"The Magic of Scheherazade" combines gameplay elements from action-adventure games and RPGs. In the game, the player must travel through a series of worlds and defeat the evil wizard Sabaron, rescue Scheherazade, and bring peace back to Arabia. The game consists of five chapters; the first four chapters involve the player's journey through four worlds in which they must find the palace and defeat the demon that resides there. The fifth chapter involves the final battle with Sabaron. Players may start a new game or resume the game with a password. If a new game is started, the player must choose between three classes – Fighter, Magician, or Saint. Each class differs in weapon usage and certain abilities. For instance, a Fighter can use strong swords but is limited with the rod, a Magician is adept at using powerful rods but is restricted to a weak dagger instead of swords, and a Saint can exclusively utilize items like boots that prevent damage on hazardous floors. Weapons, spells, items, and actions like speaking or jumping can be mapped to the gamepad's "A" or "B" buttons on a select subscreen. A status bar displays the player character's selected actions, character class, attributes, coins, and some expendable supplies.