In the game, players assume the role of young computer expert Lance Galahad to defeat Dr. Nero Neurosis at his castle and its residents.

Brain Dead 13 was initially released for the MS-DOS before being ported to other platforms including the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, Atari Jaguar CD, CD-i, Macintosh, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1996 and 1997, with each one featuring various changes and additions compared to the original version.

Brain Dead 13 is an interactive movie game reminiscent of Dragon's Lair and Space Ace that uses full motion video (FMV) to present the story and gameplay, which consists entirely of quick time events, where players assume the role of Lance Galahad in order to defeat Dr. Nero Neurosis from conquering the world at his castle and its residents as the main objective.

[3][4][5][6] During gameplay, exploration is freer than in most previously released interactive movie games, with most rooms linked to crossroads that leaves the route for finding the Brain Chamber up to the players.

[3] Brain Dead 13 was first released for the MS-DOS computers by ReadySoft in North America on 15 December 1995 and later in Europe of the same year by Empire Interactive.

[9][10] In 1997, the title was also converted to the CD-i by International Creative Digital Image and published exclusively in Europe by Philips Interactive Media.

[13][14][15][16] Brain Dead 13 was met with mixed to negative reviews, with critics widely praising the animated sequences[17][18][20][23][25][29][30][28][31][32] but bemoaning the trial-and-error gameplay.

[20] PC Joker's Martin Schnelle commended the audiovisual presentation but stated that its "concept was not well received years ago and is still a sure guarantee of frustration today".

[27] The Atari Times's Gregory D. George criticized the sound design but praised the gameplay and quality of the full motion video sequences for being better than Dragon's Lair, as well as the uninterrupted flow of each scene.

[23] GameSpot's Hugh Sterbakov stated it "makes no improvement in a decade-old genre that never managed to bring its interactive excitement up to the level of its visuals.

Shawn Smith pointed out that the video is the main reason people play quick-time event FMV games, making the poor quality a fatal flaw.

[19] GamePro similarly said that "the trial and error required to figure out button combinations is far too laborious for the mild comedic payoff that results."