Players control Tom Sawyer and his friends as they join the party, such as Jim and Huck, and they each have RPG game statistics such as health, power, and speed.

[2] The game features an enemy that triggers the reset button on a players controller bringing them back to the title screen.

[3][2] The game begins with Tom Sawyer having a dream saying that in a southern location a pirate treasure is buried.

[3][4] Square's Tom Sawyer was scored by famed Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu, who is described as taking a more "scenic" approach to the game than his previous works.

[4][7] Being released between Final Fantasy II and III, the game was similar to the former in that there was no experience point system.