The aim of the game is to answer the questions by moving or rotating matchsticks; for example the player may be presented with two match sticks and then asked to make 14 boxes by adding six other match sticks.

Matchstick Puzzle by DS has more than 150 puzzles of four difficulty settings to complete. The game also has hints to help the player decipher the more abstract clues. In addition, the game has a time attack mode in which the player must complete 10 random puzzles in the fastest time possible but without any hints to help them.