Hero Rescue is an adventure or quest pull-the-pin logic-puzzle game in which a red-haired heroic knight needs help saving a princess. The player guides the hero through various puzzles and traps by pulling golden pins to remove barriers between areas created by the pins. If the player does well, they receive coins and move on to the next level. They must continue to solve puzzles until they complete all 40 levels of the game.
Each level features a dark stone tower in a wintry landscape. As the hero traverses a level, the player also helps him collect gemstones and other treasures, escape hot lava flows, and defeat various enemies and monsters. The player might help him within a tower or assist him with entering a tower.
Hero Rescue challenges the player to use their knowledge of gravity and science, and a bit of common sense, to determine the right pin or pins to pull and the correct sequence to pull them. The hero dances and cheers when they reach the end of the puzzle challenges for a level.
In some towers, the player must do more than slide a pin horizontally, vertically and diagonally to remove a barrier between the hero and obstacles, traps, enemies and treasures. They must also sometimes use a slider to place the pin in a different area of the tower.