The horizontally scrolling shooter is similar to the Atari 2600 game The Empire Strikes Back (1982), with AT-AT walkers replaced by giant camels.

The player controls a small jet plane and has the task of killing giant yellow camels before they reach the home base.

Once all camels on a level are killed, the player has to survive a "hyperspace" sequence which requires avoiding high-speed missiles.

said that Attack of the Mutant Camels's gameplay on the Commodore 64 was similar to but "much faster, more challenging and more demanding" than Gridrunner or Centipede.

[2] In 2011, Attack of the Mutant Camels was chosen to be featured in the Smithsonian Institution's "The Art of Video Games" exhibit.