Richard Scarry's How Things Work in Busytown is based on Richard Scarry's Busytown book and animated cartoon series and it is the sequel to the DOS and Sega Genesis game Richard Scarry's Busytown. Similar to the original game, you begin in a hub world where all the places in Busytown can be found. There is the Studio, where are songs played throughout the came can be listened to. The CD version of the game doubles as a CD with the same music.

In the bakery, you play as a chef pig in which you bake breads by using the correct ingredients and putting it in the oven. In the assembly line, you can build many vehicles by learning about the parts and then placing them in the correct spots. In the Garbage Truck, you control a garbage truck and you must pick up trash littered on the ground while dumping garbage cans into the truck. On the Farm, you can tend the fields using the tractor while learning about the farm. There are many different options and different outcomes throughout the many places. Some of the things that this game helps kids learn are vocabulary, word definitions, and sequencing objects and numbers.