Bust-A-Move Universe is an arcade-style puzzle game in which the player aims and fires bubbles at an onslaught of slowly falling bubbles to clear a group of three or more of the same colour as the one fired and prevent the bubbles from reaching the bottom of the screen.

The gameplay modes include: Puzzle mode, which consists of eight worlds comprising of ten stages and a boss fight each, with keys in each level unlocking a dragon which provides the player with a rapid fire ability, and Challenge mode, where players can set their own time limit, if they so please, and play solely to achieve a high score.