In Great Western Shootout the player takes the role of the Lone Lawman who is on a mission to clean up his town from criminals.

It's a shooting gallery game played from a first person perspective without movement. The player moves a crosshair with the mouse and has to shoot the villains as they peek out from behind cover. If he takes too long the enemies will instead shoot him, leading to a loss of health. At the same time the player has to watch out for civilians. If these are shot, some health will be lost, too. To regain health the player has to shoot the medicine bags that appear on the screen for brief moments. Keeping track of ammo is also important as once it's been used it takes some time to reload.

For each outlaw killed the player earns 15 gold and at the end of the game the player might reach a high score. The game can be played by one or two players. In two player mode players take turns playing each level.