The Pyramid is a shoot 'em up where each stage is a chamber of the titular pyramid. The pyramid is divided into fifteen levels with 120 chambers in total. The player starts at the top and has to make his way down to the bottom level. Each chamber has two exits and the player gets to choose which to exit through. Therefore the player's path through the pyramid is different for each play through. The game is viewed from a side view and the player can move his character around in all directions but only shoot left and right. Each chamber has its own species of alien that moves around it in a specific pattern. There are 60 different kinds of aliens in total. After killing a certain number of aliens a crystal will fall from the top of the screen. The player has to pick it up and use it on the force fields that guards the exits. On most levels more than one crystal is needed to remove the force field. The crystal changes color as it falls, from white to yellow to blue. When white it destroys aliens and damages the player. As it turns to yellow it will be destroyed if it touches an alien and it's not until it turns blue that the player can pick it up. The player does not die instantly upon contact with aliens but has an shield that offers protection. The game is over when the energy level of the shield reaches zero.