The player controls a set of paddles with a rotary knob, where the goal is to score as many points as possible by deflecting a ball against bricks, pop bumpers and other objects in the playfield.

The player uses a rotary dial to control a set of paddles on-screen,[1] the goal being to score as many points as possible by deflecting a ball towards objects placed on the board.

These include Breakout-like brick formations, pop bumpers that award ten points each when hit, and spinners that slow down the ball.

[2] Making the ball touch the "NAMCO" rollover symbols (replaced by the Gremlin logo in the North American version) causes them to light up and having all of them lit up increases the score multiplier.

[4] Namco approved of the idea and purchased a surplus amount of PDA-08 microcomputers from NEC, employees being assigned to study the system's potential to create video games.

[2] The game was named after the Japanese word for carpenter bee, "kumanbachi",[1] and used the same font type from Atari's unreleased arcade title Cannonball from 1976.

[13] Retro Gamer listed Gee Bee as one of the best Breakout clones for its notability as Namco's first internally designed video game.

This game includes colorized graphics, new gameplay additions such as a 1,000 point pop bumper, and the ability to earn extra lives.