When the correct number of units of the same color are stacked, the units begin charging for an attack which will execute some number of turns later. Each turn, players have a number of moves (generally three) with which to move individual units around on the grid (battlefield) in an effort to stack similarly colored units vertically.

Battles take place using two separate grids of troops, with enemy troops being shown on the top screen, while friendly troops are shown on the bottom screen. The game's producers described battles as the center of the game, and these battles are turn-based. The player controls individual heroes representative of each faction, each of whom act as avatars in alternating exploration and battle phases, growing in experience and obtaining new abilities as the game progresses. Each faction has three types of basic troops, and five types of more advanced troops, with players selecting from these to form their individual army compositions. Instead, armies are made up of an unlimited number of faction-specific basic troops, as well as a finite number of larger 'elite' units. Five of the eight playable factions featured in Heroes of Might and Magic V – the Haven, Inferno, Sylvan, Academy and Necropolis – comprise the game's forces, though their troop lineups are not replicated from Heroes V.

Borrowing elements from the Heroes of Might and Magic franchise, it combines elements of the role-playing, turn-based strategy and puzzle video game genres, allowing players to embark on story-based and optional quests while employing army recruitment and resource management. Previews of the title likened its gameplay model to those of Puzzle Quest and Critter Crunch.

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