The "Classic" and "Knockout" modes involve up to 32 players who control bean-shaped characters and compete against each other in a series of randomly selected mini-games such as obstacle courses and survival challenges.

[4][5] As part of the transition, the game adopted a paid battle pass system for its monetization, with a new "Show-Bucks" premium currency - comparable to the way that Fortnite's V-Bucks work, and with the same pricing.

[8] In the standard "Classic" and "Knockout" modes (called "Games"), up to 32 players compete in matches with battle royale-style gameplay.

Courses, which involve navigating obstacles to reach a finish line; Survivals, which involve outlasting either a timer or certain number of other players; Points, which usually require you to score points by collecting items, jumping through hoops, or staying in a scoring zone; Teams, which are currently exclusive to Duos and Squads modes, require you to work together with other players in a Points-style level; Logics, which involve memorising fruits or solving puzzles; Invisibeans, uneven Team levels that only appear for limited times in the Game Selector; and Finals, which end a match, involving either being the last player standing or the first player to finish an obstacle course.

Season 4 added a basic daily challenge system, which allowed the user to get rewards for completing tasks in the game.

[30][31] The Power Party update introduced powerups, a feature that was teased back in the announcement livestream for Season 4: Creative Construction.

As of November 2024 there are four powerups: Bean Ball which allows players to curl up into a ball,[33] Invisibility (taken from Sweet Thieves), Party Crasher which allows beans to send a rhino shaped bomb in a straight line before detonating, and the Chicken added in the Scrapyard update which can be used to swing players or objects with a cooldown with a melee attack method.

The Fall Forever update added the 'Piggyback' mechanic, an ability that lets players assist others via picking them up and carrying them for as long as needed.

[36] Some are of characters from different video games and media franchises, such as Half-Life, Portal,[37] Godzilla, Team Fortress 2,[38][39] Sonic the Hedgehog,[40] Doom,[36][41] Hotline Miami, Ratchet & Clank, Cuphead, Among Us,[42][43][44] Little Big Planet,[45] Astro's Playroom,[46] Assassin's Creed, Hatsune Miku,[47] Doctor Who,[48] SpongeBob SquarePants,[49] Hello Kitty,[50] Tomb Raider,[51] Death Stranding, Pac-Man, Yooka-Laylee, The Jungle Book, Star Trek, Star Wars,[52] The Incredibles,[53] Marvel,[54] Lilo & Stitch, Spider-Man, etc.

The same season also introduced the first collaboration Fame Pass with the game Final Fantasy XIV,[56] featuring tiers themed around the Warriors of Light.

Fall Guys had seasons up until 16 August 2023, which were major updates to the game that each had a unique theme and added new content (rounds, costumes, obstacles, mechanics and music).

They could be leveled up by playing shows and completing challenges to obtain a variety of customization options and currencies such as Kudos and Crowns.

[2][83] Originally titled Fools' Gauntlet, (also later under development using the name "Stumble Chums"), Walsh's pitch featured 100 players competing in a battle royale composed of physical challenges.

[82] Tanton and Walsh worked on a pitch deck, and principal concept artist Dan Hoang created images featuring colourful, bean-shaped characters racing on an obstacle course in the sky.

[82][85] Fall Guys began its initial prototyping process with a small team, growing to 30 people during development.

A turning point came when the team made a group of pillars that "Took the opinions of people out of the occasion" and allowed the developers to "kill ideas faster".

"[90] It's a Knockout, a game show forcing contestants to dress up in oversized costumes, inspired the idea that the characters should "have that element of being completely uniquely, badly designed for the task that we were gonna put them through".

[83] The ragdoll physics is deliberate, to avoid "hyper athletic Ninja Warrior characters" and because "falling over is funny".

[101][102] The Chinese company Bilibili announced in August 2020 that it would develop a mobile version for Android and iOS that would be exclusive to China.

[113] On 15 March 2022, Mediatonic announced that starting on 5 April 2022 there would be a new launcher that all PlayStation players would need to download to keep playing the game.

[123][124] This was to elicit Mediatonic's attention to address and resolve numerous problems that players have had with the game including lack of round variety, bugs, sub par events, prices in the in-game shop, implementation of skill based matchmaking, and more.

[127] Players criticised this move citing how removing pre existing rounds causes the game to lose its replay value.

[128][129] On 17 July 2023, Fall Guys' show-bucks prices were increased in the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Canada due to inflation.

[130][131][132] On 17 September 2023 Fall Guys announced that the price for show-bucks would also be increasing in Czech Republic, Denmark, Eurozone countries, Hungary, Japan, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Turkey and the United States for similar reasons.

[134]Tim Sweeney has said that Fall Guys and Rocket League will not be discontinued despite mass layoffs and Epic will continue to invest in them.

[149] Tom Wiggins of Stuff magazine praised the game, calling it "Super Monkey Ball for the Fortnite generation".

[13] Ollie Toms from Rock, Paper, Shotgun praised Fall Guys for its creative approach as a battle royale game incorporating family-friendly elements rather than resorting to violent themes.

[161] Shortly after release Mediatonic announced a fundraiser by which the brand that donated the most money to the charity SpecialEffect would have their custom skin featured in the game.

[162] By 26 August 2020, more than 7 million copies of Fall Guys had been sold on Steam, and it was the most downloaded monthly PS Plus game of all time.

[170] In June 2022, within two weeks of going free-to-play and its release on multiple consoles, Fall Guys' player count rose to over 50 million.