In Hellfire the player plays a "basher" in the early 1980s - a "basher" is a railway enthusiast who seeks to ride behind as many different locomotives as possible. At the start of the game, the player is given a randomly-generated list of locomotives that have not been travelled behind, and scores points by filling out this list, gaining more points by riding behind rarer locomotives. The game ends after an in-game week, but the points earned can be used in future games to buy tickets for rarer services such as sleeper trains. The game includes the entirety of the British Rail network at the time, with locomotives assigned based on the real-life timetables.