Norad is an action strategy game where the player has to defend the United States from a nuclear attack. The premise is similar to Missile Command but the gameplay differs. The game is played on a map of the United States and the player has access to ten missile sites that are used to defend the same number of cities. As enemy intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) appear in the sky, the player launches an anti-ballistic missile (ABM) by pressing the number of one of the sites and steers it towards the target before hitting the space bar to detonate it when it is within range.

Each site has a limited amount of missiles but these are replenished between waves as long as its connected city has not been destroyed. A non-damaged city produces five ABMs for its site while one that has take one hit builds two. A city is totally destroyed when it has taken two hits and will not produce any more missiles but the site will still be able to launch those that are in its stockpile. A site that is hit will lose its entire stockpile. Cities that have taken only one hit will repair themselves between waves. On later levels a defensive MX site is available. It can be moved on a fixed roadway and is not dependent on a city. It is restocked from along its movement path and due to its mobility it can not be hit. There is also a nuclear submarine that works similarily but that is restricted to the Carribean.