Puzzle Panic consists of a series of small pattern-based puzzles, through which you guide Benny (a light-bulb) to the correct answers. Each level can be played individually, or in sequence as part of a larger puzzle, where each level is signified by a unique symbol, that users must discover to complete the final puzzle.

Some puzzles are timed challenges, such as "Color Climb", where Benny must climb a series of coloured steps, with clues to the correct colour provided at the top of the screen.

Others are pattern based, such as "Triangles First", where Benny must touch all triangles on the screen, followed by squares, then pentagons, etc. In these levels, Benny must also avoid being captured by a Devil-shaped enemy who is chasing him.

Every level requires the player to recognise some form of shape, colour, number and/or spatial pattern.

Completing each level reveals a series of gates containing different symbols, and passage through these gates will help Benny discover the relationship between the symbols and the levels. In the final level, the "metasequence", Benny must correctly identify the symbol representing each level, and select them in the order that they were played.