Deadly Rooms of Death is a turn-based puzzle game in which players assume the role of Beethro Budkin, who has been tasked to explore a dungeon and defeat the monsters within. Players are equipped with a big sword that can be pointed in eight different directions. This turn-based game allows players to do only one action at every turn—players can either move the character or the sword in a specific direction. The monsters will also move once per turn. Players have to plan their moves in order to defeat the monsters.
The dungeon is made up of 350 interconnected rooms; each room is divided into a 38x32 grid of tiles. Each tile can only contain one object (the character, the sword, a pit, or a monster) at a time. Players have to clear each room of the monsters. Once all of the rooms on a level are cleared, players will be given access to the next level. If a player exits an uncleared room, the room will be reset so that when it is re-entered, the same monsters will be present. Beethro will lose his life when a monster attacks him. Players can move the sword to block the monsters.
Aside from monsters, Deadly Rooms of Death also features different obstacles, such as doors, pits, pressure plates, bombs, and trapdoors, among others. It also has conquer tokens that players can step on to leave a room or finish a level.