The game is a variation of Reversi where rectangular sections of an image of a nude model are revealed as the player earns points.

button which takes up a player's turn in exchange for a random effect,[9] such as large point changes or instant wins or losses.

Doug McFarland, Centerfold Squares' designer, stated that camera filters were used "to achieve better contrast", and in addendum to the images being colored digitally, "all edges are retouched to eliminate any aliasing effects.

[3] In a 1991 article covering the history of adult computer games by VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, Centerfold Squares was given as an example of adult games making use of advances in hardware capability; they stated that "Centerfold Squares began to rival newsstand men's magazines in eye appeal.

A big reason more companies are now publishing sexy games is that the machines can finally generate the complex images needed to depict romance and sexuality.

praised Centerfold's gameplay, but criticized the lack of a save feature, particularly due to the length of each match.

"[8] .info gave the Amiga version of Centerfold Squares an overall score of three stars out of five, criticizing the gameboard's graphics as "adequate but basic", as well as the game's nude models, stating that "frankly there are sharper and crisper Amiga digitized nudes in the public domain."

Ocio praised Centerfold Squares' "magnificent digitized graphics" as its best feature, expressing that they "employ a great sense of realism", but criticized the game's sound as being "limited to a few beeps".

[3] French gaming magazine Génération 4 gave the Amiga version of Centerfold Squares an overall score of 70%, praising its "original" gameplay but criticizing the length of each game due to the player losing progress through the AI re-covering revealed squares.