Arcana is a first-person RPG which focuses on the exploration of varied dungeon settings. A village serves as hub in which Rooks can visit places like a fortune teller or shops to buy items and equipment. On the world map, which does not offer free movement, he chooses his next destination where the dungeon crawl begins. The battles occur randomly and are turn-based: during each turn, the player chooses the next action of a character from a list of actions, e.g. attack or magic. Eventually the characters advance their experience level and therefore their stats.

The main visual characteristic of the game is the display of monsters and characters: everything is represented with cards. They can have an elemental attribute or not. Rooks is able to summon an elemental to aid him. He can only summon one type at a time, and he must find them before being able to summon them. Two more characters can join the party.