Die Prüfung is a role-playing game in the style of the Bard's Tale series (but with a single character instead of a group). The player takes the role of a magician apprentice who has to roam the overworld in order to solve his final test, split up in five smaller challenges. Of course there are many dungeons to visit and monsters to slain. Combat is turn-based and, when finished successfully, rewards experience points. Those eventually lead to a level-up which improves the statistics (strength, mental, constitution and dexterity) of the player character. As magician, the player also has access to spells which are divided into light, compass, healing, combat and distance. New spells are learned after solving a sub-test.

The interface is split up into four sections: a small windows which shows a picture of the current situation (monsters, world map, conversation partner, 3D dungeon view, etc), a windows with the character's current stats and a list of available orders. Further information, depending on the current playing situation, is available in a big window which takes the whole lower half of the screen, e.g. enemy status, dialogue or automap.