Karkoth's Keep is a dungeon-crawler set in a fantasy realm, whose royal House of Quilan was extinguished generations ago by the undead witch king Karkoth. You, a descendant of the noble dynasty, set out into the dungeon under Krakoth's keep in search of the magical sword Ramdahl, with which the evil usurper can be defeated.

Attributes are determined by random rolls, and bestow bonuses or penalties along with the choice of race (Greyelf, Dwarf, Human, Halfelf or Highelf) and profession (Ranger, Fighter, Cleric, Magic-User, Gedi, or Monk) - not all of which may be combined. The adventure starts in the town of Nosar, your base of operations, it boasts hotels, shops, taverns and a hospital for all your basic CRPG needs. The way to the Keep must be divined by communicating with the townsfolk.

In the Keep's dungeon, only your current line-of-sight is visible, oddities like hidden teleports make the journey less than linear. The rumored Endless Staircase connects all ten dungeon levels, with the coveted sword hidden somewhere in the deepest four. En route, the randomly-encountered monsters will do their best to make the seeker's life unpleasant (and short) - fortunately, battle and exploration reward you with treasure, which takes many forms: valuables, weapons, magical items, and other opportunities for good or bad luck. Spells (for characters that can use them) and magical scrolls provide further assistance, and food must not be forgotten either.

Character development follows the standard practice of automatic levelling through experience points gained in combat, though you may also trade gold for them when you go in/out of the dungeon. Getting your character killed will have the nasty effect of erasing its file from the game disk.