Gauntlet is a fantasy-themed hack-and-slash arcade video game. It's recognised as one of the very first multiplayer dungeon crawl arcade games.

Instantly recognisable for its striking four-player cab, Gauntlet has gone on to be regarded as classic.

In this game, players navigate through a series of top-down, third-person, orthographic mazes. Their objective is to eliminate monsters, gather treasures, and find and reach the designated exit in each level. Throughout the game, players can discover special items that enhance their character's health, unlock doors, earn additional points, and receive magical potions to eliminate all enemies on the screen.

Players can choose to control one of four fantasy-based characters in the game: Thor, a warrior; Merlin, a wizard; Thyra, a valkyrie; or Questor, an Elf. While their names are displayed on the cabinet artwork, in-game they are only referred to by their class titles. Each character has unique strengths and weaknesses. For example, the warrior is strongest in hand-to-hand combat, the wizard has the most powerful magic, the valkyrie has the best armour, and the Elf moves fastest.

The game features a variety of fantasy monsters as enemies, such as ghosts, grunts, demons, lobbers, sorcerers, and thieves. They all spawn from specific generators, which can be taken out. Although there are no boss characters, the most formidable foe is Death, who can only be defeated with a magic potion. Otherwise, Death will disappear on its own after sapping a certain amount of the player's health.

As you advance through the levels, the difficulty ramps up, requiring players to cooperate by sharing items and strategically handling monsters. Health slowly depletes over time, adding a time pressure element. If a character's health hits zero, they can be revived by spending a game credit within a specific time window. This mechanic allows players to continue playing, but their final score will be impacted by the number of credits spent.

Besides being able to accommodate up to four players simultaneously, the game is also famous for the narrator's voice, which is generated by a Texas Instruments TMS5220C speech chip. The narrator, voiced by Ernie Fosselius, frequently reiterates the game's rules, such as: "Shots do not hurt other players, yet", "Remember, don't shoot food", "Elf shot the food", and "Warrior needs food, badly". Additionally, the narrator occasionally comments on the battle by saying, "I've not seen such bravery" or "Let's see you get out of here". When a player's life force points drop below 200, the narrator states, "Your life force is running out", "Elf needs food", or "Valkyrie is about to die".