In RPG mode, the player controls the silver pinball and progresses through a six-level castle to rescue Princess Bali from Beezelbub, the "Dark Lord of the Machine".

As in traditional pinball, flippers are used to keep the ball in the playfield and accomplish objectives, such as hitting targets or defeating an enemy.

During gameplay, the player earns gold which can be spent at the Black Market, a store run by imps.

Retrospective reviews of Pinball Quest focus on the novelty of its RPG elements.

The game has been called a "curious mix of genres",[2] with some reviewers describing it in more extreme terms, stating it is "among the most bizarre genre hybrids in the history of video games"[3] and a "baffling experiment".