Each worker specializes in different tasks, necessitating strategic allocation of resources to ensure the successful completion of the construction project.

The house is divided into sections called tiles, representing individual rooms, with each tile requiring specific tasks to be completed. Players can select tiles and assign workers to perform the necessary tasks. Each task consumes energy, and workers specialized in a particular area require less energy to complete their assigned tasks. For example, electricians are more efficient than plumbers when installing electrical wiring. Once tasks are completed or workers run out of energy, players must progress to the next day, allowing workers to recover their energy and continue working.

Maintaining worker happiness is essential in Breaking Ground. If players push workers to exhaustion, their happiness level decreases, leading to decreased productivity and increased energy consumption for future tasks. To restore worker happiness, players must allocate time for workers to fully recover their energy.

Persistent low happiness levels may trigger an event called Manage N' Mediate, where a worker requests time off. Players must decide whether to grant the request and lose the worker's services for a few days or decline, potentially worsening their happiness. These management dilemmas encourage ethical decision-making and emphasize the importance of fair treatment of workers.

Upon completion of a project, players receive a rating based on their performance in meeting the target completion time, staying within budget, and maintaining worker happiness. Aim for excellence to achieve the highest ratings and unlock new opportunities within the game.