Magical Beat is a falling-block game with a rhythm-based twist. While this description probably brings to mind the beloved puzzler Lumines, Magical Beat is quite distinct from that game in several ways. For starters, gameplay is always done in versus format, pitting you against either a human or a CPU-controlled foe. The object is to match up chains of three or more colored, anthropomorphic blocks called "beatons" in any combination of vertical or horizontal directions to send attacks over to your foe. Unlike most puzzlers of this sort, the blocks don't fall on their own: you rotate and move them above the field to your liking before pressing a button to drop them directly into the field.