Dharma Dōjō is a puzzle game starring a monk (player 1) and a shrine maiden (player 2) who must knock away all the blocks to clear the stage. The time limit, rather than being represented by a traditional clock, is a demon, located on the left of the screen, climbing up a rope and must be stopped before it reaches the ceiling and releases a large temple bell onto the player's blocks. The player must use his or her giant mallet to hit blocks and make them fall into a chamber beneath the playing field. If three identical blocks (or up to eight later in the game) are aligned correctly inside the compartment, they turn into a good spirit and perform a short strike attack against the demon, thus slowing it down. The game is over if you run out of time, or allow one of the block towers to reach the top of the screen.

The Korean arcade version has different backgrounds (women instead of Japanese woodblock-style paintings) and an extra game mode with shooting rounds in between stages.