"Temple of Apshai" consists of two programs; the Innkeeper and the Dunjonmaster. The game starts with the Innkeeper and the choice to either generate a new character or input an existing one. The game uses six base values taken from "Dungeons & Dragons" Early tape versions of the game had no means to save progress, and thus the player was prompted to note down all statistics when quitting the game, and had to type them in again manually at the start of the next game. Later floppy versions fixed this by allowing to save the status on the disk. Weapons and armor are purchased in a shop, where it is possible to haggle with the shopkeeper for a discount. Character stats determine which items can be worn. Finally, the player chooses between four dungeons of increasing difficulty to enter the Dunjonmaster part.